“I do not like myself.” (V.I)

Why does Julietta place so much importance on the appearance of Lord Bonvile honor? “Because he is your noble friend, and one/ In whom was hid so much perfection/ of honor, for at first ‘twas most invisible, But it begins to appear, and I do perceive /A glimmering, it may break out a flame.” (III.I) It is simply from Trier’s estimation or is she too swayed by his title? Despite his forward advances and “Lord me no lords” (V.I), Julietta holds Lord B. at a higher standard because of his nobility, but this measurement is one which appears weak. The ironic condition between ancestral gentility and moral composition is on display here in Hyde Park. Julietta: “On that which you proponded, sir, your honor:/It is above all other obligation,/and be that’s truly noble, will not stain it.” (III.I.)

If Lord B. encompasses one kind of hubris, then Trier, by comparison, seems to possess a self-loathing by distancing himself from Julietta. In addition, Trier is holding up the bond between Lord B’s might and right as a kind of currency, a gold standard, which can be used as barter; this kind of “security” is played against Julietta’s virtue. Julietta, in the middle of this jeu de trois, emerges as the hero. By revealing both her suitors worse traits, she makes possible their transformations. Trier remarks of her abilities, “I know thou art proof against a thousand engines.” (III.1) How does this City Comedy reveal human and social ills against an urban setting? What is Shirly saying about the potential for renewal?