The Family of Love charts a successful love intrigue between the cash-strapped Gerardine, and Maria, the sequestered niece of the mercenary Doctor Glister. Their romance unfolds against the dissection of two citizen marriages, the Glisters’ and the Purges’. Mistress Purge attends Familist meetings independently, arousing her husband’s suspicions about her marital fidelity. Two libertines, Lipsalve and Gudgeon, go in search of sex and solubility (freedom from constipation), receiving more than they bargain for in respect of the latter.
This scholarly edition of Family of Love marks the first occasion on which the comedy is attributed to Lording Barry in print. It brings together literary and historical discussion with a thorough analysis of the play’s disputed authorship. Tomlinson highlights Barry’s rich vein of burlesque humour in a comedy that combines magic, a trunk, and a mock-court session with vigorous colloquial language.