Summary
John Littlewit, a legal clerk, works on a marriage license for the marriage between Bartholomew Cokes and Grace Welborn. The marriage is taking place on the same day as the Bartholomew Fair.
Littlewit and his wife, Win, are interrupted by Littlewit's friend, Winwife, who is pursuing the recently widowed Dame Purecraft – Littlewit's mother-in-law. Littlewit warns Winwife that he is not "mad" enough for Purecraft, who has been told by a priest that she will marry a madman. Other suitors of Dame Purecraft include Quarlous and Zeal-of-the-Land Busy, a puritanical hypocrite.
Quarlous arrives and attempts to greet Win Littlewit with a kiss, which she refuses. He admits that he does not remember the conversation he had with Littlewit yesterday, as they had been drinking. He goes on to defend himself as a legitimate suitor of Dame Purecraft. With just Quarlous and Littlewit in the room, they discuss Zeal-of-the-Land Busy and his hypocritical behavior.
Soon, a servant named Wasp enters, having come to Littlewit's office to retrieve the marriage license for his master, Bartholomew Cokes. Littlewit warns Quarlous that Wasp has a short temper, and Wasp calls them all fools.
Cokes, Grace Welborn, and Mistress Overdo arrive. They announce that they are going to Bartholomew Fair. In an aside, Grace Welborn admits that she would rather marry anyone other than Cokes.
They all depart for the fair, followed by Littlewit and his wife. Littlewit hopes to perform a puppet show he has written, but Win is concerned that her mother will be offended by the nature of the performance.
Littlewit and his wife meet with Dame Purecraft and convince her and Zeal-of-the-Land Busy to attend the fair. Busy exclaims that their intention to eat pork at the fair is actually a repudiation of Jewish people, who are barred from eating pork.
Analysis
The first act of the play helps establish some of the performance's major characters, plot threads, and themes.
One of the most important elements of this opening act is the sheer number of characters who are introduced: John Littlewit, Win Littlewit, Winwife, Quarlous, Bartholomew Cokes, Grace Welborn, Wasp, Mistress Overdo, Zeal-of-the-Land Busy, and Dame Purecraft. Nearly the entire first act takes place in the office of John Littlewit, with characters arriving and departing rapidly over the course of only a few scenes. This influx of characters into a single setting helps prepare the audience for the setting that will dominate the remainder of the play: Bartholomew Fair.
While the number of characters might seem staggering, the static setting helps establish the narrative stakes of the play – cramming so many characters into one place pressurizes the numerous plots that have already begun to develop, increasing competition among suitors and generating tension among those with different beliefs. Already in the first act of the play, audiences become privy to a number of characters they can trust, doubt, or be entertained by. It is also possible that audiences will have difficulty keeping characters straight – and especially the case for readers, who cannot attach characters' names to a physical presence. This seeming disorder is significant because it foreshadows the debauchery and chaos that define the fair itself.
Despite the development of a number of small plots, Act One introduces the two primary narrative threads of the play: first, the pursuit of Dame Purecraft by Winwife, Quarlous, and Zeal-of-the-Land Busy and second, the tension between the betrothed couple Bartholomew Cokes and Grace Welborn. When Grace Welborn makes the aside to the audience that she would rather marry anyone but Cokes, she suggests that their impending marriage is unstable and therefore alerts audiences to a potential twist later on.
The Dame Purecraft plot features the much discussed Zeal-of-the-Land Busy, a puritanical man with a judgmental take on early modern London and its "sinful" shenanigans. Busy is understood by multiple characters to be a religious hypocrite, or someone who preaches austerity while simultaneously indulging in life's pleasures. Audiences see his reputation manifest for themselves at the end of the first act, when Zeal-of-the-Land Busy is eager to attend the fair to eat pork. While he claims indulging in the pork is an affront to Judaism (and therefore in keeping with puritanical values), it is clear to the audience that Busy simply wants to take part in the fair to the same extent that the other fair-goers do. Through the character of Busy, Act One introduces the major theme of hypocrisy to the play – which will continue to develop through Busy and other characters not yet introduced.
