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Tomazo de Piracquo
Isabella is Alibius’s much-younger, beautiful wife. After Alibius locks her inside the madhouse out of jealousy, Isabella grows to resent her husband’s possessive nature; she critiques him not only for the way he guards her but also for his obsession with profiting from his patients, using those who come to him for help as a “staple commodity.” And just as Isabella sees through her husband’s jealousies, she is similarly critical of Franciscus and Antonio, the two noblemen who disguise themselves as madmen to pursue her. In addition to insisting that appearances are also deceptive (and therefore are not worth prioritizing in love), she is cognizant of the ways sexual desire can be both transformative and deformative. In calling attention to the failings of the men around her, Isabella emerges as the primary voice of reason in the play.
Isabella Quotes in The Changeling
The The Changeling quotes below are all either spoken by Isabella or refer to Isabella . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 3, Scene 3
Quotes
LOLLIO: This is easy, sir, I’ll warrant you: you have about you fools and madmen that can dance very well; and ‘tis no wonder, your best dancers are not the wisest men; the reason is, with often jumping they jolt their brains down into their feet, that their wits lie more in their heels than their heads […]
ISABELLA: Y’have a fine trade on’t,
Madmen and fools are a staple commodity.
ALIBIUS: O wife, we must eat, wear clothes, and live;
Just at the lawyer’s haven we arrive,
By madmen and fools we both do thrive.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 4, Scene 3
Quotes
ISABELLA: Does love turn fool, run mad, and all at once?
Sirrah, here’s a madman, akin to the fool too,
A lunatic lover.
LOLLIO: No, no, not he I brought the letter from?
ISABELLA: Compare his inside with his out, and tell me.
ANTONIO: I’ll kick thee if again thou touch me,
Thou wild unshapen antic; I am no fool,
You bedlam!
ISABELLA: But you are, as sure as I am, mad.
Have I put on this habit of a frantic,
With love as full of fury, to beguile
The nimble eye of watchful jealousy,
And am I thus rewarded?
[Reveals herself.]
ANTONIO: Ha! Dearest beauty!
ISABELLA: No, I have no beauty now,
But what was in my garments.
You a quick-sighted lover? Come not near me!
Keep your caparisons, y’are aptly clad;
I came a feigner to return stark mad.
Get the entire The Changeling LitChart as a printable PDF.
Isabella Quotes in The Changeling
The The Changeling quotes below are all either spoken by Isabella or refer to Isabella . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 3, Scene 3
Quotes
LOLLIO: This is easy, sir, I’ll warrant you: you have about you fools and madmen that can dance very well; and ‘tis no wonder, your best dancers are not the wisest men; the reason is, with often jumping they jolt their brains down into their feet, that their wits lie more in their heels than their heads […]
ISABELLA: Y’have a fine trade on’t,
Madmen and fools are a staple commodity.
ALIBIUS: O wife, we must eat, wear clothes, and live;
Just at the lawyer’s haven we arrive,
By madmen and fools we both do thrive.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 4, Scene 3
Quotes
ISABELLA: Does love turn fool, run mad, and all at once?
Sirrah, here’s a madman, akin to the fool too,
A lunatic lover.
LOLLIO: No, no, not he I brought the letter from?
ISABELLA: Compare his inside with his out, and tell me.
ANTONIO: I’ll kick thee if again thou touch me,
Thou wild unshapen antic; I am no fool,
You bedlam!
ISABELLA: But you are, as sure as I am, mad.
Have I put on this habit of a frantic,
With love as full of fury, to beguile
The nimble eye of watchful jealousy,
And am I thus rewarded?
[Reveals herself.]
ANTONIO: Ha! Dearest beauty!
ISABELLA: No, I have no beauty now,
But what was in my garments.
You a quick-sighted lover? Come not near me!
Keep your caparisons, y’are aptly clad;
I came a feigner to return stark mad.
