Peele's attack on simony in The Old Wives Tale.(Notes) From: ANQ | Date: January 1, 2004| Author: Ardolino, Frank | COPYRIGHT 2004 Heldref Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

The Old Wives Tale contains a longstanding crux in the scene dealing with the controversy over the burial of Jack in sanctified ground. In the first and only quarto edition, which was published in 1595 after the Queen's Men had performed the play, the churchwarden's first speech at line 459 has a speech prefix indicating that his name is Simon. But he is subsequently identified twice as the Churchwarden, and in lines 495-96 he refers to himself and is referred to as Stephen Loach. ...