Character Relationships - Cynthia

Men

Maskwell:
Cynthia's relationship with Maskwell is interesting because Maskwell wants Cynthia for his wife and forms a plot to get Sir Paul Plyant to take back his blessing on Mellefont and Cynthia's union, this is eventually foiled by Cynthia herself and Mellefont. She does not have much interaction with him in the play but she knows that he is trying to manipulate her father and uncle into giving her to him as his bride.

Lord Touchwood:
Lord Touchwood is Cynthia's Uncle by marriage to her Aunt Lady Touchwood who is her fathers sister, she entertains a good relationship with Lord Touchwood as they are both on the same intellectual level as each other which enables them to treat each other as equals. Cynthia and Lord Touchwood do not have many scenes together but in the scenes that they are together their relationship is quite easy to see.

Mellefont:
Cynthia and Mellefont are in love with each other, they are possibly two of the most human of all the characters and therefore think in the same way and this is something that the two find an attractive quality in each other. They are set to be married at the beginning of the play but throughout the course they meet the troubles of Maskwell who tries to stop their union so that he can have Cynthia to himself, but the bond between Mellefont and Cynthia is strong enough to overcome this and they end up together with the blessing of her father and everyone else.

Careless:
Cynthia does not have many scenes with Careless but is friends with him as he is Mellefont's best friend and helps the two to be together by foiling Maskwell's plans to separate the two.

Lord Froth:
Cynthia gets on quite well with Lord Froth, she is good friends with his wife Lady Froth and so sees him a lot, she respects how he is so serious about everything but does feel sorry for him because he cannot see what is happening between his wife Lady Froth and Brisk. She likes talking to him as he is on the same intellectual level as her but is still distant as a person which prevents her from forming a friendship with him as she has done with his wife.

Brisk:
Mr Brisk is a very flamboyant character and so gets on well with Lady Froth and they become rather close, Cynthia gets on with Mr Brisk but is far more sensible than he is and sometimes makes fun of him when he goes over the top with his conversations. She also sees what is happening between Brisk and Lady Froth and how Lord Froth is oblivious to the relationship between the two and finds it rather funny.

Sir Paul Plyant:
She has a complicated relationship with her father, she loves him because he is her father but she does in a way resent him for marrying Lady Plyant because she doesn't get on particularly well with her. She also has problems when her father tells her she cannot marry Mellefont after having given his consent a while ago which causes a rift between the two. Cynthia is cunning though and manages to get the truth to her father about Mellefont that he is dedicated to her and that he loves her.

Women

Lady Touchwood:
Lady Touchwood is Cynthia's Aunt by blood via her father, she does not have much interaction with her Aunt in the play but she does get along with her Aunt's husband as both her Aunt and Uncle are on the same intellectual level as she is, her Uncle more so but her Aunt is still rather good to talk to because she does not entertain herself with silly and trivial things.

Lady Froth:
Cynthia has a relationship with Lady Froth that in a way is as though Lady Froth were her older sibling, Lady Froth takes Cynthia under her wing and then proceeds to treat her as though she isn't quite as bright because she is younger, where as in reality it is Cynthia who is more intelligent and she puts up with Lady Froth's musings to keep herself in good merit with Lady Froth

Lady Plyant:
Cynthia has an interesting relationship with Lady Plyant, she doesn't really like her because she was the replacement for her mother and she doesn't treat her father particularly well which irritates Cynthia not only because she feels no one should be like that to her father but also because Lady Plyant should have respect for her husband.

SN:
All character information was gained from the script.

Restoration Rehearsal Blog - 1

We have been rehearsing The Double Dealer by William Congreve, after reading through the play as a group and began to understand the complicated language of the play we were cast, I was cast as one of two people playing Cynthia, Alicia is the other person in our group playing the same role. All the female roles were double cast as there are more girls than boys in our cast and as our last production everyone needed a large enough role to get the grades we all want. Rehearsals began mainly when we had cast and finished going through the play and understood the plot and era that the play is based in. We blocked all of the scenes before learning the lines so that it would be easier to learn them because we would know where we come in with lines, even though we did this a lot of us and myself included found the line learning for restoration very difficult because unlike shakespeare there isn't a set rhythm to the language, so memorising my lines has been a challenge for me but it is one that I am somewhat enjoying.

I have found that getting into character with Cynthia has been a balanced outcome, the character and her emotions and mannerisms I have come to find a lot more easily than the stances and ways that the restoration characters move, such as the bowing and the very peculiar walking and sitting styles that they took on to look good. The relationships that Cynthia has with the other characters are rather interesting in the sense that she is not as innocent as everyone thinks she is which gives her the upper hand, she understands everything that everyone says and knows just how to get around people and the only other person who is similar to her is Mellefont which is one of the reasons she loves him because they are two similar souls and they are marrying for love and not for social standing or money.