The Fair Maid of the Exchange

It tells the story of three wealthy brothers – Ferdinand, Anthony, and Frank – who find themselves enamoured of Phyllis, the fair maid, and vie for her affections.

[3] One fact in support of Heywood having written the play is that both Edward IV (1599) and If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody (1605) were originally published anonymously.

[4] A counter argument for Heywood as the author lies in that he was known to add his own prefaces, dedications, and a motto to his plays.

It is also conjecture that he wrote three scenes of the play and left the rest of the composition to a student of Shakespeare or Jonson.

While it is difficult to define what makes a play strictly Heywoodian, the playwright appears to have had a preoccupation with portraying the home and business lives of the English middle class of his time.

[6] Additionally, the division of 'dramatis personae' into 'Eleaven [who] may easily acte this comedie' is perhaps indicative of the 'division of labour' which would have been required for a travelling troupe.

It is a possibility, then, that Thomas Heywood wrote the play for the purposes of performing it with his travelling company – Worcester's Men.

Fair Maid of the Exchange will be performed at the American Shakespeare Center for the Actors' Renaissance Season in 2017.

Frank Golding initially ridicules their sentiments, until one day when he kisses her hand to bid her farewell and instantly falls in love with her.

In a very minor but relevant sub-plot Phyllis's father, Master Flower, happens upon Bobbington (the racketeer), who claims to be a sailor bound for the Barbary (or Berber) Coast and to be in need of £10.

The willing Flower eagerly accepts the offer, secretly hoping the sailor is late in returning – for he may then keep the stone – but unwittingly entangles himself in a misdeed.

True to form, Phyllis pledges her love for the cripple, who responds affirmatively, after which she gives him her ring as a symbol of their union.