Summary
Whit stops Quarlous and Winwife and asks for money, which Winwife gives to him. Whit pledges to help either man if they need him.
Busy and Purecraft arrive with the Littlewits, and Purecraft warns John Littlewit about the sinful bar when Littlewit expresses his desire to try some pork. Busy then explains that it would be a sin to decline the roast pork, and convinces everyone that the moral option is to enter the bar.
Ursla is upset that Knockem has let these people into the bar because she knows they will not drink anything.
Meanwhile, Quarlous and Winwife see the disguised Justice Overdo but only recognize him as a fool. Overdo announces that he will no longer make critical speeches and that he is more determined than ever to expose the crimes of the fair. Quarlous and Winwife note that the fool is talking to himself.
Cokes has gone on a shopping spree at the various stalls at the fair, despite Wasp's warnings against doing so. While Cokes is purchasing more goods, Quarlous and Winwife speak to Grace Welborn.
Meanwhile, Overdo follows Edgworth to the stall where Cokes is shopping, as he is suspicious of Edgworth and wants to catch him in the act of pickpocketing. Nightingale sings a song to distract everyone and Edgworth steals Cokes's purse. Overdo is accused of being the pickpocket because he was also present for the first theft. He is carried away by Wasp, Cokes, and Mistress Overdo. Meanwhile, Quarlous is left alone with Grace Welborn.
Zeal-of-the-Land Busy lectures Knockem and Leatherhead about religion and tells Leatherhead he is engaging in sinful behavior. Leatherhead warns Busy to stop, but he attacks the stalls instead.
Officers arrive, and Busy is dragged away and placed into the stocks. Littlewit and Win are pleased to be rid of Busy.
Analysis
This section of the play continues to develop the topsy-turvy structure that was introduced in Act Two. Here, audiences see two authority figures – Justice Overdo and Zeal-of-the-Land Busy – punished for their desire to punish others.
In Overdo's pursuit of the criminal Edgworth, he himself ends up being labeled a pickpocket and is dragged away by his own wife (who does not recognize him). Similarly, Busy's hypocritical religious lecturing backfires as he overreacts to Leatherhead and finds himself in the stocks (a Renaissance-era form of public shaming, whereby boards were placed around someone's ankles and wrists so they could not move; others were then invited to tickle, spit on, or otherwise denigrate the guilty party). The fates of these two characters helps establish not only the inverted social structure that exists at the fair, but also the creative universe of Ben Jonson as a playwright.
Jonson's plays are known for their portrayal of lower-class characters, and both authority figures and commoners are victims of his biting satire. However, Bartholomew Fair verges, at times, on the brink of celebrating the petty criminals who put such hypocritical authority figures in their place. Through Busy and Overdo, the play suggests that the fair is a means by which lower-born Londoners can experience pleasure and, to some degree, power in the form of equality.
Act Three also lays the foundation for the ongoing plot involving Grace Welborn and Bartholomew Cokes. Cokes, like Overdo and Busy, is a victim of Jonsonian irony: in his desire to be flashy and purchase everything around him for a large party he hopes to throw, he loses track of his fiance, leaving her vulnerable to the numerous other suitors at work at the fair. The primary suitor for Grace Welborn becomes (and even Winwife assumes this) Quarlous, who schemes with Edgworth to steal Cokes's marriage license. Thus, the play once again inverts an already established hierarchy in which Cokes – a wealthy man – becomes so distracted by his wealth that he forgets about his wife-to-be.
Furthermore, Act Three implies that Grace Welborn will be pursued by Quarlous, an honest man who nonetheless loves to drink, scheme, and otherwise play the fool. As the act concludes, then, all higher-ranking figures of the play (by virtue of money, religion, or politics) have had their positions upended by lower-class tricksters looking for entertainment and fun.
