Women Beware Women

Thomas Middleton

Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.7 stars; 6 reviews)

Thomas Middleton's masterful 17th century tragedy is packed with adultery, incest, intrigue, revenge, and inventive methods for murder. Leantio elopes with Bianca against her family's wishes and tries to hide her in the house he shares with his widowed mother. Yet the Duke sees Bianca at the window and is powerfully attracted to her, threatening Leantio's security. Livia, a wealthy widow, delights in intrigue, aiding the Duke to satisfy his desires with Bianca, and bringing together her brother Hippolito with her niece Isabella, despite their familial relationship. Yet even Livia is not immune to love. The final play-within-a-play in Act 5, one of the goriest and most sensational conclusions to a Jacobean tragedy, is also (like the play as a whole) laced with dark humor. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)

Cast
Mother: Kristingj
Leantio: David Nicol
Bianca: Arielle Lipshaw
Guardiano: Noel Badrian
Fabritio: Martin Geeson
Livia: Elizabeth Klett
Hippolito: Alan Mapstone
Isabella: Amanda Friday
The Ward: Nathaniel W. C. Higgins
Sordido: mb
First Boy/First Lady/Hebe: April Gonzales
Second Boy/Second Lady/Narrator: Elizabeth Klett
Third Boy/Gentleman/Page/Lord: Robert Hoffman
Citizen/Servant/Hymen: Chuck Williamson
Apprentice/Messenger/Ganymede: Availle
Duke: Algy Pug
Lord Cardinal: Chuck Williamson

Audio edited by Elizabeth Klett (3 hr 0 min)