JOHN DRYDEN (1631-1690)
Catherine Leibowitz

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

John Dryden was a British dramatist, poet and literary critic who came to ascend the literary arena of his time and be considered master of the heroic dramatists. He was born on August 19, 1631 in Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire. When he was eleven years old, the Civil War broke out and both sides of his family (maternal and paternal) sided with Parliament rather than the King. As Dryden later became a very strong voice in favor of the monarchy, it is a pity that no one knows with whom he sympathized at this first exposure to the divide.

Dryden began his secondary education in 1644 when he was admitted to the Westminster School as a King's Scholar. Only two years later he did a translation of Persius, Satire III as a school assignment. The following year, Dryden came out with his first published work On the Death of Lord Hastings. This same year Charles I dies.

Dryden received his BA in 1654 from Trinity College, Cambridge (the same year as his father's death) and published several important works in the years immediately following. Among these works are "Astraea Redux" and "To his Sacred Majesty" which were both written when Charles II was restored to the throne as a means to reinforce and exalt the monarchy. At the time of Charles II's restoration to the throne, he granted patents for two theaters, and in 1663 Dryden saw his first play on stage. This same year, Dryden made a fortuitous marriage to Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, First Earl of Berkshire. Two years later, he had his first great success with The Indian Emperor and The Great Plague of London hit. At this point, Dryden fled town (in order to avoid the Plague) and wrote Of Dramatic Poesie, a work which presents the principles of dramatic criticism. This year following the Plague was the year of The Great Fire of London and the birth of Dryden's first son, Charles.

In the years immediately following, Dryden's sons John and Erasmus Henry are born, he becomes Royal historiographer, and writes Annus Mirabilis (celebrating the victories over the Dutch and the survival of the Londoners through The Great Fire of London). This work, as well, reinforces loyalty of the nation and endorses the royal image. Meanwhile, the Triple Alliance had gone underway and Charles II made a secret agreement with the French. In 1668 Dryden agreed to write exclusively for the Thomas Killigrew Co. and in 1677 wrote his first blank verse tragedy, All for Love. Two years later, hired men in Rose Alley beat up Dryden, presumably due to the tense literary climate of the day.

Dryden had appealed to his readers mostly in his political and satirical poems, and in 1681, the same year that Charles dissolved Parliament, Dryden wrote his most famous of these poems, "Absalom and Achitophel". It was thought that James, Duke of York might success Charles II to the throne, and, in an effort to prevent that, the Whigs (led by Shaftesbury) used the Popish Plot to try to exclude James in favor of Charles' illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth. The King's tactics turned public opinion against the Whigs and Shaftesbury was arrested for treason. Dryden wrote "Absalom and Achitophel" to support the King. It is the Old Testament story of King David (meant to represent Charles II), his son Absalom (representing the Duke of Monmouth), and the treasonous Achitophel (Shaftesbury) who persuades Absalom to revolt against his father. It is a satirical poem, written from the point of view of the King and the Tories.

In 1685, four years after "Absalom and Achitophel", Charles II died and Dryden died five years later of degenerative diseases. He wrote tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy, heroic play, opera, masque, and oratorio. His greatest strength and greatest weakness were both his boldness in writing and for that he will always be known and remembered.

APHRA BEHN (1640-1689)
Julie Patrick

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Aphra Behn is considered to be the first professional female playwright, which is to say she has been recognized as the first woman to earn a living by her pen. Behn's life is filled with ambiguity and seeming contradictions. She was a spy for Charles II and remained a staunch Royalist believing that the common man lacked the ability to rule themselves without the aristocracy. She was also a feminist who encouraged female agency in matters of sexual freedom and education. She wrote frank, erotic verses oftentimes making political topics the material for bedroom farce and romps.

Very little is known about the origins and identity of Aphra Behn since she only came to notoriety at an established age. She was probably born in 1640. She claimed to be a gentlewoman by birth from a family named Johnson in the city of Canterbury in Kent. Due to her father's relationship (possible family tie) to Lord Willoughby, he was granted the post of Lieutenant General of Surinam in 1663. On the other hand, Ann Finch, Countess of Winchilsea claims that she has a documented note in the margins of her book that Aphra is the daughter of a barber in Wye, a market town near Kent. Yet another story is Colonel Thomas Colepepper's (or Culepepper) who claims Behn's mother was his wet nurse and that he considered Aphra his foster sister.

The second mystery of Aphra Behn's life is her education. She spoke fluent French, learned much about music (both of which are the normal gentlewoman's education), but Aphra also read history, Greek, Latin, and the Classics. If not a gentlewoman, how did she learn such a breadth of knowledge? She must have had access to elevated social circles since she was a personal friend of Thomas Killigrew before he was granted the patent to own his playhouse. One rumor is that she was the illegitimate child of Willoughby. In truth, no one can be sure what her background is. This lack of traceable identity illustrates this specific era's lack of interest in women.

In her early 20s, she (supposedly) traveled to Suriname where her father died and stranded his family. There, she participated in an affair with William Scot (age 36) who was a political refugee (therefore, against the King and most likely of Puritan descent). Returning to England at the ripe age of 23 (when 25 was the threshold age of spinsterhood), she married Mr. Behn who possibly was much older and a Dutch merchant and who possibly died in the Plague after a year of marriage. Others argue that Mr. Behn never existed and Aphra used his name to gain the respectability of being a widow. A woman during this era would be subjected to the rule of the "femme covert," meaning that a woman possessed no rights or identity outside of her husband and could not own property or have rights to her children. Single women could make contracts and be semi-autonomous depending on the role their father played in their lives. Widowhood, therefore, was the only way a woman could gain autonomy.

In 1666, she worked as a spy for Charles II with William Scot during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Living abroad left her in extreme debt and had to borrow money to return to England, where she unsuccessfully petitioned Charles II for funds to repay her creditors. She possibly went to prison. No one is sure how she got out or for how long she was there, but at the age of 30, Behn began her literary career in 1669. There were other female playwrights at the time, such as Frances Boothby and Elizabeth Polwhele, but neither was able to live off her writing as Behn did. It is during her 30s that Aphra takes another lover, John Hoyle whose father was on the Commonwealth Council that had Charles I executed.

Aphra had many friends, including Killigrew and John Howard. She was under the protection of the Earl of Rochester and was good friends with actress Elizabeth Barry. Behn wrote most of her female leads with Barry in mind for the role. Her liaisons with radical men were widely known. Behn also had many Catholic associations. In opposition to this is the fact that she is buried in Anglican Westminster. Aphra never declared any religious affiliation during her life. Though a spy and a staunch royalist, she was arrested by Charles II for writing an epilogue denouncing James Duke of Monmouth for rebelling against his father.

She believed in the "libertine's ideal of sexual freedom," (Goreau 186) yet advocated love in freedom. It is "societal convention and morality" that corrupt the relations between the sexes (186). Behn was critical of forced marriages and marriages between old men and young women. Her female protagonists are sexually liberated. She considered feminine modesty too oppressive. Mainly it is passive femininity that she rallies against. Many historians state that she had a fantasy of a golden age of both social and sexual frankness where "there was no conventional shame and no libertine selfishness, and people lived without kings, hierarchy, religion, money, power, and manipulative sex" (O 17). This is evident in the portrayal of the natives in Oroonoko (see note 10). When Oroonoko was published in 1688, it was the first text to really delve into the issue of slavery, race, colonialism, and the New World.

Obviously Aphra Behn had her critics who ridiculed her for not knowing and implementing the three unites and maintaining order in her lines. Her answer, according to Janet Todd, "was to mock the rules of drama as absurd pedantry devised by learned but nonsensical men who had failed to understand that pedantry had no place in the popular theater. The unities had to do with learned critics, not professional writers" (CCE 1). Basically, she argued against rules for the sake of rules when they had no practical use. She was also criticized for her lifestyle. The Restoration lifestyle was just beginning to claim its first victims. Constant drunkenness and excess was causing earlier deaths. Free love made venereal disease rampant. Behn was no exception; she contracted syphilis through her association with Hoyle.

When she died in 1689, she had written over 20 plays. Unfortunately in the decades that followed, her erotic honesty was no longer popular. Instead, the early 18th century and centuries that followed upheld the virtue of the modest female writer. It has not been until the last twenty years that Behn's life and work have resurfaced as important to understanding this era and early woman writers.

SECONDARY SOURCES

GEORGE VILLIERS (1628-1687)
Kara Wylie

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, was born in 1628, the same year as the murder of his father, George Villiers, 1 st Duke of Buckingham. Left in the care of Charles I's royal family, Villiers grew up alongside Charles II. He was educated at Cambridge University and vocalized strong royalist support during the English Civil War. When the war culminated in the defeat and execution of Charles I and the establishment of a republican commonwealth, Villiers fled to the continent to join the escaped Charles Il.

Charles II became king of Scotland after the death of his father and Villiers followed him there. However, intrigues with Oliver Cromwell's government separated Villiers from Charles. In 1657 Villiers returned to England and married Mary, the daughter of Thomas Fairfax of Cameron, the Puritan general. Villiers had hoped his marriage would appeal to the Puritans and he thus hoped to recover his estates which had been confiscated in 1651. Yet, instead, Villiers was imprisoned until 1659.

After the Reconstruction, which in English history is defined as the reestablishment of the monarchy after the death of Oliver Cromwell, Villiers regained the favor of Charles Il and became one of the most powerful courtiers of the region because of his membership in the CABAL, the king's inner circle of advisors. The name of this inner circle was produced from the first initial of all five members' last names: Clifford of Chudleigh, Lord Shaftesbury Ashley, George Villiers Buckingham, Henry Bennet Arlington, and John Maitland Lauderdale. On December 7, 1671, Villiers partly wrote and produced The Rehearsal, a celebrated satire on heroic drama. Soon, however, his reputation began to turn sour as he was attacked with accusations by the House of Commons for misusing public funds and conducting secret negotiations with France. He was also attacked by the House of Lords for his open affair with the Countess of Shrewsbury, whose husband he had killed in 1668. Therefore, in 1674 Villiers was dismissed from office.

After his unfortunate dismissal, Villiers joined the enemies of the Duke of York, the later James II, and vigorously joined in the outcry against the Roman Catholics over Titus Oates' Popish Plot in 1678. He did not vote for the Duke of York's exclusion for succession to the throne, though, and was restored to favor by James IL and then retired from politics. He died of a chill in 1687.

George Villiers was vain anti-ambitious and known for his temper, recklessness, and lack of principle, which matches the description of his father, though the two never knew each other. He had refined tastes and enjoyed writing poetry, religious tracts, and plays. Villiers treated both science and literature in a supercilious manner and openly shared his opinions on those topics in The Rehearsal. In this play he also parodies the style and attacks the popularity of the heroic drama, patronizes John Dryden, and altogether mocks both playwrights and the art of playwrighting.

SECONDARY SOURCES

THOMAS SOUTHERNE (1659-1746)
Tricia Del Grosso

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Thomas Southerne was a British dramatist during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He is remembered for his unique style and his influence on later playwrights. In addition, Southerne, who lived to the age of eighty-five, was admired for the length of his dramatic career and his interactions with playwrights spanning the periods from the Restoration through to the revolution. Thomas Southerne was born in Dublin in 1659 to a prominent brewer. He was educated in Dublin and in 1675 he entered Trinity College, Dublin University. In 1680, Southerne was admitted to the Middle Temple in London, where he would presumably study law.

Southerne's dramatic career seems have begun under the guidance of John Dryden, poet laureate to King Charles II. In 1682, The Loyal Brother, The Persian Prince, Southerne's first work, was performed at the Theatre Royal. This was a political play that sympathized with James, Duke of York, who later becomes James II. Two years later, Southerne produces his next play, The Disappointment, or Mother in Fashion. His dramatic career is then put on hold because he spends the next few years in Princess Anne's regiment, where he quickly rises from ensign to captain.

During the 1690s, Southerne returns to the dramatic world. He produces three plays between 1691 and 1693. These comedies, however, do not seem to have been well received. As a result, in 1694 he turns from comedy to tragedy and produces The Fatal Marriage, or The Innocent Adultery. The play is a huge success and the heroine Isabella becomes one of the period's most well remembered. Southerne's success continues with the production of Oroonoko in 1696, an adaptation of Aphra Behn's work by the same name. Southerne intertwines the tragic tale of the life and death of Oroonoko with a comic sub-plot about two sisters from London in pursuit of husbands. The play was produced over 200 times over a span of nearly 100 years in London alone. Oroonoko gained continued success in productions in Scotland, Ireland, and The United States during the 18th century.

Southerne was a prominent figure in the dramatic world. He remained a close friend of Dryden and helped him complete his work, Cleomenes, the Spartan Hero. He is also remembered for his support of playwrights, William Congreve and Colley Cibber, on their first dramatic attempts. Southerne, a Tory and dramatist, associated with a number of other playwrights of his time including Aphra Behn, William Wycherley, Charles Hopkins, and Walter Moyle.

Thomas Southerne produced his last work in 1726. He, then goes on to live another twenty years, but produced no works during that time. Southerne was a figure in the dramatic circles of London for nearly 60 years. During that time, he experienced major transformations in the political and dramatic scenes in London. His works represent a culmination of the various styles and influences that shaped London in the 18th century.

WORKS

SECONDARY SOURCES

THOMAS OTWAY (1652-1685)
Karol Shekhter

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Thomas Otway was an English playwright and poet born in 1652. He was best known for his ability to present emotion and human passion through his writing. Otway's ability to "bring a sentimental pathos and romantic beauty to Restoration Tragedy" is what made him most famous. This emotion and sentimental pathos which made him famous is best shown in his masterpiece Venice Preserv'd.

Thomas Otway was educated at Winchester at age thirteen where he became friends with Anthony Cary, later to be known as Lord Falkland. This friendship between Anthony and Thomas lasted an entire lifetime and was influenced him incredibly. In fact, it was the advice of Cary which Otway took which cost him to miss a scholarship and end up at Oxford persuing the studies of a commoner of the Christ Church in 1669.

Otway's earliest dream had been to become an actor in the theatres of Britain. However, after an attempt at an acting career and a miserable failure, he decided to try his luck as a playwright and wrote his first play Alcibiades, which was produced in 1675. This production was shown at Duke's Theatre and Dorset Garden in September of 1675. His success at writing plays offered him a career, though he wasn't able to earn much money this way.

The object of Otway's affection was a woman named Elizabeth Barry. She played the role of Draxilla in Otway's "Alcibiades". His obsession with Barry lasted an entire lifetime, from the time when she was seventeewn when he first saw her. However, despite his love for her, she was also the mistress of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, and the poety whom Otway had dedicated his first success Don Carlos to. This didn't stop his love for her though and twelve years after Otway's death, six of the love letters he had written to Elizabeth Barry were discovered and published.

His plays were highly praised as great successes, but his most praised masterpiece was "Venice Preserv'd." This play was most praised by John Dryden of his contribution writing the prologue. This play began its success by being performed at Duke's Theatre in 1682, during a time of great political turmoil and events such as the Popish Plot. However, the success of the play grew and grew and until the middle of the 19th century, Venice Preserv'd was acted out more than any other play of its time, except for Shakespeare's.

Thomas Otway died in poverty in 1685 at age 33.

SECONDARY SOURCES

WILLIAM WYCHERLY (1640-1716)
David Rosenbloom

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

William Wycherley was born at Clive, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire. William was the only child of Daniel Wycherley, teller to the exchequer and of Berthia Shrimpton. William grew up during the civil wars and eventually was sent to the west of France where he received his education. While in France, William became the protégé of the famous Madame de Montausier. The Madame soon converted William to the Roman Catholic faith, and after spending his life as an Anglican. William eventually left France, when his father took him home and enrolled him in Queens College, Oxford. While at Oxford, William found that he was not very passionate about his studies and left the university without a degree.

Since 1659, he had been entered in Lincoln's Inn to pursue the study of law. He had already established residence there, but found that was not very passionate about his studies. The extravagant and fashionable court of Charles II attracted the young William. He soon became very close with the king's mistress, the Duchess of Cleveland. They became so close in fact, that it was to her that he dedicated his first play. During his time as a friend to the court of Charles II, William spent a few months at sea, fighting the Dutch. He was without any naval experience, but by 1674 was made a captain in the Duke of Buckingham's regiment. Oddly enough, he resigned his commission approximately one week after his assignment.

Between the years of 1671 and 1677, William's four plays were performed, and received enough critical acclaim to keep him in the public eye. Out of all four plays, only the second was considered a comparative failure. In addition to his success as a playwright, William was offered a munificent position as tutor to the king's son, the Duke of Richmond. His salary for this position was unprecedented 1500 pounds a year, which included a pension when the time came that the king's son no longer needed his tutelage.

Though William was quite the literary genius, he was still quite eccentric. One day while William was browsing in a bookstore, he overheard a young woman inquire about a copy of his play, Plain Dealer. The woman happened to be the young and recent widow of the Earl of Drogheda, Laetitia Isabella, the daughter of the Earl of Radnor. In 1680, they were married, quite soon after they met in fact. However, the marriage had to be kept a secret because bachelorhood was expected of William, who was a favorite of Charles' court. Unfortunately, word of the marriage got out, and both William and his wife were banished in disgrace. The marriage that resulted in William's banishment from the court of Charles II ended up being the most miserable relationship of his life. His new wife was pathologically jealous and controlling. She ended up dying only a year later, leaving William with outstanding debts. His inability to pay off the debts ended him up in Fleet Prison as a debtor. After seven years in prison, William was eventually pardoned by James II, who for some strange reason, believed himself to be pictured as "Manly" in The Plain Dealer. In addition to the pardon, James II gave Wycherly a pension of 200 pounds. The pension was still not enough to fully pay of his debts, so in shame he borrowed the remainder of the money from his father and paid of all his debts.

Wycherly never wrote another play, but did a considerable amount of written verse, which never compared to his dramatic works. Out of his four plays, the most famous were Love in a Wood, Plain Dealer, and The Country Wife. The Country Wife won Wycherely the most critical acclaim and also caused much controversy at the time. The play took a satiric look at married life, and earned the title as one of the smuttiest plays ever written. William Wycherley, though quite eccentric and vulgar at times, was also one of the most brilliant and talented playwrights of his time. He has definitely earned a seat amongst other famed playwrights such as Congreve and Vanbrugh in the front row of Restoration drama.

SECONDARY SOURCES

GEORGE FARQUHAR (1678-1707)
Andrew Hopkins

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

George Farquhar, actor, playwright, and literary critic was born in Londonderry, Ireland in 1678. He the son of a clergyman, and later educated at Trinity College in Dublin as a sizar, which was one who received a college allowance in return for performing menial duties. Even while he was at Trinity he preferred working as a struggling actor at the Smock Alley Theater in Dublin. He was said to be an average actor but received criticism because of his thin voice and reputation of suffering from occasional stage fright. His acting career came to an end when he accidentally stabbed a fellow actor during a fencing scene in John Dryden's Indian Emperor. After this incident, and under the encouragement of leading actor Robert Wilks, Farquhar decided to go to London and write comedies.

Farquhar wrote his first play, Love and a Bottle in 1699. It was well received in London's Drury Lane Theater. His early plays were said to be spirited variations on a theme: young men have their fling for four acts and reform in the fifth. His plays had freshness, but also wit and lively human sympathy. In that same year he wrote The Constant Couple, which was performed 53 times in London and 23 in Dublin. It was said, " his plays represented a transition from the artificial comedy of Restoration, to the comedy of middle-class life in which a more serious note predominates." There was always an atmosphere of good humor and reality.

During the years of 1702-1704, Farquhar wrote The Inconstant, The Twin-Rivals, and The Stage Coach, which was translated, from French which is thought to be his second language, because of his father's French last name. In 1706 he wrote The Recruiting Officer, which was his most influential play. This play introduced love of character, a method mainly identified with Elizabethan dramatists. The following year while on his deathbed Farquhar wrote Beaux Stratagem, which was his other major influential play. His play's, especially Beaux Stratagem, often mocked society especially the institution of marriage. Also marriage without love, and love affairs that are rebellious breaks of tradition. George Farquhar died in London on April 29, 1707 after battling disease, leaving behind his influence on a new comedy for the middle-class, one that dealt with issues of everyday life that affect the people other than the elites. He was only 29 years old.

SECONDARY SOURCES

MARY PIX (1666-1709)
Susie Coggin

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Mary Pix was the daughter of an Oxfordshire vicar. When she was eighteen, Mary married a merchant tailor in London named, George Pix. There is only one known child- a daughter, from their union, who died in 1690. There is nothing else known about George Pix, other than what is listed. It is thought that perhaps he died young.

In 1696 Mary came to public attention with the publication of The Inhumane Cardinal, or, Innocence Betrayed, a novel which describes, "The sufferings of a young woman ruined by a secret marriage;" Ibrahim, the Thirteenth Emperor of the Turks, a tragedy that was produced in late spring, 1696. It is considered, "a bloody sensational tragedy that proved to be her most popular work;" and The Spanish Wives, a comedy, that appeared in August. This play was called a "farce" and it differed from other comedies at the time only in it's shorter length.

The appearance of these two plays, within a few months of two by Delarivier Manley and one by Catharine Trotter, prompted an anonymous contemporary (who called itself "Mr. W.M.") to lampoon the three women in The Female Wits, or, The Triumvirate of Poets at Rehearsal in the fall of 1696. (Mutually complimentary poems and prologues among these women suggest that they were acquaintances, if not friends.) The fact that Pix is much less roughly handled than her sister authors suggests that she was personally amiable and unassertive. She appears as Mrs. Wellfed, "a fat female author, a good, sociable, well-natured companion"; in contrast to Marsilia's (Manley's) raging ego and Calista's (Trotter's) intellectual pretentiousness, Mrs. Wellfed's manner is pleasant and unassuming. Her alleged fondness for drink is presented as a minor foible, and her natural pride in her works is moderated by good sense and good humor.

Pix continued to be a force among the literary scene of the Restoration. She published five more comedies and tragedies and there are as many as five additional plays that have been attributed to her hand. Her comedies were thought to present vivacious plots with intriguing heroines…and her tragedies facilitated the theatrical stylings of such actors as Thomas Betterton, Elizabeth Barry, and Anne Bracegirdle. All her plays were moderate successes and they were all produced in London.

Some time before 1700, William Congreve befriended Pix. She was a close friend of Susanna Centlivre, and they both contributed verses to the feminist Sarah Fyge Egerton's Collection of Poems on Several Occasions (1706). In 1709, Centlivre's The Busy Body was performed for the benefit of Pix's estate.

Although the original cast of The Spanish Wives has been lost, its epilogue makes clear that Susanna Verbruggen, who excelled in "variety of humor," played the leading role of the Governor's Lady. It is likely that William Bullock played Friar Andrew and William Pinkethman, Hidewell. The Spanish Wives was successful enough to be revived in 1699, 1703, 1711, and possibly 1726. The Female Wits (taken from a feminist essay) Mary Pix, 1666-1709 Quite different from the other two female wits who rejected the typical female stereotype, Mary Pix seems to repeat and endorse it. The women in Pix's work are generally passive, while the men are strong and assertive. Jacqueline Pearson states: Pix on the whole concentrates on women who are weak, doomed, flawed, or monstrous. She is also unlikely to depict women's friendships strongly and to present a woman who is faithful, courageous and unselfish to a female friend. Female friendships are ineffectual, treacherous, or violent. The only differentiation between Pix and her male contemporaries is her proportion of female characters, though they rarely have more lines than the male characters. Pix goes so far as to be apologetic over the fact that she is female. In the epilogue to Ibrahim, she writes:

By the great Rules of Honour all Men know
They must not Arm on a Defenceless Foe.
The Author on her weakness, not her strength relies,
And from your Justice to your Mercy flies.

She calls Deceiver Deceived a "worthless trifle," and in her dedication of Ibrahim, refers to herself as "the Woman, the imperfect Woman." It seems clear that we must consider the period Mary Pix was writing in order to understand her. While Trotter and Manley were less afraid to express their "feminist" beliefs, it is important to note that while Mary Pix did not appear to support women's causes, she nevertheless used her name in a time when many women were writing under an assumed male name. While this may not seem like a great deal in the current day and age, it must have taken courage on her part to do so.

WORKS

SUSANNAH CENTLIVRE (1667?-1723)
Tiffany Guglielmetti

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Though several biographers have detailed the life of Susannah Centlivre, all agree that exact dates and events of her early life are hard to nail down, for lack of extensive records. Estimates place her birth sometime between 1667 and 1678, in either Holbeach or Ireland. Her father died when she was only three years old, and her mother died when she was twelve, leaving her in the care of the stepfather she acquired when her mother remarried, and the wife he then took on after her mother’s death. The relationship between Centlivre and her stepparents was anything but harmonious, and left Centlivre feeling estranged and lonely. Biographers feel that particularly her strained relationship with her stepmother was the cause for her leaving home before she was even fifteen years old. There are varying accounts of what Centlivre first did upon leaving home. Some have her joining a group of strolling actors, while others have her first attending the University of Cambridge and becoming a strolling actress after her period of education. Regardless of which is the correct order of events, it is certain that at some point, Centlivre attended the University of Cambridge under the private tutelage of Anthony Hammond, who had supposedly taken a love interest in her when happening upon her on the side of the road in tears one day. It is also evident from Centlivre’s writing that she masters French at some point, though it is not known for certain that this occurred while studying with Hammond. In studying at Cambridge, Centlivre outfitted herself as a boy and posed as Hammond’s cousin Jack. When suspicions began to run too high, Centlivre and Hammond decided it was best that they part company, at which point it is certain that Centlivre became a strolling actress - whether for the first time or rejoining the company she left when heading for Cambridge. Nonetheless, her work with a company of strolling actors eventually brings her to London.

While still in her teens, Centlivre marries a Mr. Carroll, an army officer, who dies a year and a half later in a duel. Little else is known about him and their relationship with one another. It is also possible that for a year before this, at age 15 or 16, Centlivre was married to a Mr. Fox, the nephew of Sir Stephen Fox, though it is not clear what ended the relationship. Biographers at least agree that Centlivre lived with Fox for a year or so, indicating the likelihood she was in fact married to him. Shortly after this course of events, Centlivre begins publishing her poetry and copies of her letters to friends, through George Farquhar, among others. Her first play, The Perjur’d Husband, is then performed at Dreary Lane in 1700. She then writes a series of other plays, including at least two, which were written anonymously, and The Gamester in 1704, which was a popular story attacking the vices of gambling and card playing. In 1707, she married Joseph Centlivre, though this does not put an end to her growing career, as marriage would usually be expected to do.

Known in her time as "The Celebrated Mrs. Centlivre," she continued to write a total of 19 plays over the course of 22 years. She also continued to write the occasional poem, where she was repeatedly bold in expressing her political concerns. In 1717, she wrote “An Epistle from a Lady of Great Britain to the King of Sweden, on the intended Invasion,” where she railed against Charles XII, King of Sweden, who was threatening to attack London. Her friends included actress Mary Pix, as well as Farquhar and other big names of her time. She became one of the most popular female playwrights in England, as her plays were performed time and time again, and eventually began to attract star casts, such as Mr. Garrick. Her comedies The Busie Body and The Wonder: A Woman Keeps A Secret were among the four most frequently performed of the 19th century, aside from Shakespeare’s works. The Wonder: A Woman Keeps A Secret was considered her masterpiece after Garrick popularized it through his role as Don Felix.

Overall, Centlivre’s plays, especially her early ones, were centered on unconventional female characters, and bold in statements about the work of female playwrights such as herself, and women in general. Like her fellow female playwrights, Centlivre was often accused of claiming works that were not her own. In the dedication of The Platonick Lady, she specifically speaks out against those who discredit her work simply because it is not that of a man, and makes statements of this nature throughout her works. For example, we see this in The Gamester:

To summarize her work and style: “She excelled in writing intrigue comedy, somewhat in the style of Aphra Behn, but less sexually explicit, and in a softened tone” (xrefer.com).

Centlivre died in 1723, after a long period of poor health. She was buried in St. Paul’s Church at Covent Garden.

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SECONDARY SOURCES

JOHN GAY (1685-1732)
Kara Wylie

"Life is a jest, and all things show it; I thought so once, and now I know it." -from his self-written epitaph

BACKGROUND INFORMATION John Gay was born at Bamstable in Devonshire in 1685, during the reign of Charles II. He was the youngest son of William Gay, but unfortunately lost both of his parents at an early age and was raised by his uncle, Reverend John Hammer. After completing Bamstable Grammar School and working as an apprentice to a silk merchant in London, a job which he despised, Gay finally began his literary career. Upon moving to London, he quickly found his way to the literary and social circles, and also frequented many of the chocolate houses that were popular at the time. In 1708, Gay published "Wine," a poem celebrating the Act of Union between Scotland and England, showing his initial concern with political affairs.

Gay began supporting himself as a journalist, but also found many jobs that helped him work his way into aristocratic circles. From 1712-14, he worked as a steward for the Duchess of Monmouth. He then became secretary to Lord Clarendon, but with the death of Queen Anne and the fall of the Tory Government, Gay was left to his own means. Gay had already become close friends with Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope and in 1713 he published "The Rural Sport," a poem about hunting and fishing which he dedicated to Pope. In 1714 he published "The Shepherd's Week," which is known as a mock pastoral play and was the first ofhis writing to receive any real attention.

However, the piece of writing that really brought him fame was the publication of The Beggar's Opera in 1728. The Duchess of Queensbury, with her influence and money, persuaded John Rich to take on The Beggar's Opera at the Lincoln's-Inn-Fields theatre. The play, the first notable ballad opera, contains sharp satire and makes fun of the seriousness of both the Italian opera and the English society at the time. The Beggar's Opera was a huge success, and the London Weekly humorously wrote, "it [the play] hath made Rich very gay, and probably will make Gay very rich." Indeed, Gay made 600 pounds on the play, although he spent most of his profit on gambling and drinking. Yet, Gay never appeared to worry much about supporting himself. He was considered a friendly and entertaining companion, and people enjoyed his company. Therefore, he spent most ofhis life being housed and supported by friends and patrons. At one point he held the position of Lottery Manager of England, but during his last years Gay lived mainly with two of his patrons, the Duke and Duchess of Wiltshire.

Gay wrote a sequel to The Beggar's Opera in 1729 called Polly, in which the character of Captain Macheath finally faces the repercussions of his actions towards Polly. The play was banned from production by Sir Robert Walpole since it ridiculed Walpole's government, but this ban only heightened the public's desire to become familiar with the sequel. Thus, Gay made money off of selling printed copies. After finally leaving his patrons' estate, John Gay returned to London in 1732. He died on December 4 of that same year at age 47 and was buried in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey.

SECONDARY SOURCES

HENRY FIELDING 1707-1754
Julie Patrick

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Henry Fielding is recognized as one of England's most distinguished early novelists, but he started as a playwright. From 1728 to 1737, Fielding wrote over 20 pieces for the theater and probably would have continued with drama had not his theater ventures been destroyed by the Licensing Act of 1737 that censored his harsh political satire and ended his right to operate a non-licensed theater.

Fielding was born in 1707, the same year that George Farquhar died and the same year that unified England, Scotland, and Wales under the name of "Great Britain." Fielding spent his boyhood in the country before attending Eton College. During his early life, Fielding witnessed two accessions of the crown - George I and George II. Fielding attended University of Leiden (Netherlands) for one year before leaving school. In 1728, on the encouragement of his cousin, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, he moved to London to devote himself entirely to play writing.

The London Theater world of the early 1720s was dominated by the two main theaters: Drury Lane and Lincoln's Inn Fields. There was a third patent given in 1719 to establish the Royal Academy of Music (the King's Theater in Haymarket). Experimental material was rarely accepted at these theaters and hopeful playwrights struggled to get their work on stage. Restoration drama during this time reflects social and domestic plots "often turning on amourous intrigues and the closet-door plots of farce" (Varey 1) as we have already read. Tragedy still borrowed from classical heroic structures. After the early part of the 1720s, however, new ideas about the theater and writing began to emerge slowly. The sentimental became a new strain of drama, which played upon the innate virtue and goodness of human beings. A typical plot involved "unbelievably virtuous maidens in situations of pitiful distress [who] resist the seductions of rakes who miraculously reform" (Varey 1) for no other reason than to end the play. Colly Cibber and Richard Steele utilize this style in which virtuous characters are "duly rewarded with the happy ending" (Varey 1). Chastity and loyalty are glorified in these dramas. Another strain of drama emerges in the form of the Ballad Opera in which songs are fully integrated into the spoken lines. The London stage was stirred up with Gay's The Beggar's Opera, which was so successful that it ushered in a new era of experimentation with form and more playhouses. On a given night during this later era, a theatergoer could have up to 5 choices of plays to attend.

In 1728, Fielding's first play - Love in Several Masques was a success at Drury Lane. Characters had self-explanatory names borrowing from the Comedy of Humors style (as well as Congreve). Marriage is the subject of his first play. In the end, Lady Matchless changes her mind and marries "the honest country 'philosopher' [therefore] his contempt of fortune is rewarded in the end" (Valey 5). This continues the theme of marriage for love versus for monetary gain.

During his theater period, Fielding wrote farces, ballad operas, sentimental comedies, and political satires. In his satires, he targeted "pretentions…of theater managers, and of the corruptions of the whole industry of writing and publishing" (Valey 8). Political writing of the time oftentimes centered upon Robert Walpole, who controlled the Whig government from 1722 to 1742. The Walpole government was corrupt and often used bribery as a tactic. Colly Cibber wrote in favor of Walpole and many argued he was on the take. John Gay, on the other hand, emerged as the spokesmen for the opposition stance. Fielding seems to have been more aligned with the opposition side as far as fighting corruption goes. By 1731, all of his satiric comedies sought "to reform society by exposing and ridiculing the vain, the hypocritical, the greedy, and the corrupt while the sentimental plays and scenes provide examples of virtue, integrity, and honesty to be imitated" (Varey 13). He stated in The Champion, the periodical he edited for a short while in 1740, that "we are much better and easier taught by the examples of what we are to shun, than by those which would instruct us what to pursue" (10 June 1740). After the Licensing Act of 1737, Fielding edited several political periodicals such as The True Patriot and The Jacobite's Journal. These journals were anti-Jacobite and sought to reverse the apathy rampant in England during this time. The Jacobites were supporters of James II who denied the validity of the accession of William and Mary, and therefore or Anne, George I and George II. They believed that the King had divine authority from God and not from Parliament. After 1714, the Whig monopoly of power forced many Tories to align themselves with Jacobite interests. Most Roman Catholic and Anglican Tories were also Jacobites. Fielding seems to have been brought up anti-Catholic and would therefore be more aligned to the Whig party (minus its rampant corruption). As a magistrate in 1748, Fielding fought for reform and justice. Along with his half-brother, he founded the Bow Street Runners, a detective force that was the precursor to Scotland Yard.

Fielding is most known for his popular burlesque farces, which blend many different strains of drama. Burlesque deals with "caricature rather than character" according to our text books. It is an exaggeration that mocks heroic plays. Tom Thumb or Tragedy of Tragedies is a burlesque of heroic tragedy form. In his revision, Fielding assumes the identity of H. Scriblerus Secundus, who is the "persona of a typically contemporary scholar and critic" (Lewis 113). Fielding borrows him from Pope's play from 3 years prior - Peri Bathous in which Pope assumes the persona of Martinus Scriblerus. These annotations mock the critics as well as connect the play to a long history of heroic drama. Fielding "constantly concludes heroic pronouncements with inappropriate similitudes" (Hume 69).

Tom Thumb speaks in the style of heroic dialect yet compares himself and his princess Huncamunca to the Chimney-Sweeper in I.V.104-7. Fielding abuses the simile. Lewis notes that what Fielding does is to "endow the superhuman and therefore dehumanized characters of heroic tragedy with particular weaknesses so that they become preposterous" (118). Take for example Tom Thumb who is a classic heroic figure, yet a dwarf. The Queen is the pillar of virtue, yet an alcoholic. Notice, however, how Fielding still manages to comment on marriage and women. The princess wants to marry both men. Fielding sets this play up as the tragedy from which all tragedy come from. He includes Merlin, the ghost of Gaffer Thumb, elements of the superhuman and supernatural. The stream of successive deaths at the end exaggerates and mocks death in classical tragedy.

SELECTED WORKS

SECONDARY SOURCES

GEORGE LILLO
Eli Cohen

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
George Lillo, the English dramatist, was born in 1693 in London. This author of The London Merchant, or the History of George Barnwell was in fact a London merchant himself His father was a London jeweler, and the two were partners together for several years. This play was his most successful work, and one of the more popular plays of the 18th Century. Colly Cibber called it "almost a new species of tragedy". Though little else is known about his personal life, The London Merchant, first produced at Drury Lane in June of 1731, is considered the earliest domestic tragedy to use prose almost entirely. This play, as well as his only other success, The Fatal Curiosity, featured the controversial, cross-dressing actress Charlotte Charke. Other plays that he wrote include the rather insignificant Silvia, or The Country Burial, and the Shakespeare-influenced, The Christian Hero. Lillo's The London Merchant has been extensively studied in terms of its economic significance and also Lillo' s use of the bourgeois hero, which is reflected in the works of Diderot and Lessing.

SECONDARY SOURCES

Hogarth's Industry and Idleness series was in part inspired by Lillo's play The London Merchant. See the individual prints below.

HANNAH PARKHOUSE COWLEY
Cynthia Saunders

Hannah Parkhouse Cowley was a significant playwright of the late 18th century. According to The Oxford Companion to english Literature, she was "one of the first women playwrights of England, whose work marks the transition from Restoration to 18th Century comedy, though without too strong an infusion of sentimentality." Cowley's significance lies in the fact that, as a women playwright she played an active role in fighting against sexist attitudes and broadening the range of possibilities for women involved in theatre.

Hannah Parkhouse Cowley was born in 1743 to a literary family in Tiverton, Devonshire. Her father was a bookseller, providing a solid background for Hannah's interest in writing and the arts. At the age of 25 (1768), she married Thomas Cowley, a government clerk and writer. In 1776, the intellectual couple attended a performance that sparked Cowley's interest in writing for theatre, as she determined she could do better. Two weeks later, Cowley finished writing The Runaway which made its debut in 1780. The Runaway was significant in that it set a precedence for the production of Cowley's plays in Covent Garden, and also began a small, yet long-lasting, scandal between Cowley and Hannah More, during which Cowley accused More of plagarizing her work.

Cowley's next major work, and the piece often regarded as her best, was The Belle's Strategem, produced in 1780. This play, based on La Fausse Agnés by Destouches, was revived many times, most notably by the Kembles, and by Irving. It was last performed in London in 1913. The Belle's Strategem is also recognized as one of the earliest comedies to be produced in America in the repertory of the Hallams and Hodgkinson in New York in 1794, where it was also frequently revived. At the time of the play's second season, Mr. Cowley was working as a theatre critic for the Gazetteer. In his review of the show, he highly praised the play itself, but condemned the actors performances, claiming that they added in jokes of their own which did not suit the mood of the play. This stirred up a great deal of tension between the actors and the Cowley's the became a major source of gossip in the other local papers. The writer of "The Green- Room Earwig," a gossip column in the British Mercury, wrote the following regarding Mrs. Cowley:

Such retaliation, she thinks, is cruel; for the critic and the author should be considered as two distinct persons. This is the first time I ever heard that a man and a wife should be considered apart (Gray, P.209-11).

Yet the evidence shows that the couple were not going to be recognized as separate individuals. The actors refused to perform Cowley's next play, The World As It Goes because of her husband's critique.

Following his career as a critic, Mr. Cowley became Captain Cowley for the East India Company service and died in 1797, outlived by Hannah who died twelve years later in 1809.

Cowley's next plays were Which is the Man? (1782) and A Bold Stroke for a Husband (1783). The following play, A School for Greybeards (1786) was based on Aphra Behn's Lucky Chance (1686) and was critiqued heavily as being improper due to its vulgar language and harsh depiction of characters. Cowley did not take this criticism sitting down, and responded aggressively, addressing the playwright's right to portray realistic "character, speech, and action." In the address to the play's reprinting, Cowley writes:

And therefore, most solemnly aver, that the Comedy, as now printed, contains EVERY WORD which was opposed the first night, from the suspicion of indelicacy; hoping that their obvious meaning only will be attended to, without the coarse ingenuity of strained explanations; which have been made, by persons who seem desirous to surround my task of dramatic writing, with as many difficulties as possible.

This is a clear example of the way in which Cowley responded to criticism that she felt she was unduly faced with.

Cowley's next play, The Fate of Sparta, produced in 1788, met with unforgiving criticism from the critics. It was followed by one final play, The Town Before You, in 1794. In the preface to this final play, Cowley harshly criticized the "corrupt tastes" of London and vowed never to write again for the theatre. This was a threat that she never ammended.

Overall, as a playwright, Hannah Cowley was a landmark for both London theatre, and the role of women in the theatrical process. Critics at this time were finally ready for women playwrights. This can be seen in Goldsmith's "Essay on the Theatre, or a Comparison between Laughing and Sentimental Comedy," in which he says:

There are many situations of the female mind which have not yet been described, and they never can be, till the ladies themselves write honestly about love. The Muse of this fair Poetess seems to be headstrong and we hope will often run away with her into some of those situations (P. 241).

Thus, we see that while some critics were ready to open their minds to the idea of a woman playwright, others were not, and a little less ready to accept them. These critics required a playwright as headstrong as Hannah Cowley in order to be forced to listen.

SECONDARY SOURCES