ABSTRACT
Whimzies is one of the few of Richard Brathwait's works that makes any attempt to live up to the promise of the title; for it is, despite the excesses of style and tone for which Brathwait is usually soundly clubbed, a whimsical work, free of the asperity that affects many of the characters written ill the century. Brathwait directed his works to the growing ranks of the middle class, a dynamic group hungry for popularized information on practical morality, culture, and social behavior. Brathwait's moral sense, of course, is never separated from his less sober impulses. The years 1629-1635 are remarkable ones for any discussion of the character to consider. Donald Lupton continues the pattern of description and social commentary in the rural characters, where he touches upon some of the ranking social problems of the age—the injustices of landlords, the enclosures, and the venal apparitors.
