Mr. Limberham; or, the Kind Keeper

About the show

Dryden's play bears significant parallels to his friend George Etherege's 1676 production The Man of Mode; both feature a man whose sexual attraction is so great (Woodall), that an intelligent and moral woman (Ms Pleasance) is willing to engage in an affair with him. He mentions working on the play in a letter dated October 1677, while a number of references, including one to the French general François de Créquy, date his revisions to 1679. The terms 'Mistress' and 'Keeper' implied a sexual relationship between an unmarried woman, the Mistress, and her male lover or 'Keeper', who supports her financially. Society at the time made a clear distinction between kept mistresses and prostitutes, several of whom appear as minor characters in the play; in Annus Mirabilis, Dryden suggested Charles II's multiple mistresses demonstrated his generosity of spirit, rather than immorality. The main characters include: Mr Woodall: a young, wealthy and amoral aristocrat Ms Judith: unmarried, servant of Mrs. Brainsick, seduced by Woodall Mrs. Brainsick: married to Mr. Brainsick, seduced by Woodall Ms Tricksy: Limberham's 'Mistress', who is seduced by Woodall Mr Limberham: Ms. Tricksy's 'Keeper', whom he later marries Ms Saintly: a widow, agrees to be seduced by Woodall who asks Gervase to stand in for him so he can sleep with Ms Pleasance Mr Gervase: Woodall's servant, who takes his place with Ms Saintly and marries her Ms Pleasance: Woodall's prospective bride (unknown to both of them) but who is willing to be seduced by him Mr Brainsick: husband to Mrs Brainsick, who remains unaware of her affair with Woodall Mr Aldo: a widower, who discovers he is Woodall's father Woodall first seduces the maidservant Judith, followed by Ms Tricksy, then Mrs. Brainsick; he asks his servant Gervase to take his place with Ms Saintly, a widow and is about to bed Ms Pleasance when he discovers she is his intended bride. While the female characters are all aware of each other's relationships with Woodall, the men are not, with the exception of Aldo; he supports Woodall in his seductions, arguing that he did the same when young and later discovers he is Woodall's father. At the end of the play, a series of marriages are agreed; Woodall to Ms Pleasance, Gervase to Ms Saintly and Limberham to Tricksy, while Brainsick is happily unaware that his wife was seduced. It finishes with Woodall telling the audience to find a woman who can be both a "wife and mistress".