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Writers of plays in the late Middle Ages were not unaware of the importance of slips of the tongue as a dramatic device for the revelation of character, as is shewn by the three examples given here from plays of the sixteenth century.
The first example is from Respublica.1 Avarice introduces Adulation under the name of Honesty to Respublica; she welcomes him and promises him reward, whereupon he says:
Adul.
I thanke yo(ur) grace. And I will for youe take suche pain that, ere I deserve one, ye shall geve me twayne.
Avar.
Honestie, yo(ur) tong tripth.
Resp.
howe saide ye, take such paine?