''The Play called the foure PP; a newe and a very mery interlude of a palmer, a pardoner, a potycary, a pedler'' or ''The Four PP'' (pronounced "pees", plural of the name of the letter P) is an

interlude Interlude may refer to: *a short play or, in general, any representation between parts of a larger stage production *''Entr'acte'', a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production *a section in a movement of a musical piece, se ...

John Heywood John Heywood ( – ) was an English writer known for his plays, poems, and collection of proverbs. Although he is best known as a playwright, he was also active as a musician and composer, though no musical works survive. A devout Catholic, he ...

written around 1530 that relates the tale of four men whose trades begin with the letter P. The characters in the play include two churchmen (a Pardoner and a

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and f ...

), a medieval pharmacist (an

aPothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...

), and a Pedlar. The play has no female characters.

Plot

The four characters introduce themselves and quarrel. To settle the argument, the Pedlar challenges them to hold a competition of lying. With Pedlar as the judge, the man with the unsurmountable lie would have mastery over the others. Pardoner starts by boasting about his relics since he is licensed to sell papal indulgences. The Pothecary begins by telling in crude details his marvelous cure. The tale has many bawdy elements. The Pardoner relates the tale of his visit to hell and how he witnessed the frustration of Lucifer and his company with one of his neighbours Margery Corson and would gladly get rid of her. They request the Pardoner to make sure (through the use of his pardons) that no more women are sent to hell. At last, the Palmer, accepting the tale of the Pardoner as plausible, tops the lies off by stating that he has never seen "any one woman out of patience". This way, he is the winner of the competition.

Criticism

Greg Walker has argued that the lack of plot (for example, in Four PP where as soon as the Palmer has mastery over the Pardoner and Pothecary, he gives it up) has a lot to do with Heywood's political views. As these plays can logically be assumed to have been performed in the presence of the king on at least one occasion, it is a very fruitful reading of the plays to consider the ways in which Heywood is in fact arguing for a peaceful resolution to the conflicts caused by events leading up to the schism of 1531.

References

External links

''The Four PP''
audio version at Beyond Shakespeare * ''The Play called the Four PP'' complete text at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Four PP 1530s plays Medieval drama