Michaelmas ( ) Term is a Jacobean comedy by Thomas Middleton. It was first performed in 1604 by the Children of Paul's, and was entered into the Stationers' Register on 15 May 1607, and published in quarto later that year by Arthur Johnson. A second quarto was printed in 1630 by the bookseller Richard Meighen.
Characters
Richard Easy, a gentleman from Essex
Rearage, Salewood & Cockstone, London gallants
Ephestian Quomodo, a woollen draper
Thomasine, Quomodo's wife
Sim, their son
Susan, their daughter
Shortyard & Falselight, Quomodo's cronies
Boy, Quomodo's servant
Winifred, Thomasine's maid
Andrew Lethe, born Andrew Gruel, a Scottish upstart
Mother Gruel, Lethe's mother
Dick Hellgill (Pander) Country Wench, also Courtesan and Harlot, Lethe's mistress Country Wench's Father Mother, an old woman Mistress Comings, a tirewoman Tailor Judge Dustbox, a scrivener Drawer Mourners Servants Officers Livery Hospital Boys
Characters in the Induction
Michaelmas Term
Boy, his servant
Hilary, Easter, and Trinity Terms
Poor Fellow, Page, and Pander, in dumb show
Synopsis
Induction
A personification of Michaelmas Term changes out of his white "country" cloak and into his black "city cloak" (the devil's favorite color). His servant (a "boy") tells him that several country litigants are on their way to London, planning to use their profits from the harvest to finance lawsuits. Figures representing the other three terms (Trinity, Hilary and Easter) enter, leading a "poor" man who is made "rich" as they present him with rich apparel, a page and a pander. The three terms greet Michaelmas and tell him that several more fools are on their way. They express hope that he will spread the wealth around. Michaelmas promises them that there will be lawsuits enough to last for the next four years.
Act I
Scene 1: The middle aisle in St Paul's Cathedral
Masters Rearage and Salewood, two London gallants, meet each other at St. Paul's. Master Cockstone, a gentleman, enters with Master Easy, a landowner from Essex (a rural county Northeast of London whose farmers had a reputation for gullibility). Easy has come to London because his Father has recently died.
Cockstone takes Rearage aside and tells him that Easy is gullible and a poor judge of character – a "fresh" lad who "wants the city powd"ring". Cockstone asks Rearage how the prospective match between himself and Master Quomodo's daughter is going (Master Quomodo is a rich cloth merchant). Rearage tells him that he faces fierce competition from a rival suitor, Andrew Lethe, an upstart adventurer from Scotland who has recently become very rich in London. Quomodo's wife still prefers Rearage for a son-in-law, but Quomodo favors Lethe, and has ordered Rearage to stay away from his house.
Quomodo enters with his two accomplices, Shortyard (a colloquialism for "small penis") and Falselight. Quomodo orders Shortyard to befriend and corrupt Easy, driving him into Quomodo's debt so Quomodo can cheat him out of his land. Shortyard says he is the perfect man for the job, and exits.
Andrew Lethe enters. Rearage tells Salewood that Lethe (known for his impudence, forgetfulness, lust, falsehood and lack of wit) is his rival, the suitor whom Master Quomodo prefers. Rearage and Salewood greet Lethe warmly. Lethe apologizes for not recognizing them, noting that he has been introduced to so many people lately, and has received so many gifts, that he has trouble remembering all the people he is supposed to know. He invites all of the gentlemen present to a venison dinner that evening. They accept the invitation. Everyone except Lethe exits.
Lethe notes that his project to marry Quomodo's daughter is going well except for one problem: Quomodo's wife hates him. He wonders aloud why she should despise him so much – he has enough money to provide her daughter with the finest possible husband. He reads out a letter he has composed for Mistress Quomodo. In the letter, he says that the only imaginable explanation for her refusal to admit him as a son-in-law must be that she is, in fact, in love with him herself; if this is the case, he says, she need not worry; if he is permitted to marry her daughter, they will have plenty of opportunities to meet and make love without arousing suspicion. Lethe wonders aloud who he can get to deliver the letter for him – his page has been sent out on another errand and his pander has been sent to the country to find women.