In a speech suffused with verbal irony, the intelligent and urbane Edward insults his naive cousin Stephen while seemingly complimenting him, using a series of metaphors related to metal to suggest that his cousin is of little value:
A wight that (hitherto) his every step hath left the stamp of a great foot behind him, as every word the savour of a strong spirit! And he! This man! So graced, gilded, or (to use a more fit metaphor) so tin-foiled by nature, as not ten housewives' pewter (again' a good time) shows more bright to the world than he! And he (as I said last, so I say again, and still shall say it)-this man!-to conceal such real ornaments as these, and shadow their glory, as a milliner's wife does her wrought stomacher, with a smoky lawn, or a black cyprus?
First, he praises his cousin with ironic hyperbole, suggesting that he leaves a “great” footprint behind him with every step he takes and that his every word conveys his “strong spirit.” Then, he describes his cousin as “gilded” or covered in an outer layer of gold. This apparent compliment masks an insult, as something that is “gilded” is not truly composed of gold all throughout. However, Edward develops his insult further, suggesting that Stephen is not even gilded but rather “tin-foiled” by nature, substituting gold for a cheaper and less valuable form of metal. Here, the quality of a metal metaphorically represents a person’s own quality and authenticity; Stephen is merely covered in tin-foil, shining less brightly than the polished “pewter” of lower class housewives. Stephen, raised in the countryside, is less clever than his cousin and fails to catch these insults.
In a scene suffused with dramatic irony, Knowell, who has been attempting to follow his son through the city, accuses Brainworm of treachery while speaking to a poor veteran whom he has employed. Knowell, however, does not realize that he is making this accusation to Brainworm himself, in disguise:
KNOWELL
Oh, here he is! You've made fair speed, believe me:
Where, i' the name of sloth, could you be thusBRAINWORM
Marry, peace be my comfort, where I thought I should have had little comfort of your worship's service.KNOWELL
How so?BRAINWORM
Oh, sir! Your coming to the City, your entertainment of me, and your sending me to watch-indeed, all the circumstances either of your charge, or my employment-are as open to your son as to yourself!KNOWELL
How should that be! Unless that villain, Brainworm,
Have told him of the letter, and discovered
All that I strictly charged him to conceal?
When the disguised Brainworm returns after being absent for several scenes, Knowell accuses him of being lazy and slow. The disguised Brainworm responds by sharing some important news: Edward, Knowell’s son, is aware of Knowell’s actions and his movements through the city. A shocked Knowell expresses his surprise, arguing that his servant, “that villain, Brainworm,” must have alerted his son. Much of the comedy of this scene stems from Knowell’s misidentification. He is in fact talking to Brainworm himself, who—in his feigned persona—is content to pin the blame on his own true identity.
In the final two acts of the play, the various sub-plots converge in comedic scenes rife with misidentification and confusion. In a scene that exemplifies dramatic irony, Dame Kitely and Knowell meet outside of Cob’s house, each convinced that the other is there to indulge in an affair:
DAME KITELY
Oh, sir, have I forestalled your honest market?
Found your close walks? You stand amazed, now, do you?
I' faith, I am glad, I have smoked you yet at last!
What is your jewel, trow? In; come, let's see her
(Fetch forth your huswife, dame) […]
Your wife, an honest woman,
Is meat twice sod to you, sir? Oh, you treacher!KNOWELL
She cannot counterfeit thus palpably.KITELY
Out on thy more-than-strumpet's impudence!
Steal'st thou thus to thy haunts? And have I taken
Thy bawd, and thee, and thy companion.
Dame Kitely is irate when she sees her husband, Kitely, at Cob’s house, as it confirms her suspicions that he is having an affair with Tib, Cob’s wife. Kitely, in turn, sees his wife at Cob’s house and reaches the same conclusion: she is having an affair with Cob or—alternatively—is using Tib to meet up with lovers. The audience knows that neither assumption is correct and that both have been manipulated by Wellbred for his own amusement.
