Chapter VI: Appendix: I. the Small Actor in Massinger’s Plays

There are several passages in our author in which reference is made to the low stature of the actor of a female part.

_Duke of Milan_, II., 1, 108: Graccho, speaking of Mariana:

Of a little thing,
It is so full of gall!

II., 1, 156:

MARCELIA. For you, puppet—

MARIANA. What of me, pine-tree?

172:

MARIANA. O that I could reach you,
The little one you scorn so.

177:

GRACCHO. Forty ducats
Upon the little hen.

181:

MARCELIA. Where are you,
You modicum, you dwarf?

MARIANA. Here, giantess, here.

188:

MARIANA. Or right me on this monster (she’s three foot
Too high for a woman).

_Bondman_, I., 2, 3: Cleon, speaking to Corisca:

Beauty invites temptations, and short heels
Are soon tripp’d up.

(This passage may have another interpretation.)

_Renegado_, I., 2, 9: Manto, speaking of Paulina:

And though low of stature,
Her well-proportion’d limbs invite affection.

II., 5, 159: Asambeg, of Paulina:

Such a spirit,
In such a small proportion, I ne’er read of.

V., 2, 62: Carazie, of Paulina:

I would he had sent me
To the gallies or the gallows, when he gave me
To this proud little devil.

V., 3, 174: Mustapha, of Paulina:

A terrible little tyranness!

_Parliament of Love_, V., 1, 86: Perigot, of Leonora:

A confident little pleader.

_Roman Actor_, IV., 1, 15: Domitilla, referring to Domitia:

Who no sooner absent.
But she calls Dwarf! (so in her scorn she styles me)
Put on my pantofles, fetch pen and paper.

V., 2, 5: Domitilla speaks:

Could I make my approaches, though my stature
Does promise little, I have a spirit as daring
As hers that can reach higher.

_Picture_, I., 1, 96: Corisca speaks:

Your hand, or if you please
To have me fight so high, I’ll not be coy,
But stand a-tiptoe for’t.

III., 2, 27: Ricardo to Corisca:

Pretty one, I descend
To take the height of your lip.

II., 2, 197: And Pallas, bound up in a little volume.

_Emperor of the East_, II., 1, 388: Theodosius to Athenais:

By thyself,
The magazine of felicity, in thy lowness
Our eastern queens, at their full height, bow to thee.

_Maid of Honour_, I., 2, 46: Sylli to Camiola:

Nor I, your little ladyship, till you have
Perform’d the covenants.

II., 2, 117: Fulgentio to Camiola:

Of a little thing
You are a pretty peat, indifferent fair too.

_Maid of Honour_, IV., 3, 83:

BERTOLDO. Since she alone, in the abstract of herself,
That small but ravishing substance, comprehends
Whatever is, or can be wish’d, in the
Idea of a woman!

_The Bashful Lover_, I., 1, 116:

HORTENSIO. My little friend, good morrow.

(_Cf._ III., 1, 28, where “Ascanio” has to be carried.)

The part of Domitilla was taken by I. Hunniman; that of Paulina by Theo. Bourne; that of Corisca (in _The Picture_) by W. Trigge. It would appear, therefore, that these references are not all due to the stature of any one individual actor, but that Massinger took care to have actors of different height brought into juxtaposition in his plays. He may here be copying the well-known passages in _Midsummer Night’s Dream_ (III., 2, 288-298, 324, 329). _Cf._ also _Antony and Cleopatra_, II., 5, 118; III., 3, 13; _Much Ado_, I., 1, 172 and 216; _As You Like It_, I., 2, 284; _Twelfth Night_, I., 5, 219; II., 5, 16; _King Lear_, I., 1, 201. _Cf._ Bradley’s _Shakspearean Tragedy_, p. 317, n. 1.

In Dekker’s _Honest Whore_, Pt. 2. III., 1, the heroine, Bellafront, is “a little tiny woman.” So are Pretiosa in Middleton’s _Spanish Gipsy_ (I., 5), and Isabella in _Women, beware Women_ (III., 2). _Cf._ also _The Case is Altered_ (III., 3), “’Fore God, the taller is a gallant lady.” We find the same idea in _The Fair Maid of the West_, II., 3; III., 1, 2. Celestina, in Shirley’s _Lady of Pleasure_ (III., 2), is “a puppet.” Spaconia in _A King and no King_ (III., 1) is “that little one”; Viola in _The Coxcomb_ (V., 3) is “not high.” _Cf._ also _The Prophetess_ (I., 3, 59), a play which bears many marks of Massinger’s work:

DIOCLESIAN. Thou know’st she is a prophetess.

MAXIMINIAN. A small one,
And as small profit to be hoped for by her.

_The Spanish Curate_ (V., 1, 37), Jamie to Violante:

In stature you’re a giantess: and your tailor
Takes measures of you with a Jacob’s staff
Or he can never reach you: this by the way
For your large size.

_Love’s Cure_ (V., 3), Bobadillo to Lucio, speaking about Clara:

I put the longest weapon in your sister’s hand, my lord, because
she was the shortest lady.

_The Sea Voyage_ (IV., 3): MORILLAT: “This little gentlewoman that was taken with us,” referring to Aminta. As Cleopatra in _The False One_ (II., 3) arrives in a parcel, she must have been small. Margarita in _Rule a Wife_ (III., 4) is “of a low stature.” Ismenia in _The Maid of the Mill_ “was of the lowest stature” (I., 2); _cf._ also V., 2, 7. Evanthe in _A Wife for a Month_, IV., 3 is “this little fort.” _Cf._ also _The Noble Gentleman_, IV., 3.