ABSTRACT
Naschina's disguise and her contempt for the gentle Arcadians - all owe much to
Spenser as do the references to knights, dragons, and magicians. The humorous
archaisms, e.g. "I wis," "I trow," "fingereth," "lingereth," with which the language of the
play is peppered, are in conscious imitation of Spenser, and the poetic competition,
including a roundelay (lines 81-98), which opens the drama, is derived from the "August
Aeglogue" of The Shepheardes Calender.