Arden of Faversham

While she might conventionally be considered a main antagonist of the play, Alice’s morality is ambiguous and gray like that of her husband. There is evidence that Alice once held great affection for Arden, as she does for Mosby during the duration of the play. Women who exhibit Alice’s level of agency and autonomous sexuality are rarely depicted on the early modern stage as sympathetically as Alice: while the ends she goes to for love are unethical and extreme, her basic motivations are sympathetic, and her character is three-dimensional.

She both genuinely loves Mosby and genuinely loved Arden in the past. In Scene 1, she asks Arden why he rose from bed so early, and coyly suggests that “[h]ad I been ‘wake, you had not risen so soon” (1.59). Arden confirms her sexual innuendo, reminiscing on the frequency with which they “two, Ovid-like, / Had often chid the morning when it ‘gan to peep” (1.60-61). Arden’s allusion is to the Roman poet Ovid, whose Amores include a lover’s rebuke of the dawn that interrupts his lovemaking. Alice and Arden’s past relationship recalls such a dynamic: Alice relies on their past passion to continue to fool Arden, while Arden wants to reclaim that passion so badly that he is easily fooled.

Within the play, Alice’s affections have transferred fully to Mosby. She regularly assures Mosby, “you know who’s master of my heart (1.639), when his suspicions flare up. She is regularly forward in her sexual advances toward Mosby. When he says that he will not importune Alice, she declares that “[t]hou shalt not need; I will importune thee” (1.432). As a woman in early modern England with little social power, Alice wields her sexuality as one of the only tools at her disposal. For Alice, Female Sexuality and Autonomy go hand in hand. Exercising sexuality is synonymous with autonomy.

At the end of the play, Alice expresses more remorse for her actions than any other character. When Arden’s blood will not scrub out of the floor, she expresses regret over the murder. When Mosby asks her if she is well, she answers, “Ay, well, if Arden were alive again! […] My husband’s death torments me at the heart” (14.255, 264). She continues her repentance into her final moments, using her final words to hope that her “death make amends for all [her] sins” (18.33).

Mosby is a former tailor who has risen into the service of a nobleman. He is carrying on an affair with Alice. Like Arden and Alice, Mosby demonstrates a grey morality rather than being a simple antagonist. While he is at times deceptive and suspicious—and, like almost all the play’s characters, exhibits Immorality for Individual Gain—he also retains some vestiges of honor and genuinely cares for his sister, Susan.

Mosby tends to be suspicious, which leads him to acts of deception. When he enters in Scene 1, he tricks Alice into thinking he has lost his affection to test her love. When her temper flares, he says, “now I see / That which I ever feared and find too true” (1.205-206). He suspected her of using him and believes she confirms his suspicions. He is also occasionally self-conscious of his and Alice’s class differences. In Scene 8, he mockingly tells Alice, “We beggars must not breathe where gentles are” (8.139). Based on Alice’s reaction, it is likely Mosby says this to goad her into soothing his ego.

Even though he is carrying on an affair with a married woman, Mosby tells Alice he won’t transgress her marriage vows. It is unclear whether this is due to a moral principle or merely serves as motivation to murder Arden more quickly. Though Alice lectures him on the changeability of oaths, Mosby doubles down on his promise: “Yet, by your leave / I’ll keep mine unbroken whilst [Arden] lives” (1.439-440).

Mosby’s most lasting allegiance is to his sister, Susan. On one hand, he is quick to use her hand in marriage as a pawn to entice Clarke to sell him poison. After Clarke asks Susan to marry him, Mosby continues to disregard Susan’s agency to her face, telling Clarke, “[y]ou see my sister’s yet at my dispose” (1.605) to ensure Clarke’s continued cooperation. However, at the end of the play, the only character whose fate Mosby grieves for is Susan: “For thee I mourn more than for myself” (18.21). Mosby’s last words are to grieve for Susan. Like Michael, Mosby is ready to meet his fate: “But bear me hence, for I have lived too long” (18.35).

Franklin is a central secondary character. He is Arden’s confidant and best friend, is key to the condemnation of the murderers, and is one of the only characters to survive to the Epilogue. He is loyal to Edward Seymour, who is the Duke of Somerset as well as King Edward VI’s Lord Protector and uncle. Arden obtains the deed to Faversham Abbey because of Franklin’s close ties to the crown.

Franklin is a loyal friend who is rarely apart from Arden. He accompanies Arden throughout England and often serves as his confidant. He tries to be Arden’s voice of rationality. Even though his advice is always theoretically sound, so many forces are working toward Arden’s murder that he is often wrong. For instance, when Arden confesses his worries about Alice and Mosby in Scene 1, Franklin tells him that “[n]o nobleman will count’nance such a peasant” (1.31). Theoretically, this advice makes sense, as noblewomen usually aspire to marry up rather than down, but in practice, Arden has much to be worried over. Similarly, Franklin instructs Arden not to put stock into his dream about being hunted like a deer. Though he admits that one in twenty dreams can be believed, this one “’tis but a mockery” (6.40). The audience knows that Arden has reason to fear that he is being hunted, making Franklin’s measured words rich with dramatic irony.

At the end of the play, Franklin is key in discovering Arden’s body and condemning Alice and Mosby. He takes note of Alice’s continual crying, which piques his suspicion. Franklin discovers Arden’s body and brings the company inside Faversham Abbey news of his death along with the bloody towel and knife. Though Franklin is Arden’s best friend, he condemns Arden’s actions in the Epilogue, telling the audience that they should particularly take note of how Arden died on land he held by force and violence. Franklin is perhaps the most morally measured character in the play.

Michael is the Ardens’ servant and is in a love triangle with Susan and Clarke. He is a side character with a complicated morality. He conspires to murder Arden to win Susan, thus exhibiting Immorality for Individual Gain. He even plans to murder his brother to own “the farm of Boughton” for himself (1.173) and be more successful than his competitor for Susan’s hand, Clarke.

Yet, more than any other character, Michael expresses doubt about his role in the murder. Even though he has made a promise to Alice, “my master’s kindness pleads to me for life / With just demand, and I must grant it him” (4.63-64). It is the compound effect of his promise to Alice and his fear of retribution by Will and Shakebag— “two rougher ruffians never lived in Kent” (4.70), remarks Michael—that keep him in line with the plan.

Even though he resolves to aid the murderers, Michael tries to absent himself from potential murder scenes. By the end of the play, he has grown paranoid and erratic. Both Will and Susan think that he will betray them. In a roundabout way, they are right, as the bloody hand towel and knife that Michael forgets to hide become key in condemning them. He is eventually sentenced to death along with Alice and the rest of the conspirators. In his last words, Michael does not care about living any longer. After hearing his sentencing, he says, “Faith, I care not, seeing I die with Susan” (18.37). These lines could potentially be played for comedy or tragedy, depending on the actor playing Michael.

Susan is Mosby’s sister and a maid in Alice’s household. From the first scene, Susan’s hand in marriage is used as a bargaining chip to compel Michael and Clarke to collaborate in murdering Arden. Alice promises Michael, “None shall have Mosby’s sister but thyself” (1.148), while Mosby promises Clarke that “my sister shall be thine” (1.261). Susan is never consulted about her potential husband, and before the murder scene, she is only seen on stage briefly.

After Arden is murdered, Alice commands Susan to “fetch water and wash away this blood” (14.248). Though Susan had no part in plotting Arden’s murder, Alice makes her an accessory after the fact. Though her appearance is brief, Susan is simultaneously the most repentant and logical character in the play. While helping Alice move Arden’s body, she says, “my brother, you, and I shall rue this deed” (14.326). She then asks Alice if they should cover up their footprints in the snow. Alice dismisses Susan’s concern, but these footprints become a key factor in the conspirators’ condemnation.

Susan’s last words are to ask her brother why she should be punished when she did not know of the crime until after the fact, and then to express her hope in heaven since she has no hope left on earth. Along with Bradshaw, Susan is the character whose death the audience might find most regrettable.

Clarke is a painter whom Mosby recruits to aid in his and Alice’s murder plot. Mosby introduces Clarke to Alice as “[t]he only cunning man of Christendom” (1.228), due to his ability to mix poison and to make paintings that kill their viewer. Mosby and Alice initially find this a dangerous method of murder and ask for poison instead. After the failure of this and several other attempts, they eventually grow desperate and commission a deadly painting anyway.

Clarke, like Michael, is quick to exhibit immorality for material gain—specifically for the right to Susan’s hand in marriage. Clarke is less naïve than Michael in that he knows the legal consequences of being caught planning to kill Arden. He tells Alice, “Rather than you’ll live with whom you hate / You’ll venture life and die with whom you love. / The like will I do for my Susan’s sake” (1.270-272). Clarke is aware of the consequences of their plot, but for him, being with the woman he loves is worth it.

Though he attempts to win Susan’s hand by unethical means, Clarke genuinely respects her. After being promised her hand by Mosby, Clarke goes to Susan to ask to marry her. When Mosby asks Susan about Clarke, she says, “haply we be grown unto a match” (1.602), indicating that she returns Clarke’s affections to some degree. According to the Epilogue, Clarke flees and evades execution.

Greene is one of the conspirators who plans on killing Arden. Though not nobility himself, he is loyal to Sir Anthony Aucher, a member of the gentry who was knighted by Edward VI. His relationship with Arden illustrates the theme of Class Tension and Social Mobility. Greene believes Arden has enough wealth even without the abbey lands. Greene thought that his relationship with Aucher would make King Edward sign the deed to Faversham Abbey to him, and he bears ill will to Arden for manipulating his way into possession of the abbey despite Greene’s former claim.

When Alice tells Greene that Arden deals her “hard words, and blows” (1.495), he immediately vows to help her take Arden’s life in exchange for the abbey lands. Even though Greene is one of the many characters who commit immorality for material gain, he does not desire to be involved with the murder. He pays Will and Shakebag to take care of the crime and absents himself when a murder attempt is taking place. He is not in the party that kills Arden but arrives at Faversham Abbey with the guests after. Though he helps the conspirators move the body, he is not condemned on stage. The Epilogue reports that he was hanged in Ospringe, a town near Faversham.

Black Will is one of the ruffians Greene hires to murder Arden. He is considerably more vocal and poetically inclined than his companion Shakebag, and often receives more attention from other characters for it. For instance, when Alice is speaking to the ruffians, she ends up only addressing Will: “Come, Black Will, that in mine eyes art fair. / Next unto Mosby do I honor thee” (14.106-107). Will thrives under such attention. He tells Alice that not only will he complete the murder, but he will do so “bravely, too” (14.111).

Will also garners more infamy and negative attention than Shakebag. When Bradshaw warns Greene about the duo, he initially warns him only about Will. He tells Greene that when he and Will served together in the army, he gained a reputation for killing men for a low price.

Will is the only character in Scene 17. He says that while Shakebag has sought sanctuary, Will is still pursued “with hues and cries” (17.2). He plans to take refuge in the Netherlands, but the Epilogue states that Will is burned at the stake there, presumably for additional crimes.

George Shakebag, along with Black Will, is one of the ruffians hired by Greene to murder Arden. Though they are always together, Shakebag has a smaller role than Will. As he notes, he is not as good a speaker as Will: “I cannot paint my valour out with words” (3.101). He is often seen as Will’s sidekick or is overlooked entirely. Perhaps because of this, Shakebag often picks fights with Will. He teases Will for expressing drowsiness as they prepare to break into the house Arden is staying at in Scene 5, telling Will that his “speech bewrayed an inly kind of fear / And savored of a weak, relenting spirit” (5.27-28). Later, he quarrels with Will again over the respective value of the things they have stolen in their careers. He says that “should I brag of booties I have took” (9.14), it would total more than the value of Will and his entire family.

Along with Will, Shakebag provides slapstick-style comedic relief. He fits the archetype of the buffoonish, braggadocious low-born comedic character. In Scene 12, as the characters wind their way through a misty swamp, Shakebag falls into a ditch and returns covered in mud. When the conspirators are stabbing Arden, Shakebag stabs him and says, “there’s for the ten pound in my sleeve” (14.230), providing a moment of dark comedy to a grisly scene. In the Epilogue, we learn that Shakebag was eventually murdered.

Bradshaw is a goldsmith and a friend of Greene. He formerly did military service with Will in France, though Will was a corporal and Bradshaw a common soldier. Bradshaw is one of the play’s innocent characters. Will hints that Bradshaw may have a past as a minor thief in the army, and Bradshaw says, “Ay, Will, those days are past with me” (2.25). When Bradshaw enters in Scene 2, he tells Greene and Will how he has been falsely accused of theft and is on his way to catch the real thief. Unbeknownst to Bradshaw, Greene makes Bradshaw an accessory to crime by asking him to deliver a letter to Alice, which contains information about the murder plot.

In Scene 14, Bradshaw is put to trial with the rest of the conspirators, even though he claims, and Alice confirms, that he had no idea what was in the letter Greene asked him to deliver. His last words are to curse the men who unfairly condemned him to death.