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The Starmaker wrote:
>
> She kills them with kindness!
>
> I'm speechless.
>
>
> The Starmaker
>
> Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.
> --Blanche DuBois
Yup, now we do it and are not done by it:
Quote:
A WOMAN KILLED WITH KINDNESS
a synopsis of the play by Thomas Heywood
This document was originally published in Minute History of the Drama.
Alice B. Fort & Herbert S. Kates. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1935.
p. 55.
MISTRESS ANNE FRANKFORD is a paragon of grace, beauty and all wifely
virtues, while her husband, Master John, is kindness itself and deeply
in love with his new wife. All this augers well for a long and happy
married life. But Master Frankford foolishly takes into his household
Master Wendoll, an impoverished gentleman to whom he has taken a
liking. Master Wendoll is unable to resist the charms of his friend's
wife and persuades her to accept him as a lover.
Meanwhile, Mistress Frankford's brother, Sir Francis Acton, quarrels
with Sir Charles Mountford over a wager. In the heat of anger, Sir
Charles kills two of Sir Francis' men and is thrown into prison. It
takes his entire patrimony, excepting only the family estate to pay
damages and win release. Even then the murder charge still hangs over
him.
One, Cramwell, pretending friendship, offers Sir Charles a sum of money
to rehabilitate his fortunes. This gift turns out to be merely a ruse
to force Sir Charles to sell the estate. When he refuses, yet cannot
return Cromwell's money, he is again put in irons.
Meanwhile, Sir Francis has fallen in love with Sir Charles' sister,
Susan. She, however, scorns both his addresses and his proffers of
help. Although he cannot forward his suit with the lady, Sir Francis
magnanimously pays all Sir Charles' debts and drops the charge of
murder. When investigation shows Sir Charles to whom he owes his
release, he persuades his sister to pay his obligations by offering Sir
Francis her honor, never dreaming Sir Francis would accept a dowerless
bride. When Sir Francis refuses to take Susan except as his wife, she
is feign to relent and love him for his generous spirit. Thus the two
families are reconciled.
Meanwhile, of course, Master Frankford discovers his wife's infidelity
and banishes her from his sight to one of his manors several miles
away. Here she has all the material comforts but starves herself to
death in remorse. Just before she dies, her brother and his bride, with
other mutual friends, persuade Master Frankford to see his wife once
more. Convinced of the sincerity of her repentance, he acknowledges her
again as his wife, and all agree that it was his extreme kindness that
showed her the enormity of her offense and made her resolve to kill
herself. As a final token of esteem her husband promises a tribute of
his forgiveness on her gravestone."
Melanie
http://melaniesands.itgo.com
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