A Woman Killed With Kindness

The Prologue devalues the play’s content, calling it “a barren subject, a bare scene” (139). However, Heywood also requests that audience members use their imaginations to transform the play into something excellent. He ends by expressing confidence in the audience’s forbearance.

Sir John and Anne Frankford have just married. Sir Francis Acton, Anne’s brother, and various other gentlemen join them to celebrate, including Sir Charles Mountford, Malby, Wendoll, and Cranwell. Charles congratulates Frankford, praising Anne’s education and beauty. Anne is content to please her husband, and Francis praises her obedience. Frankford notes that Anne and Francis’s father sired Francis when he was young, whereas Anne was born when he had grown calm and wise. Charles predicts a happy marriage, and Frankford and Anne leave. Francis makes fun of the crowd’s dancing, and Charles challenges him to a hunt the next day, betting 100 pounds that his hawks will catch more than Francis’s. Francis takes the bet, adding another 100 pounds for their dogs, while Wendoll and Cranwell make a side bet, with Wendoll betting on Francis and Cranwell betting on Charles.