Anthony Munday’s The Downfall of Robert, Earle of Huntington
Like many of our readings in ENG 202, the Munday is available both through the Syllabus Service and directly from the TEAMS editions website (since the Syllabus Service has cleared our copyright usage to include these readings, we can also freely use the excellent web edition). But in this case, I’m only assigning an excerpt. So please follow these instructions carefully:
Read Scenes 1-3 (lines 1-429) at the online TEAMS edition of Downfall (click here).
Read the following summaries of Scenes 4-8:
In Scene 4, Little John stands up against the king’s Sheriff and his men, including Warman, when they stop him and demand to search through his property. Warman’s wife enters and, after Little John insults her, demands that they attack him; Little John defeats some of them, but then Prince John, entering with the Prior of York and the Bishop of Ely (who, while King Richard I has left England to go lead the Crusades, is currently Regent -- that is, temporary ruler -- of England), tells Warman that there is no point in going after a lowly servant like Little John, that Robin is their real target. Warman’s wife accuses Little John of conspiring with Much to take property that wasn’t theirs; Much suddenly appears and trades insults. Ely cuts them off and dismisses Much and Little John, then promotes Warman, making him Sheriff of Nottingham.
In Scene 5, Robin enters in disguise. Prince John approaches him, pretending not to recognize him; Robin pretends not to know he has been recognized. The Queen and Marian enter, disguised as each other (according to the Queen’s plan from Scene 3); the Queen tells Marian she’ll approach Robin and tell him their plan, but instead (according to the Queen’s secret plan from Scene 3), she approaches him and, continuing to pretend to be Marian, tries to get him to take her with him as his lover. Robin, aware of all these plans, pretends to be disgusted by Marian (who is really the Queen in disguise) and to want nothing to do with her, pledging his loyalty instead to the Queen (who is really Marian in disguise) and riding off with her. It takes a while for Prince John to realize that the Marian who remains behind is not the object of his obsessive love, but is actually the disguised Queen (his mother); when she reveals her true identity, he berates her for ruining his plan with her plan. Prince John is furious, and when a messenger from the Bishop of Ely arrives, the Prince punches him. The Messenger goes and gets the Earl of Leicester, who encourages Prince John to pursue his hatred of Ely in subtler ways. Suddenly, Lord Lacy (Marian’s father) bursts in, arguing with Hugh Lacy, incensed that the outlaw Robin has taken away his daughter; they accuse Hugh of conspiring in Marian’s departure, and Prince John stabs Hugh. The Bishop of Ely and others come in, and try to arrest the Prince for the murder; Prince John produces papers sent by King Richard I (his brother) that, he says, transfer the Regency from Ely to Prince John. Upon Prince John’s exit, Ely and his friends conspire against him.
In Scene 6, after bringing Marian (who is now called Matilda) to meet Little John and Much in the forest, and talking to them about how Warman (the Sheriff of Nottingham) has been pursuing their friends Scarlet and Scathlock, Robin splits off from the group when he sees Friar Tuck walking with Warman’s servant (or son?) Ralph, whom he approaches. Friar Tuck comments on how attractive he thinks Matilda is, but then forgets his part (he is supposed to be played by John Skelton, remember, from Scene 1) and starts reciting Skeltonic poetry, until Little John (who is played by Eltham) stops him and tells him to exit, which he does. Back in character, Little John and Robin judge Friar Tuck a good man.
In Scene 7, Warman (the Sheriff of Nottingham) and his men have caught and tied up Scarlet and Scathlock, and Friar Tuck is attending them to give them a blessing and receive their sacramental confession before they are executed. But Robin approaches, in the disguise of an old man, and accuses Scarlet and Scathlock of killing his son—he demands he chance to take revenge on them with his own sword before they are executed, so Warman has his men untie the captives. As soon as they do, Robin blows his horn, a signal that summons Little John and Much, who help Robin, Scarlet, and Scathlock fight Warman’s men—and Friar Tuck helps the outlaws too, pretending vaguely to still be on Warman’s side. The outlaws get away and Friar Tuck bids them a secret farewell.
In Scene 8, Prince John enters with Lord Salisbury and Lord Lacy (whose name is now changed to Lord Fitzwater), boasting that his enemy, Ely, must be dead. They are met by the Queen, Lord Chester, and Warman, who say they have not been able to find Ely. All who are present swear and confirm their favour of Prince John taking the Regency from Ely. Suddenly, two Colliers enter, yelling madly that they have discovered a monster, a witch—the witch-monster turns out to be the captured Bishop of Ely, dressed in women’s clothes. Prince John has Warman vaguely arrest Ely as a traitor, and sends them off. Then Prince John tries to leverage Lord Fitzwater (Marian/Matilda’s father) to go and bring Marian/Matilda out of exile, to save her from Robin's fate, and marry him instead. Fitzwater is offended at Prince John’s obvious ploy for his unwilling daughter, and the two men fight; Fitzwater wins just as the Queen and Lords return, hesitating to kill Prince John because he is the true king's brother. they all turn on Fitzwater and declare him an outlaw, sending him into exile.
Read Scenes 9-10 (lines 1258-1466) at the online TEAMS edition of Downfall (click here). That takes us to just about the halfway point of Downfall. It continues on from there into still more convoluted twists and turns of backstory, coming to a total of 2840 lines (compare to Twelfth Night, which is 2462, and A Gest of Robin Hood, which is 1824); Munday follows this play with a second play, The Death of Robert, Earle of Huntington, a 3053-line sequel (!), also produced in 1599. If you want to take a look at the full, uncut script of Downfall, you are welcome to do so through the online TEAMS edition.
But I'll only assign you to read one more short passage from it, another moment when Skelton (the early sixteenth-century poet, here fictionalized as the actor playing Friar Tuck) and Eltham (the actor playing Little John) break character in the middle of the action: read lines 2208-2247 at the online TEAMS edition of Downfall (click here).