DOCSLIB.ORG

Introduction

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Introduction Notes Introduction 1. In Romantic Liars: Obscure Women Who Became Imposters and Challenged an Empire (2006), Debbie Lee chronicles the exploits of six Romantic-era women whose impostures subverted class and gen- der boundaries. Among the women she examines is Mary Bateman (1768–1809), the so-called Witch of Leeds, who pretended to possess supernatural powers and necromantic assistants. Bateman cheated her superstitious victims out of money and, in some cases, poisoned them. 2. See, for example, the passage from Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa (1747–48) excerpted later in this introduction. 3. Objectionable figures were also compared to air-feeding chameleons. For example, a character in Hannah Cowley’s play The Runaway, a Comedy (1776) describes “a Court Dangler” as “one whose ambi- tion is to be fostered with the cameleon food of smiles and nods” (IV.52). 4. Although a postmortem autopsy in 1810 revealed that the Chevalier D’Eon was biologically a man, he succeeded in convincing his con- temporaries that he was female and lived as a woman for decades. 5. Wahrman’s conception of the modern self is heavily influenced by the philosopher Charles Taylor, who argues that during the early Romantic period a stable, unitary, and interiorized notion of self- hood emerged and became normative. For Taylor, “the modern identity” is characterized by inwardness, uniqueness, and moral agency: “Something fundamental changes in the late eighteenth century. The modern subject is no longer defined just by the power of disengaged rational control but by [the] new power of expres- sive self-articulation as well—the power which has been ascribed since the Romantic period to the creative imagination. This [power] intensifies the sense of inwardness and leads to [a] radical subjectiv- ism and an internalization of moral sources” (390). 6. Terry Castle offers several possible explanations for the sudden demise of masquerades (98–103). 7. Jeffrey N. Cox and Michael Gamer stress the pervasive influence of theater in Romantic-era British culture: “With the four patent the- aters in London (the two winter dramatic theaters of Covent Garden 204 Notes and Drury Lane, the summer theater at Haymarket, and the King’s Theatre given over to Italian opera) standing as central national institutions, with theaters found in every major city from Bath to Edinburgh, and with forms of staged entertainment present in every kind of venue from taverns to carnivals, the theater held the same place in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries that televi- sion, film, and video hold in the twenty-first” (xi). 8. Robert-François Damiens (1715–1757), who attempted to assassi- nate Louis XIV on January 5, 1757, was not related to Robespierre. He was condemned as a regicide and drawn and quartered. 9. Ormond rapes and murders “a Tartar girl” (202) and attempts to rape the novel’s heroine, Constantia Dudley. Robert S. Levine has examined Ormond’s association with the Illuminati and postrevolu- tionary conspiracy anxieties. 10. Will’s and Tom’s were popular London coffeehouses. 11. Smith quotes from an anonymous poem, possibly written by Daniel Defoe, titled The English Gentleman Justified (Part II, 47, 54). 12. In An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793), Godwin writes: “It is evident . that a strict adherence to truth will have the best effect upon our minds in the ordinary commerce of life. This is the virtue which has commonly been known by the denomination of sincerity” (3.135). He also argues that “[t]he powerful recommenda- tions attendant upon sincerity are obvious. It is intimately connected with the general dissemination of innocence, energy, intellectual improvement, and philanthropy” (Political Justice Variants 4.161). 13. A Bold Stroke for a Wife remained in the theatrical repertoire through- out the Romantic period. 14. Kenney’s protagonist echoes a speech given by Letitia Hardy, the heroine of Cowley’s The Belle’s Stratagem (1780 premiere), at a mas- querade (IV.i.59). I discuss this speech in chapter 4. 15. From 1792 to 1800, The Irish Widow was performed 18 times and A Bold Stroke for a Husband was performed only once in London (Hogan 1477, 1571, 1681–2, 1782, 1994, 2100, and 2204). Of course, as a two-act afterpiece, The Irish Widow was easier to fit into an evening’s entertainment than was A Bold Stroke for a Husband, which is a five-act mainpiece. 16. A number of scholars have noted that Mayne’s Two Dissertations Concerning Sense and the Imagination is a possible influence on Keats’s conception of the chameleon poet (Roe 247). 17. Merry adopted the pseudonym Della Crusca in homage to the Accademia della Crusca, established in Florence, Italy in 1582–1583. 18. For a detailed discussion of Robinson’s Tabitha Bramble avatar and her different voices, see Daniel Robinson (168–183). 19. Sharon Setzer observes that “it is possible . to understand [the Sylphid] as a feminist anticipation of Keats’s chameleon poet” (“Mary Robinson’s Sylphid Self” 505). Notes 205 20. Cooke acknowledges that Keats would have disputed his character- ization of Byron as the “consummate chameleon poet.” 21. James Soderholm contends that Lady Blessington, who may have been the model for Lady Adeline Amundeville in Don Juan, was also chameleonic: “the Conversations presents the spectacle of dueling, conversing chameleons—a contest of verbal showiness and shiftiness that makes a hoax of the very possibility of candor, stable meanings, and sincerity as traditionally conceived” (150). 22. Richard Woodhouse, the recipient of Keats’s chameleon poet letter, wrote that Byron, unlike Shakespeare and Keats, “does not come up to [the poetical] Character”: “He can certainly conceive & describe a dark accomplished vilain [sic] in love—& a female tender & kind who loves him. Or a sated & palled Sensualist Misanthrope & Deist—But here his power ends.—The true poet can not only conceive this—but can assume any Character Essence idea or Substance at pleasure. & He has this imaginative faculty not in a limited manner, but in full universality” (Letters 1.390). It should be noted that Woodhouse penned his assessment of Byron’s chameleonism in October 1818, before the publication of Don Juan (1819–1824) and Byron’s dramas. 23. Simon Kövesi contends that Clare’s poetic chameleonism “relates to, though [it] is noticeably different from, Keats’ assertion that the poet ‘has no Identity—he is continually in for—and filling some other body’; Clare instead wants lots of identities. Rather than an absence or denial of self he wants a free plurality of ‘exist[e]nces’” (82). 24. Marshall Berman explains that “[t]he process of confessing, for Rousseau, was a process of unmasking, of differentiating, of integrat- ing, of bringing his authentic self into being” (86, italics in original). 25. Elle m’avait donné cette confiance dont le défaut m’a presque tou- jours empêché d’être moi. Je le fus alors. Jamais mes yeux, mes sens, mon cœur et ma bouche n’ont si bien parlé” (Les Confessions 291). 26. As Jerome McGann observes, in Byron’s work, “hypocrisy and the true voice of feeling cannot be separated (even if they can be dis- tinguished)” (Towards a Literature of Knowledge 40). In a nuanced discussion of Lady Adeline’s mobility, Angela Esterhammer argues that “[f]or Byron, sincerity is both spontaneous and performed; it manifests as an immediate, embodied response to stimuli, a response that is read by others through a semiotics of looks, gestures, and tone of voice, as well as words” (“The Scandal of Sincerity” 113). 27. In editions, reviews, and scholarly articles, the title of Knave, or Not? is punctuated in a variety of ways: Knave, or Not?, Knave or Not?, Knave; or Not?, or Knave or Not. The play was originally titled Knave or No Knave? 28. A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800 explains that Palmer “derived his nickname from Lord Plausible, the classic 206 Notes coxcomb in Wycherley’s Moliéresque comedy The Plain Dealer, [and] was so called not only for his excellent delineation of the character but also because of his reputation for intrigue and hypocrisy” (“Palmer, John” 11.172). 1 The Case of the Pretended Duke of Ormond 1. Some of the pages in the 1663 edition of The Case of Madam Mary Carleton are misnumbered. 2. A “catch-dolt” is a cheat. 3. Ernest Bernbaum argues that A Witty Combat and The German Princess, which premiered in 1664 with Carleton in the title role, are the same play (25–26). Mary Jo Kietzman speculates that Carleton may have collaborated with Thomas Porter in the composition of A Witty Combat (142–143). 4. Kietzman explains that she “began . work on Carleton’s life with the fact of her immense popularity” (2). 5. Hannah Cowley has bewildered patriarchal characters criticize English society as “one universal masquerade” in her comedies The Belle’s Stratagem and The Town before You (1794 premiere) (Stratagem II.i.27; The Town V.vi.95). 6. In Fictions and Fakes: Forging Romantic Authenticity, 1760–1845, Russett “focus[es] on how spectacular fakes” like John Hatfield and Princess Caraboo “participated in defining the ‘fictional identity’ bequeathed to the modern subject by Romantic culture.” She con- tends “that modern subjectivity should be understood as a subset and, to some extent, as a precipitate of the representational practices the Romantics called ‘romance’ but which, in their derogated forms, also go by such names as ‘imposture,’ ‘forgery,’ ‘plagiarism,’ and ‘delusion’” (5). 7. In his 1817 account of the imposture, John Mathew Gutch concludes “That the talents of such a girl should have been hitherto directed to no better purpose [than deception], every one must lament” (55).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Daniel Defoe Was Born Is Presumed to Have Been Born in the Fall of 1660
    Chapter 1 London’s Birchin Lane is a short and narrow street, running north-south between the larger Cornhill and Lombard streets. Known in the Middle Ages for its collection of secondhand clothing shops, it eventually became home to several fine men’s clothiers, a destination where men of distinction could pick up something special: a whalebone doublet, perhaps, or a “captain’s suit . stuffed with points, and a pair of velvet slops scored thick with lace.” By the 18th century, it was also home to Old Tom’s Coffee House, which would gain fame by the end of the century for being a hangout of the famous Shakespearean actor, David Garrick. But in 1729, it hosted a no less interesting figure, the rather curious and shadowy Robert Drury. Across town, the famous author Daniel Defoe, widely considered the inventor of the realistic or historical novel, and working under the alias Andrew Moreton Esq., toils over what will be his final work, Second Thoughts Are Best: or, a Further Improvement of a Late Scheme to Prevent Street Robberies. Drury’s story was precisely of the type that most appealed to Defoe and, considering the proximity, there’s little doubt that the famous author had already paid Drury a visit well before his residency at Old Tom’s. * * * Now forty-two years old, Drury sits in Old Tom’s with a mug of coffee, a pile of books on the table in front of him. It’s a closed-in place, full of chatter, laughter, and barracking. Men sip coffee and read their expensive newspapers or listen for fresh news coming up from the boys sent to the docks for that purpose.
    [Show full text]
  • 19 Hannah Cowley.Pdf
    J{annah Cowley (1743-1809) Hannah Cowley was born on 14 March 1743 in Tiverton, Devonshire, but little is known of her early life except that her father was the classical scholar and bookseller Philip Parkhouse. At about the age of twenty-five, when she married Thomas Cowley, she moved with him to London, where he was a Stamp Office clerk, newspaper writer, and editor of the Gazetteer. Accord­ ing to one of her contemporaries, "The lady herself paid no great deference to the opinion of her husband. Indeed, she was a being of a superior cast; and, though they passed their time happily enough together, thanks to her discreet and compliant spirit, there did not seem to be any thing congenial in their dispositions. She was lively, open, and engaging; he was sententious, close, and repulsive." 1 The couple had four children, the eldest of whom died early; in 1783 Thomas Cowley left for India with the East India Company, never to return to England. From that time forward, Hannah Cowley lived essentially as a single mother, writing to supplement her family's income. Cowley's writing career began with a chance remark. While attending a play, she observed, "Why I could write as well myself." Her husband laughed. In reply, the next morning she began composing the first act of a comedy. A couple of weeks later she sent a draft of The Runaway to David Garrick, who was encouraging and suggested revisions. On 15 February 1776 he opened the play at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, and it had a successful run of seventeen performances.
    [Show full text]
  • Plimpton Collection of Dramas 1675-1920 (Bulk 1850-1900)
    AMHERST COLLEGE ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Plimpton Collection of Dramas 1675-1920 (bulk 1850-1900) Summary: A collection of 1429 plays, largely from nineteenth century American and Brisish popular theater. Quantity: 14 linear feet Listed by: Neha Wadia, AC 2013, Student Assistant Note: These plays are cataloged in the Amherst College online catalog. To find the complete listing in the catalog, do a basic keyword search for “Plimpton collection of dramas”. Individual plays can be searched by title and author. The call number for the collection is PN6111.P5 © 2013 Amherst College Archives and Special Collections Page 1 Plimpton Collection of Dramas INTRODUCTION THE PLIMPTON COLLECTION OF PLAYS by Curtis Canfield Originally published in the Amherst Graduates’ Quarterly, May 1932 Mr. George A. Plimpton, ’76, recently presented to the college a large collection of material relating to the English and American theatre of the nineteenth century. More than 1200 plays are represented in the collection in addition to numerous playbills, programs, libretti, histories, and after-pieces, as well as an autographed photograph of Edwin Booth as Richelieu. The collection seems to have been a part of the extensive theatrical library of Mr. Edward Boltwood of Pittsfield, whose father was born in Amherst in 1839 and moved to Pittsfield in 1870. Mr. Boltwood, although an active member of the Berkshire bar, made the theatre his avocation and found time to write a number of small pieces for the stage, one of which is included in the present collection. He was also instrumental in establishing the William Parke Stock Company in Pittsfield, and continued his connection with this company by writing reviews of its plays.
    [Show full text]
  • Patronage and Professionalism in the Writings of Hannah More, Charlotte Smith and Ann Yearsley, 1770-1806
    Patronage and Professionalism in the writings of Hannah More, Charlotte Smith and Ann Yearsley, 1770-1806. Kerri Louise Andrews Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of English November 2006 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. 1 Abstract This thesis examines the changes which were occurring in the literary marketplace at the end of the eighteenth century. The place of the traditional aristocratic patrons was gradually being taken by publishers and book sellers, who were increasingly dealing with writers direct. This move away from patronage towards a new form of professionalism took place during two decades of intense political upheaval and questioning of national identity, and at a point where women writers were being seen increasingly as a natural part of literary culture. The argument is focused on three case studies of women who came to prominence in the 1780s, and explores their different experiences of life as professional writers, patrons and protegees. Their work is placed within the context of two significant political and social events; the beginnings of the movement to abolish the slave trade in 1788, and the French Revolution. In particular, the thesis enagages with the Revolution's descent into the Terror in the 1790s, and the response of British writers to this most brutal phase.
    [Show full text]
  • 6 X 10.5 Long Title.P65
    Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-67505-5 - The Cambridge Companion to Daniel Defoe Edited by John Richetti Index More information INDEX Act of Uniformity (1662), 163 Colonel Jack, 40, 58, 69, 71, 84–85, 86, 89, Addison, Joseph, and Richard Steele, The 94, 95, Spectator, 25, 26, 39, 42, 227 compared with Moll Flanders, 73–79 adventure fiction and global realities, 60–62 urban realism, 128–29, 173–74, 179 and the link between overseas and urban commerce, adventure, and imperial design, realities 60 and Christianity 47 Africa as negative pole of commercial world, Complete English Tradesman, The 19, 69, 92, 56–57 99, 108 Annesley, Arthur, 5th Earl of Anglesey, 37 instructions and advice to tradesmen, Annesley, Samuel, Foe family minister, 163 170–71 Ashmole, Elias, History of the Order of the moral optimism, 212 Garter, 113 politeness decoded in shop negotiation, 178 Aubrey, Miscellanies, 113 territory of trade in London, 169–70 Congreve, William, 232 Baker, Henry, Defoe’s son-in-law, 39 Cowley, Abraham, 233 Beattie, John, 66 Craftsman, The, and Tory ideology, 42 Behn, Aphra, 233 crime wave of 1720s, 39–40, 65–67 Bishop, Elizabeth, “Crusoe in England,” 182 Cromwell, Oliver, 11 Blackmore, Richard Sir, 11 Crouch, Nathaniel, The English Empire in A Satyr against Wit, 231 America, 49 Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, 1st Earl of, 36 Curll, Edmund, 1 Bunyan, John, 211 currency crises in Defoe’s time, 90–91 Butler, Samuel, 211, 227 Dampier, William, 55 Camden, William, Britannia, source for Davis, Lennard, 124 Defoe’s Tour, 112–13, defoe, daniel
    [Show full text]
  • 'So Persuasive an Eloquence'? Roles for Women on the Eighteenth-Century Stage
    CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by The University of Sydney: Sydney eScholarship Journals online 'So Persuasive an Eloquence'? Roles for Women on the Eighteenth-Century Stage. PENNY GAY The question which has engaged my research interest for the last couple of decades might be summarised as: how does drama make meaning for the contemporary society on which-more than any other type of literary endeavour-it depends for its very survival? With a book called As She Likes It: Shakespeare's Unruly Women (Routledge, 1994) I ventured onto the sacred high ground of Shakespeare criticism to explore the particular eloquence of women's voices in comedy. When I later wrote Jane Austen and the Theatre (Cambridge University Press, 2002) I was following a hunch-that Austen, with her strong dramatic talent for comedy, knew that quasi-theatrical 'scenes' provided a medium for exploring women's roles and lives through their speech. Austen was, in fact, fascinated by theatre, and delighted 1 by I real acting, good hardened real acting', despite the unthinking common notion that she disapproved of theatre because the young people in Mansfield Park got into trouble for indulging in amateur theatricals. My research into the plays that Austen knew, and the theatrical productions that we know she attended, demonstrated that she was a discriminating and enthusiastic theatre-goer and play-reader; and that most of what she saw and read was contemporary drama. Writing that book left me with many further questions to pursue about the quality of eighteenth-century drama-and, in particular, I wondered if there was more to be known and understood about this drama than is acknowledged by the histories written in the twentieth century.
    [Show full text]
  • Making Sense of Highway Robbery in Defoe's Colonel Jack
    Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie occidentale [online] ISSN 2499-1562 Vol. 50 – Settembre 2016 [print] ISSN 2499-2232 “Quite another Vein of Wickedness” Making Sense of Highway Robbery in Defoe’s Colonel Jack Jeanne Clegg (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia) Abstract In early 1720s London highway or street robbery, especially by ‘gangs’, was highly topical; for some decades it had been a cause of much anxiety, and had recently been the target of increas- ingly harsh legislation. Yet the vast literature that “accompanied and stimulated” that legislation has been described by Robert Shoemaker as deeply ambivalent, swinging between negative images of ruthless brutes and positive images of polite gentlemen highwaymen. In Daniel Defoe’s Colonel Jack (1722) the protagonist’s thieving career follows a rising curve of violence, ‘progressing’ from pick- ing merchants’ pockets and compounding to mugging old gentlemen and ambushing apprentices. Jack and his tutor/companion Will then fall into “quite another Vein of Wickedness” by getting in with a gang of footpads and burglars, a promotion Will promises, will make them “all Gentlemen together”. This essay suggests that we read the robbery episodes in this novel as an attempt to “make sense of” such violent crime and its conflicting cultural representations, especially as they relate to the gentlemanly aspirations which are a dominant motif in this novel. Summary 1 Deepening Ambivalence. – 2 From Picking Pockets to Street Robbery. – 3 A Wretched Gang of Fellows. – 4 The Life of a Gentleman? – 5 Forming Ideas. Keywords Eighteenth century. Defoe. Crime. London. 1 Deepening Ambivalence Introducing their recent, much-needed edition of Defoe’s Colonel Jack,1 Gabriel Cervantes and Geoffrey Sill attribute critical neglect of this novel to its reputation as a fiction of historical rather than literary interest (Cer- vantes & Sill 2016, 12).
    [Show full text]
  • Entertaining Crisis in the Atlantic Imperium, 1770–1790 O'quinn, Daniel
    Entertaining Crisis in the Atlantic Imperium, 1770–1790 O'Quinn, Daniel Published by Johns Hopkins University Press O'Quinn, Daniel. Entertaining Crisis in the Atlantic Imperium, 1770–1790. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011. Project MUSE. doi:10.1353/book.1868. https://muse.jhu.edu/. For additional information about this book https://muse.jhu.edu/book/1868 [ Access provided at 3 Oct 2021 03:51 GMT with no institutional affiliation ] This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Entertaining Crisis in the Atlantic Imperium 1770– 1790 This page intentionally left blank Entertaining Crisis in the Atlantic Imperium 1770– 1790 daniel o’quinn The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore © 2011 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2011 Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Mary land 21218- 4363 www .press .jhu .edu Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data O’Quinn, Daniel, 1962– Entertaining crisis in the Atlantic imperium, 1770– 1790 / Daniel O’Quinn. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 8018- 9931- 7 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN- 10: 0- 8018- 9931- 1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. En glish drama— 18th century— History and criticism. 2. Mascu- linity in literature. 3. Politics and literature— Great Britain— History—18th century. 4. Theater— England—London—History— 18th century. 5. Theater— Political aspects— England—London. 6. Press and politics— Great Britain— History—18th century. 7. United States— History—Revolution, 1775– 1783—Infl uence.
    [Show full text]
  • The Project Gutenberg Ebook of the Life, Adventures & Piracies of The
    The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life, Adventures & Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton, by Daniel Defoe #10 in our series by Daniel Defoe Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the header without written permission. Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. **Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** **eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** *****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** Title: The Life, Adventures & Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton Author: Daniel Defoe Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6422] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on December 10, 2002] Edition: 10 Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN SINGLETON *** Produced by Tom Allen, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. CAPTAIN SINGLETON WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY EDWARD GARNETT [Transcriber's Note: In the print copy, the following words and those of the title page are written in intricate, illuminated calligraphy.] A TALE WHICH HOLDETH CHILDREN FROM PLAY AND OLD MEN FROM THE CHIMNEY CORNER SIR PHILIP SIDNEY THE LIFE ADVENTURES AND PIRACIES OF THE FAMOUS CAPTAIN SINGLETON BY DANIEL DEFOE PREFACE That all Defoe's novels, with the exception of "Robinson Crusoe," should have been covered with the dust of neglect for many generations, is a plain proof of how much fashions in taste affect the popularity of the British classics.
    [Show full text]
  • Field List: the Long Eighteenth Century • Joseph Addison And
    Field list: The Long Eighteenth Century Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, The Spectator 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 26, 34, 50, 57, 66, 69, 81, 88, 106, 108, 109, 112, 113, 117, 119, 122, 130, 132, 137, 174, 189, 251, 261, 182, 203, 266, 276, 324, 335, 454, 517, 519 (1711-12) Joseph Addison, Cato (1713) Penelope Aubin, Charlotta du Pont (1722) Mary Astell, A Serious Proposal to the Ladies (1694) Anna Barbauld, Poems (1773) Jane Barker, The Galesia Trilogy, Part 1 (i.e./aka, “Love Intrigues,” 1719) William Beckford, Vathek (1782-French, 1786-English) Aphra Behn, Oroonoko (1678); The Rover (1677-81); Love Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister (1684-87); poems: “The Disapointment,” “On Her Loving Two Equally,” and “To the Fair Clarinda” James Boswell, The London Journal (1762-3); Life of Johnson (1791) Frances Brooke, The Excursion (1777) Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1756) Frances Burney, Evelina (1778) Margaret Cavendish, Blazing World (1666) Susannah Centlivre, A Bold Stroke for a Wife (1718) Mary, Lady Chudleigh, “The Ladies Defence” (1700), “To the Ladies,” “The Inquiry,” “On the Death of My Honoured Mother,” Essays in Prose and Verse: “Of Knowledge,” “To the Ladies,” “Of Friendship,” John Cleland, Fanny Hill (1748) William Congreve, The Way of the World (1700) Hannah Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem (1780) William Cowper, The Task: “Expostulation,” “Conversation,” “Retirement,” “The Castaway” (1785) Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719) John Dryden, All For Love (1678); “Absalom and Achitophel” (1681); “Mac Flecknoe” (1684); “To the Pious Memory of ..
    [Show full text]
  • Gender, Genre, and Gossip in Burney's the Witlings And
    ABSTRACT GENDER, GENRE, AND GOSSIP IN BURNEY’S THE WITLINGS AND SHERIDAN’S THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL This thesis focuses on a comparison between Richard Sheridan’s The School for Scandal and Frances Burney’s unpublished play The Witlings to reveal how female satire writers such as Burney were marginalized in London society. Sheridan, because of his position in society as a male, was not limited in his success because he was able to publish and direct his play The School for Scandal without encountering the same barriers as Burney. The considerable differences in these playwrights’ access to the theater world can be revealed in an analysis of gender and genre in their plays. Additionally, a comparison of gossip, reveals that Burney and Sheridan used satire throughout The School for Scandal and The Witlings, with the hope of ridding London of its scandalmongers. Burney wanted to expose London of gossipmongers to show that the literati elite were snobs among London society. Sheridan had a satirical perspective on gossip to reveal that the refined women lowered their own status through spreading gossip throughout London. Kristen Michelle Johnson December 2012 GENDER, GENRE, AND GOSSIP IN BURNEY’S THE WITLINGS AND SHERIDAN’S THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL by Kristen Michelle Johnson A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English in the College of Arts and Humanities California State University, Fresno December 2012 APPROVED For the Department of English: We, the undersigned, certify that the thesis of the following student meets the required standards of scholarship, format, and style of the university and the student's graduate degree program for the awarding of the master's degree.
    [Show full text]
  • MIAMI UNIVERSITY the Graduate School
    MIAMI UNIVERSITY The Graduate School Certificate for Approving the Dissertation We hereby approve the Dissertation of Eleni Siatra Candidate for the Degree: Doctor of Philosophy ------------------------------ Laura Mandell, Director ------------------------------ Cindy Lewiecki-Wilson, Reader ------------------------------ James Bromley, Reader ------------------------------ Glenn Platt, Graduate School Representative ABSTRACT A CRITICAL EDITION OF HANNAH MORE'S PERCY: A TRAGEDY By Eleni Siatra This critical edition of Percy: A Tragedy provides a carefully collated text of the best- known drama written by Hannah More. Despite her large literary output and the fame accorded her during her lifetime, More has not received the attention she deserves from literary historians and critics for her dramatic works. Today, her plays are not easily accessible to students of eighteenth century drama because they have not been printed since the early part of the nineteenth century. Percy, first produced in 1777, constitutes an important text in the history of women's contribution to eighteenth century English drama. More's tragedies, particularly Percy, draw on the tradition established by the `she-tragedies' of the late seventeenth century and the historical dramas of the eighteenth century. Elwina's celebrated monologue in Act II against the horrors of war connects More to the evangelical tradition, which grew exponentially during the nineteenth century. The critical introduction also considers the sources of Percy. Here I examine the play in relation to thirteenth century French medieval romances, such as Le Roman du Castelain de Couci et de la dame de Fayel, to eighteenth century French drama, such as Gabrielle de Vergy, in an attempt to establish a connection between those texts and the popular revival of historical romance in eighteenth century English drama.
    [Show full text]