Mistress Quickly

Mistress Quickly

I like Mistress Quickly a lot.  She has pulled herself up from her bootstraps, left a life of possible prostitution behind her and has given herself over to run Dr. Caius' house.  There, she quickly finds out that she isn't paid enough, has to do more work than she thought possible and isn't nearly as happy as she thought she might be.

She has many wonderful characteristics.  She's warm (for a price), cunning (for a price).  She's involved with both the A-plot and the B-plot, being the go-between for the different parties.  She's a bit of a busybody, but has a good heart.  She takes both praise and insult with dignity.  I'd like to say grace, but she isn't afraid to give it back at someone even though she knows her place.



I can't tell if her matchmaking tendencies are purely money-driven or if she has an altruistic heart somewhere down there.  She certainly seems to want to make everybody happy.  She at times is take with Fenton's plight, but is that because she likes him, or is interested in him.  And why, of all people, does she have the key to Anne's heart and mind.  It would seem she would likely be the last person in town to do so.  You would think her parents would disapprove.  This is as much a testament to Quickly's character as it is theirs.  The characters want to like her and do.

The audience should love her.  She has a lot of comedy in her scenes and she is brassy and ballsy.  She gets more than her fair share of the naught humor, and a lot of it is based in her malaprops.  I have never played a role that had so many malaprops.  I question how to play this.  I'm not sure how to coach the actor to make sure the audience knows that what she is saying is a mistake; while still the character doesn't know that.  This will be even more difficult because of the language barrier in the audience's mind.

A character named Quickly is in all four plays of the Henriad.  There is much debate on whether it is the same character throughout or not.  In Henry IV Part 1, the married Hostess of an Inn in Eastcheap is named Quickly; the inn caters to the dark underbelly of London, life Falstaff.  She returns in 2 Henry IV, and we learn a bit more about her--she was "engaged" to Falstaff, but he abandoned her, taking all of her money.  In Henry V, she is again the hostess of an Inn in Eastcheap and was the object of affection of both Pistol and Nym, having caused a rift in their friendship when Pistol married her.  She dies between acts from syphilis.

The popular consensus is that these are two different Quicklys--perhaps sisters or cousins.  And that one is in the two Henry IV plays and the other is in Merry Wives and Henry V.  I don't like that.  I like the arc of the character--from prostitute to married Hostess to widowed Hostess to cozened by Falstaff to prostitution in Windsor (?) to becoming Dr Cauis' housekeeper to marrying Pistol to owning a new Inn in Eastcheap to ignominious death.

There are certain things that work against that.  In Merry Wives there seems to be no recognition of Quickly by Falstaff.  That is easy to counter simply by stating Falstaff was a drunk, and his memory cannot be two keen; plus what better way to get a debt forgiven than pretend to forget it.  Pistol also doesn't seem to know her in Merry Wives, even though he falls in love with her completely after their first scene together; they only spend time together later as a part of the fairy band.  In Henry V they are married.  They do share a small scene in 2 Henry IV but the focus is on other business and not their potential as a couple.  Though Quickly does state that she does not like a "swaggerer", which sums up Pistol nicely.

However, the rhythms, language and characteristics of the Quicklys are extremely similar.  They are both funny, and use some of the same phrasings.   None of the other plays gives Quickly as much dialogue as in Merry Wives for there to be a good comparison.  They are warm and considerate of their friends:  in 2 Henry IV, Quickly's last scene is rushing to the prostitute Doll Tearsheet's defense as she is being carted off for murder, perhaps sacrificing herself in honor of her friend.  Both Quicklys are also quick to give as well as they get from their attackers.  It's purely personal, but I like to see all of the Quicklys be the same person, just like all the Falstaffs, Bardolphs, Pistols, Nyms and Shallows.

Falstaff and Quickly

Quickly meets with Meg and Alice

Quickly, Falstaff, Bardolph and Robin

Fairies ATTACK!!

Costumes:
--Housekeeper/servant dress in white and black with a v-neck for access to money tucking.
--Queen of the Fairy costume (not white, green or blue is possible)--robe, headpiece, feathers, etc.