Eastward Hoe or Eastward Ho! is an early Jacobean-era stage play written by George Chapman, Ben Jonson and John Marston. The play was first performed at the Blackfriars Theatre by a company of boy actors known as the Children of the Queen's Revels in early August 1605, and it was printed in September the same year.
Eastward Ho! is a citizen or city comedy about Touchstone, a London goldsmith, and his two apprentices, Quicksilver and Golding. The play is highly satirical about social customs in early modern London, and its anti-Scottish satire resulted in a notorious scandal in which King James was offended and the play's authors were imprisoned. Eastward Ho! also parodically engages with popular contemporaneous plays such as The Spanish Tragedy, Tamburlaine and Hamlet.Logan and Smith, p. 146. The play's title alludes to Westward Ho! by Thomas Dekker and John Webster (who responded with Northward Ho! in 1607).
Characters
Touchstone, a goldsmith of Cheapside Mistress Touchstone, his wife, a gentlewoman Gertude, his elder daughter Mildred, his younger daughter Francis Quicksilver, his prodigal apprentice Golding, his dutiful apprentice Sindefy, Quicksilver's lover, later employed as Gertrude's maid Sir Petronel Flash, a 'thirty pound' knight, engaged to Gertrude Captain Seagull, a ship's captain employed by Petronel to Virginia Spendall and Scapethrift, adventurers with Captain Seagull Drawer, of the Blue Tavern in Billingsgate Security, an elderly usurer; bawd to Quicksilver Winifred, Security's young wife Bramble, a lawyer
Scrivener Poldavy, a tailor Bettrice, a lady's maid Mistress Fond and Mistress Gazer, city women Coachman, to Gertrude Hamlet, footman to Gertrude Potkin, a tankard bearer First Gentleman and Second Gentleman, at the Isle of Dogs Wolf, the keeper of the Counter, a prison Slitgut, a butcher's apprentice Holdfast, a prison guard Friend, of the prisoners First Prisoner, Second Prisoner (Toby) Page, Messenger, Constable, and Officers
Synopsis
Act 1 William Touchstone, a London goldsmith, chastises his apprentice Francis "Frank" Quicksilver for his laziness and prodigality. Concerned with his reputation, he tells Quicksilver to consider his actions with the catchphrase, "Work upon that now!" (1.1.10-1). Touchstone also warns Quicksilver against dishonest business and bad company, but Quicksilver remains dismissive and defensive about his way of life. Contrastingly, Touchstone's second apprentice, Golding, is industrious and temperate. Touchstone expresses his great admiration for Golding's uprightness and hopes that Golding will marry Mildred, his mild and modest daughter.
Touchstone's second daughter, Gertrude, is engaged to the fraudulent Sir Petronel Flash, a knight who possesses a title but is bankrupt. Unlike her sister, Gertrude is vain and lascivious, preoccupied with opulent fashion and advancing her social status by marrying Petronel. After reluctantly granting Gertrude's inheritance, Touchstone heartily gives Golding permission to marry Mildred. Anticipating a successful match, Touchstone praises the engaged couple for their virtues.
Act 2 The morning after Gertrude and Petronel's costly wedding, Touchstone breaks Quicksilver's apprenticeship and dismisses him for his shameful gluttony and drunkenness. Unperturbed, Quicksilver mocks Touchstone and asserts that he will spend his new freedom going "eastward ho!” (2.1.100-2). Touchstone promotes his new son-in-law, Golding, to a member of the guild.
Quicksilver meets with Security, an old usurer and pander who is married to a young woman named Winifred. Quicksilver devises how he will climb the social ladder and get wealthy without inconvenience or labor. Petronel arrives and expresses his desire to leave London, especially since he cannot tolerate Gertrude or her expensive tastes. He confesses that "all the castles I have are built with air" (2.3.7). Quicksilver persuades Petronel to use Gertrude's dowry to fund their voyage to Virginia.
Act 3 Touchstone arrives with Golding and Mildred who are now married. Gertrude pretentiously flaunts her higher rank and disdains her family's lower social status. Once Gertrude unsuspectingly signs away her dowry, Petronel makes hasty preparations to sail to Virginia. Before their departure, Quicksilver and Petronel tell old Security to distract the lawyer Mr. Bramble so they can secretly take Bramble's wife on the voyage. Instead, Quicksilver disguises Winifred and brings her on the ship, fooling Security. Accompanied by Captain Seagull, Petronel and his fellow adventurers set sail for Virginia. They revel in the promise of abundant gold in Virginia and spend the night drinking while Petronel and Quicksilver conceal Winifred's identity from Bramble and Security. Their drunken dancing ends, however, when a storm hits their ship.
Act 4 In the confusion of the storm, Security sees Winifred escape with Petronel in a lifeboat, suspecting that she has cheated on him. Separated from Quicksilver and Petronel, Security washes ashore on Cuckold's Haven where he stays in a nearby tavern. Winifred also arrives at the tavern along with Drawer, one of the voyagers.
Shipwrecked and disoriented, Quicksilver and Petronel lament their unfortunate condition. Two passing gentlemen tell them they have arrived on the Isle of Dogs, a northern peninsula in the Thames. Quicksilver tells Petronel and Captain Seagull that he will use his goldsmithing skills to create counterfeit money. Back in the tavern, Winifred lies to Security to cover up her affair with Petronel.
Nearby in London, Golding has been promoted to Master Deputy Alderman. He reports the shipwrecked voyagers have been arrested at Billingsgate for their crimes. Meanwhile, as a result of Petronel's deception, Gertrude sells her opulent clothes and pities her misfortune. Sympathetic towards Gertrude's situation, Mistress Touchstone advises her daughter to seek Mildred's help.
Act 5 Brought before Golding and Touchstone, Petronel and Quicksilver admit their guilt in the charges brought against them, including Petronel's dishonest marriage, the dowry deception, and Quicksilver's thievery. Touchstone is appalled and refuses to have mercy on the voyagers. Quicksilver sings a song about his repentance of his schemes and dishonesty, whose change in character and denouncement of vice moves Touchstone to amazement. Golding releases the criminals, including Security, who still laments his cuckoldry. Touchstone reinstates Quicksilver as his apprentice and Petronel as his son-in-law, covering the loss of their possessions and wealth. Gertrude reconciles with Petronel and the play ends happily.
Authorship and publication
Scholars have attempted to determine the respective contributions of the three authors but have not reached a full consensus.Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. The New Intellectuals: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama. Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1977; pp. 91, 152–3, 223. Earlier scholars attributed act 1 to Marston, acts 2–3 to Chapman, and act 5 to Jonson. More recently, however, scholars have suggested that the play's authorship was more collaborative, since numerous passages Eastward Ho! evidence more than one author's writing style.Chambers, Vol. 3, p. 256.
In early September 1605, William Aspley and Thomas Thorp entered Eastward Ho! into the Stationers' Register. The title page features all three authors, Chapman, Jonson and Martson; the playing company who premiered the work, the Children of the Queen's Revels; and the playhouse, Blackfriars Theatre, where the play was first staged. Later in December 1605 and March 1606, George Eld printed more quartos issued by AspleyChambers, E. K. The Elizabethan Stage. 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923; Vol. 3, p. 254. to meet the high demands for the play. In total, three more print editions of Eastward Ho! were issued within three months of its first publication. The popularity of the play and the looming possibility of censorship may have quickened the publication process. The surviving editions show evidence of deleted lines, missing passages, and altered passages. The censorship may have been issued by the Master of Revels, or his deputy, George Buc, who was also involved in play licensing until 1610. The printed text of 1605 does not represent the full and offensive stage production of that year, though critics have disagreed as to whether the hostile official reaction was provoked more by the stage version or by the text.Logan and Smith, pp. 146, 218.
Scandal
Anti-Scottish satire The following passages in Eastward Ho! exemplify the anti-Scottish sentiment that likely offended Scottish-born King James I:
In Act 1, when Sir Petronel's knighthood is questioned, Mistress Touchstone says, "Yes, that he is a knight! I know where he had money to pay the gentleman ushers and heralds their fees. Ay, that he is a knight!" (1.2.81–2). Mistress Touchstone attributes Sir Pentronel's legitimacy to his purchased title. This line probably satirizes "King James's lavish grants of knighthood." While getting her dress tailored, Gertrude remarks, "Tailor Poldavy, prithee, fit it, fit it: is this a right Scot? Does it clip close, and bear up round?" (1.2.39–40). This remark possibly references the perception that Scots accompanying King James invaded the English Court.
In Act 2, Quicksilver remarks, "[Gertrude] could have been made a lady by a Scotch knight, and never ha' married him" (2.3.68–9). This line references a practice in Scotland where "notorious cohabitation" is accepted as "matrimonial engagement without formal ceremony."
In Act 3, Captain Seagull describes Virginia, the new country that is their destination. While explaining the other inhabitants in the new country, Seagull hints that he wishes for all of the King's Scotsmen to leave England: "And you shall live freely there ... with only a few industrious Scots, perhaps, who indeed are dispers'd over the face of the whole earth. But, as for them, there are no greater friends to Englishmen and England, when they are out on't, in the world, than they are. And, for my part, I would a hundred thousand of 'em were there, for we are all one countrymen now, ye know; and we should find ten times more comfort of them there than we do here." (3.3.29–35). These lines particularly angered Sir James Murray and were consequently omitted from the first quarto publication.
In Act 4, when Quicksilver inquires about his whereabouts, he meets the First Gentleman, who has a Scots accent. The First Gentlemen remarks, "I ken [Sir Petronel] well; he is one of my thirty-pound knights" (4.1.140). Like the reference in Act 1, this line mocks King James's selling of knighthoods and granting titles to fellow Scots.
Imprisonment