Respectable Citizens

Although many argue that Beaumont uses the Citizen and his Wife to critique London’s audiences, these two obnoxious, yet highly symbolic, characters represent the growing respect for London citizenry. Beaumont places the Citizen and his Wife directly on stage, allowing them to place input and commentary on the actions occurring in the play. This seat on stage is normally reserved for high class and wealthy aristocrats. This simple, but insightful, difference clues the reader into the elevated status Beaumont grants these citizens.

Even the character Rafe depicts and portrays in the play demonstrates how everyday normal citizens are respected in The Knight of the Burning Pestle. Rafe, the apprentice to the Citizen, acts out the part of the knight, and although the character seems silly and quite obvious, his actions are noble and sincere.

In Act III, readers witness Rafe’s greatest victory yet, the triumph and fight with the giant, Barber. In a particular scene right before Rafe fights the Barber, the Citizen and Wife stop the appearance of Mistress Merrythought to the stage. Not only in this scene do Citizen and Wife seem to control the order of the scenes, but they are genuinely concerned with the giant and his effect on his victims, for the Wife says, “Mistress Merrythought, if it please you to refrain your passion a little till Rafe have dispatched the giant out of the way, we shall think ourselves much bound to you” (page 115, Lines 290-292). Although their interference seems unnecessary, for the play or characters are not real or harmful, this concern of the citizens says a lot of their character as people. They both are constantly worried about Rafe throughout the play, especially during the giant scene. Beaumont undoubtedly sketches a realistic portrait of the London citizen in The Knight of the Burning Pestle. He gives more raw emotion and feeling to the citizens, making them both more relatable and charming than an aristocratic character.