Lovell arranges with Overreach that his page (Allworth) deliver his “love” letters to Margaret. Eventually, Allworth and Margaret find the means to go off and elope.
At the conclusion of the play, Overreach is so incensed and maddened by being tricked by both Wellborn and Allworth (with Margaret) that he rages and foams and is eventually carried off to Bedlam, the mental asylum in London.
Overreach is the buffoon of this play, yet he garners no sympathy from the playwright, the audience, or any other character in the comedy. Overreach lives only for profit. He has no friends: “Friendship is but a word” (II, i: 22). But he pretends to be friends to certain individuals in order to use them for his own selfish ends. He even feigns friendship with Justice Greedy so that he can bend or break the law, if necessary, in order to increase his wealth. His family relationships are on a par with his friendships. Once he has cozened his nephew Allworth out of all his property, he shuns his nephew as a beggar and parasite. Even his relationship with his daughter is strained. When Lovell comes to court Margaret, Overreach suggests that she should be pliant and willing to Lovell’s advances. He even advises his daughter to engage in sexual activity with Lovell if Lovell so desires it:
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