"A Cry of Players"; plot summary by William Gibson
book...@yahoo.com
William Gibson's A CRY OF PLAYERS.
(snip setting)
The story evolves around Will, a twenty-one year-old man who is
married to Anne, a woman eight years his senior. They have a four
year-old daughter, Suzanna, and twins. They share a house with Will's
brother, Gilbert, and Will's parents. His mother is a demanding
invalid. His father was once a person of stature in the town -- a town
now governed, more like ruled, by a man named Sir Thomas. Will is in
the business of tanning hides with his brother, but he poaches off Sir
Thomas' land to supplement his income -- or maybe just to satisfy his
need for excitement.
It is Will's need for excitement and to delay responsibility that is
the crux of the play. His wife treats him like a child, both in public
and private. Will has distanced himself from her after the birth of
the twins and has entered into a series of meaningless affairs. Unlike
most of the town's population, Will has had an education.
The oppression he feels is brought to a head when a troupe of players
arrives in town -- just as his wife and former schoolmaster are trying
to convince him to take a teaching position in another town.
Will is familiar with the head of this acting troupe, Kemp, from
childhood. The players secure reluctant permission from Sir Thomas to
perform their plays for the town.
. . . .
(unquote)
Summary includes a scene at a tavern where Will carries con with
fellow actors and wenches. They review their last performance. Anne
shows up, fights with a wench, and Will decides to follow the players
out of town.
Ray Eston Smith Jr
> (see athttp://www.lifeofanactor.com/acryof.htm)
I think there are several instance in the Works where Shakespeare
warns against marrying an older woman. There may be an oblique
reference in Hamlet:
"With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts,
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power
So to seduce!"
"Wit and gifts" may refer to Bishop Whitgift, the man who instigated
the crack-down on recusants which perhaps caused the decline in
fortunes of Shakespeare's father. Also, Whitgift signed Shakespeare's
marriage license (when he married an older woman) and later he signed
the license for the publication of Shakespeare's "Venus and Adonis," a
poem about a boy seduced by a goddess.
Ray Eston Smith Jr
Henry VIII also married an older woman, and that led to the English
Reformation.
Peter Groves
> On Dec 23, 11:42 am, bookb...@yahoo.com wrote:
>
>
> I think there are several instance in the Works where Shakespeare
> warns against marrying an older woman.
Du.What kinde of woman ist?
Vio. Of your complection.
Du. She is not worth thee then. What yeares ifaith?
Vio. About your yeeres my Lord.
Du. Too old by heauen: Let still the woman take
An elder then her selfe, so weares she to him;
So swayes she leuell in her husbands heart:
Peter G.
farr...@gmail.com
laraine
C.
