The Knight of the Burning Pestle
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| Assignment Type | Term Paper |
|---|---|
| Subject | N/A |
| Academic Level | Undergraduate |
| Citation Style | MLA |
| Length | 2 pages |
| Word Count | 659 |
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THE KNIGHT OF THE BURNING PESTLE
In this twenty line passage from Francis Beaumont's 1607 comedic play The Knight of the Burning Pestle, the first person, narrative voice is that of Old Merrithought, the father of Jasper, a young and inexperienced apprentice who's madly in love with the Merchant's daughter. As a character, Old Merrithought brings much mirth and levity to Beaumont's farce, due to constantly singing songs of the olden times and making jokes about practically everything and everyone in the play. He is also very close to a Medieval court jester or jokester and believes that his witticisms reflect his ability to express bits of wisdom and intelligence. Basically, as shown in this passage, Old Merrithought is a hedonist with a penchant for food, drink, and "merryment" as expressed in his odd name which seems to be related to the Old English expression of "Methought" or "I think."
As Merrithought begins to sing this passage at the request of the Merchant's wife, the first two lines introduce a rather puzzling expression--"Who can sing a merrier note/Than he who cannot change a groat?" Through this question, Merrithought is admitting that he is not a wealthy man and would have some difficulty providing change for a groat, an English coin dating back to the 12th century and worth about four English pennies. Merrithought then speaks the next seven lines and mentions that he cannot even change a denier which according to the footnote was a French coin with very little value. Nonetheless, Merrithought is content with his lot in life, for he admits "my heart leaps" at being poor. He also expresses that despite not knowing where his wife and sons are and having nothing, "yet am I merry still." Overall, these sentiments are indicative of the typical court jester or jokester of "Merry Olde England" that can be found in many other plays from Beaumont's time during the reign of King James I.
Merrithought then begins to sing again and relates that he would never be a "serving man" or servant to a lord or lady of the court who carries the "cloak bag" or a type of parcel holding clothes; nor would he be a "falconer" or a person that trains and raises hawks and other birds of prey for sport or to help place food on the court's table. Once again, Merrithought is letting it be known that he prefers the life of a jester and is in some ways attempting to parody the society of the court, an attitude that prevails in many other plays written by Beaumont's contemporaries.
Merrithought reinforces this attitude by admitting that he prefers to eat and drink only the best available and is not willing to do any sort of work as payment for his food and drink. In effect, the significance of this lies in Merrithought's unwillingness to participate in what is generally accepted by the court as proper behavior, for he would much rather live a life full of "mirth" which keeps "life and soul together" via amusement and laughter.
Merrithought then references mirth as the "philosopher's stone" which "they write so much on," being playwrights like Christopher Marlowe with his "Tragical History of Dr. Faustus" which predates Beaumont's parody by ten years. In Medieval literature, the "philosopher's stone" was a magical potion or object that gave its owner supreme power over life and death and the wisdom of the ages. In this context, Merrithought is expressing the idea that mirth, amusement, and laughter is far more important than conventionality and that possessing mirth as a metaphor for the "philosopher's stone" should be sufficient for every man, due to keeping him young at heart and full of happiness and contentment as contrasted with the desire to be rich and well-respected as so often appears to parodies of this kind.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beaumont, Francis. The Knight of the Burning Pestle. Ed. Rose de La Mans. The Golden
Stage Players, 1994.
In this twenty line passage from Francis Beaumont's 1607 comedic play The Knight of the Burning Pestle, the first person, narrative voice is that of Old Merrithought, the father of Jasper, a young and inexperienced apprentice who's madly in love with the Merchant's daughter. As a character, Old Merrithought brings much mirth and levity to Beaumont's farce, due to constantly singing songs of the olden times and making jokes about practically everything and everyone in the play. He is also very close to a Medieval court jester or jokester and believes that his witticisms reflect his ability to express bits of wisdom and intelligence. Basically, as shown in this passage, Old Merrithought is a hedonist with a penchant for food, drink, and "merryment" as expressed in his odd name which seems to be related to the Old English expression of "Methought" or "I think."
As Merrithought begins to sing this passage at the request of the Merchant's wife, the first two lines introduce a rather puzzling expression--"Who can sing a merrier note/Than he who cannot change a groat?" Through this question, Merrithought is admitting that he is not a wealthy man and would have some difficulty providing change for a groat, an English coin dating back to the 12th century and worth about four English pennies. Merrithought then speaks the next seven lines and mentions that he cannot even change a denier which according to the footnote was a French coin with very little value. Nonetheless, Merrithought is content with his lot in life, for he admits "my heart leaps" at being poor. He also expresses that despite not knowing where his wife and sons are and having nothing, "yet am I merry still." Overall, these sentiments are indicative of the typical court jester or jokester of "Merry Olde England" that can be found in many other plays from Beaumont's time during the reign of King James I.
Merrithought then begins to sing again and relates that he would never be a "serving man" or servant to a lord or lady of the court who carries the "cloak bag" or a type of parcel holding clothes; nor would he be a "falconer" or a person that trains and raises hawks and other birds of prey for sport or to help place food on the court's table. Once again, Merrithought is letting it be known that he prefers the life of a jester and is in some ways attempting to parody the society of the court, an attitude that prevails in many other plays written by Beaumont's contemporaries.
Merrithought reinforces this attitude by admitting that he prefers to eat and drink only the best available and is not willing to do any sort of work as payment for his food and drink. In effect, the significance of this lies in Merrithought's unwillingness to participate in what is generally accepted by the court as proper behavior, for he would much rather live a life full of "mirth" which keeps "life and soul together" via amusement and laughter.
Merrithought then references mirth as the "philosopher's stone" which "they write so much on," being playwrights like Christopher Marlowe with his "Tragical History of Dr. Faustus" which predates Beaumont's parody by ten years. In Medieval literature, the "philosopher's stone" was a magical potion or object that gave its owner supreme power over life and death and the wisdom of the ages. In this context, Merrithought is expressing the idea that mirth, amusement, and laughter is far more important than conventionality and that possessing mirth as a metaphor for the "philosopher's stone" should be sufficient for every man, due to keeping him young at heart and full of happiness and contentment as contrasted with the desire to be rich and well-respected as so often appears to parodies of this kind.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beaumont, Francis. The Knight of the Burning Pestle. Ed. Rose de La Mans. The Golden
Stage Players, 1994.