The Love Gamble

1. The practice and language of gambling is recurrent throughout Hyde Park. Most obviously, we see quite a bit of gambling in its most literal sense during the races that take place in Act 4 Scene 3. Reference to gambling also occurs during the play’s witty dialogue, as seen in the “advice” that Mistress Carol gives to Fairfield: “you should look big, and swear you are no gamester; practice dice and cards a little better, you will get many confusions and fine curses by’t” (1.2). Fairfield takes her advice, and by metaphorically playing his “cards” better, wins her love. Gambling then is not only a recurring image but also a theme that can be expanded to represent the “gambling” involved in courtship and love. How is each character’s courtship a “gamble”? Which characters win? Which characters lose? How are the characters characterized by their method of courtship gambling? How does the result of their gambling affect their futures, and our final view of them? What is the overall effect of using gambling as a metaphor for courtship and love?
2. At the conclusion of the play, Julietta discovers that Trier has been testing her “virtue.” Angered by this test, she declares that “if men be at such a loss of goodness, I will value myself, and think no honour equal to remain a virgin” (5.2). If she were to remain a virgin for the rest of her life, her particular subplot would mark a deviation from the formulaic comic ending characterized by the promise of future generations. However, at the very end of the play, Lord Bonvile suggests his intention to win her and marry her, stating in the play’s final lines: “By thy cure I am now myself, yet dare call nothing mine, till I be perfect blest in being thine” (5.2.). Why does Julietta reject Trier in a move uncharacteristic of female characters involved in the “virtue test” plot? Why is her future transferred to Lord Bonvile? What does this change do for a reading of the three characters involved in the love triangle? Why does Shirly choose to end the play with this subplot, and in this fashion?