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A knave is a trickster or a rascal. In The Changeling, the word generally implies both dishonesty and cleverness. Lollio is particularly fond of this word, as he simultaneously sees himself as a knave and identifies “knavery” in many of his madhouse patients. Lollio also uses the word to blur societal hierarchies; as Lollio’s comic rants make clear, knaves can come from all classes and stations of life.
Knave Quotes in The Changeling
The The Changeling quotes below are all either spoken by Knave or refer to Knave. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1, Scene 2
Quotes
LOLLIO: Tony; mark my question: how many fools and knaves are here? A fool before a knave, a fool behind a knave, between every two fools a knave; how many fools, how many knaves?
ANTONIO: I never learnt so far, cousin […].
LOLLIO: I’ll make him understand it easily; cousin, stand there […]. Master, stand you next the fool […]. Here’s my place; mark now, Tony, there a fool before a knave.
ANTONIO: That’s I, cousin.
LOLLIO: Here’s a fool behind a knave, that’s I, and between us two fools there is a knave, that’s my master; ‘tis but we three, that’s all.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Knave Term Timeline in The Changeling
The timeline below shows where the term Knave appears in The Changeling. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 2
...fools and madmen; as Lollio puts it, “the one has not wit enough to be knaves, and the other not knavery enough to be fools.” Alibius explains that he is actually...
(full context)
...advanced patients in Alibius’s home. The one question that stumps Tony is about how many knaves it takes to make an honest man. Lollio explains that it takes three: “a sergeant,...
(full context)
...and I.” This annoys Lollio, who immediately launches into some elaborate wordplay about fools and knaves; he suggests he, Alibius and Antonio could all be fools or knaves, depending on where...
(full context)
