thumb|Title page of Eastward Hoe

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, 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 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 Gertude'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 Gertude 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).

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 Aspley 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.

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). In August 1605, when the play premiered, King James I was travelling to Oxford with courtiers including the Lord Chamberlain "whose permission should have been obtained before the comedy was performed." Staging boldly satirical plays without licence had been done before by playing companies, but this instance seems to have gone too far and caused a significant scandal.

Release from prison

Between late August and early September, Jonson and Chapman wrote urgent letters to friends, petitioning for their intervention. Among the names addressed in their letters were Earl of Suffolk, Lord Aubigny (the King's cousin Esmé Stuart), Earl of Pembroke, the Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Salisbury (Robert Cecil), and even King James himself. the play was performed at the Swan Theatre in 2002 with a positive critical reception.

See also

  • The Isle of Dogs
  • The Isle of Gulls
  • The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles, Duke of Byron
  • A Game at Chess
  • The Court Beggar

References

  • Eastward Ho online
  • Digital Facsimile of the Quarto at the British Library