Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2002 Nicholas Rowe's writing of woman as feminist hero Henry Herbert Sennett rJ . Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Recommended Citation Sennett, Henry Herbert Jr., "Nicholas Rowe's writing of woman as feminist hero" (2002). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 3761. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/3761 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. NICHOLAS ROWE’S WRITING OF WOMAN AS FEMINIST HERO A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Theatre by Henry Herbert Sennett, Jr. B.S.E., Arkansas State University, 1968 M.A., University of Memphis, 1971 M.Div. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1978 D.Min., Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1988 M.F.A., Florida Atlantic University, 1989 August, 2002 ©Copyright, 2002 Henry Herbert Sennett, Jr. All rights reserved ii To Beverly, Cristie and Alan iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people have shaped my life in so many ways, but this dissertation is the culmination of the help of many people. First, I wish to thank my major professor and mentor, Jennifer Jones, Assistant Professor of Theatre at Louisiana State University. She walked with me through this process and helped me to shape and develop my rough thoughts and ideas into a major work. And she taught me how to think historically, for which I shall be eternally grateful. I also wish to thank Bill Harbin for introducing me to the works of Nicholas Rowe. I wish to thank the other members of my committee: Les Wade, who challenged me to think theoretically; Robin Roberts, who challenged me to think about gender; Femi Euba, who helped me appreciate the value of creative thinking and writing; Ruth Bowman, who helped me think creatively about performance; and John Mastrogianakos, the Dean’s Representative to the committee for his insights into genre. I wish to give special thanks to Annabelle Jenkins who patiently and lovingly agreed to meet with me and to talk about Rowe. Her book was an invaluable tool in this work and her suggestions concerning places to look and people to see helped me tremendously. I wish to thank Richard Dammers who took the time to talk to me on the phone on several occasions offering me suggestions as to some directions I iv might take in my research. And I wish to thank Irv Zieman, professor of English at Southeastern College, Lakeland, Florida, who aided in editing the final paper. But, most of all I wish to thank my wife, Beverly, without whose total support I could not have accomplished this project. She meticulously and painstakingly helped with editing early editions of this paper helping me to see my many silly euphemisms which I gladly erased. But, her love and support as well as that of my two children, Cristie and Alan, were the inspiration and grounding for my work. And finally, I wish to give glory to God whose love and power has sustained me and strengthened me when things were difficult. To Him be all glory and honor and praise. H. Herbert Sennett, Jr. West Palm Beach, Florida v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . iv TABLE OF CONTENTS . vi ABSTRACT ............................ viii CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION . 1 THE STATE OF ROWE SCHOLARSHIP . 2 PURPOSE FOR THIS STUDY . 5 CHAPTER TWO – THE BEGINNING OF A FINE CAREER . 13 FOUNDATIONS FOR THE STUDY OF NICHOLAS ROWE . 14 POLITICAL AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND . 16 THE RESTORATION: WOMEN ON THE STAGE . 21 THE RESTORATION: CHALLENGE OF THE GAZE . 26 ENTER NICHOLAS ROWE . 28 ROWE’S EARLY ADULTHOOD . 31 CHAPTER THREE – DEVELOPMENT OF A FINE CAREER . 37 INFLUENCE OF NEOCLASSICISM . 38 ROWE’S EARLY THEATRICAL SUCCESSES . 41 ROWE’S ESTABLISHED CREDENTIALS . 47 CHANGING FORTUNES . 59 ROWE’S DEVELOPING PHILOSOPHY OF TRAGEDY . 60 CHAPTER FOUR – THE FEMINIST HERO TAKES SHAPE . 65 OUT OF TRAGEDY, TRIUMPH . 66 POPE’S AID AND COUNSEL . 68 A JOYFUL RECEPTION . 71 HISTORY AS VEHICLE . 74 POLITICS AS VEHICLE . 79 WHAT PRICE GLORY? . 85 CHAPTER FIVE – GROWING MATURITY . 88 ROWE’S COMMITMENT TO THE HANOVERIANS . 88 THE PRODUCTION OF JANE GREY ................. 96 ROWE AND THE FEMALE WITS . 105 CONCLUSION TO AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE . 108 vi CHAPTER SIX – ROWE’S CRITICS . 117 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY CRITICISM . 117 TWENTIETH CENTURY CRITICISM . 125 RECENT SCHOLARSHIP . 131 IN CONCLUSION . 138 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 141 Primary Sources . 141 Secondary Sources . 143 APPENDIX A AN OUTLINE OF THE LIFE OF NICHOLAS ROWE . 154 APPENDIX B FEMALE ROLES IN THE PLAYS OF NATHANIEL LEE, THOMAS OTWAY, AND JOHN DRYDEN WITH THE ACTRESSES WHO FIRST CREATED THE ROLES 1667- 1692 ........................... 158 APPENDIX C REPRESENTATIVE ROLES FOR WOMEN CONSIDERED VILLAINESSES (V) AND DARKER WOMEN (DW) 1661-1700 . 161 APPENDIX D ROWE’S MONUMENT AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY WITH OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION . 163 APPENDIX E LETTER OF PERMISSION TO USE ITEMS IN APPENDIX D . 166 VITA .............................. 168 vii ABSTRACT Nicholas Rowe was a playwright of some success during the first quarter of the eighteenth century in London. Rowe’s importance to the theatre can be seen in his contribution to the development of strong female roles. He was part of that group of Whig writers who championed individual freedom, some rights for women, and a stronger parliament. It is my contention that Rowe was an “incipient” feminist and an innovator of theatrical practice through his use of the female protagonist. By “feminist” I mean that Rowe wrote about the plight of women in a society that afforded very few rights to women. Within the context of his milieu, Rowe had “incipient” beliefs in favor of equal rights of women on a limited scale. This study analyses Rowe’s life and works in order to discover how Rowe made his decision to write strong female roles in his plays. Although he was not the first to write plays strong female roles, he appears to have been the first to have attempted to develop a genre based on the female as hero as evidenced by the unique title he used for the plays: “she-tragedy.” And with the unique purpose of writing female protagonist roles, Rowe was a proto-feminist, or as I call him, an incipient feminist. viii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION In 1716, Nicholas Rowe, the Poet Laureate to King George I, assisted a woman named Susanna Centlivre with a play that she was writing. He aided her with suggestions on the poetry and even supplied the epilogue, the last thing the audience would hear before exiting the theatre. By doing this, Rowe had taken a major step in legitimizing the career and writings of a woman known for her outspoken views on women’s rights. In a time when a woman’s domain was considered to be the home, Centlivre was standing against the social and political system of her day as a professional writer with no dependence upon a man. Aiding her in her efforts, Nicholas Rowe seemed to be placing his reputation and political career in jeopardy. Why did he do this? Who was this bold Laureate? What drove him to get involved with a woman playwright? Was he a champion of women’s rights? Did he write anything of significance on the struggle for women’s rights? Just what was his influence and significance to the theatre of his day? What was his influence on the modern theatre? This simple act was not a bold statement on his part, it was the culmination of a career filled with poetry and plays that hinted at a sympathy with women’s issues. This dissertation will seek to study the life and works of this little known, yet bold Poet Laureate of England and examine how his writing of women’s roles contributed to the rise of several of 1 England’s greatest actresses and the rise in popularity of the domestic tragedy. This study will also explore Rowe’s plays to discover that his contribution to Mrs. Centlivre’s play was in keeping with his life long interest in women’s rights. Specifically, this study will focus on Rowe’s writing of theatrical female heros that embodied some of the basic ideals found in modern feminist writings. I have chosen to label these characters as feminist heros, a phrase that I shall explain as this study unfolds. THE STATE OF ROWE SCHOLARSHIP The last scholarly books on Rowe are Annibel Jenkins, Nicholas Rowe (1977), and Douglas Canfield, Nicholas Rowe and Christian Tragedy (1977). Jenkins includes biographical information, and both books center on a literary analysis of the plays. Both books deal with various aspects of Rowe’s writings but do not focus on the production of the plays nor Rowe’s influence on the theatre of the day. Jenkins’ book contains a discussion of the political context in which Rowe wrote and Canfield stressed the social aspects of Rowe’s writings. A serious study of Rowe was done by Carolyne Lyles Ellison in a 1981 dissertation that deals with Rowe’s play The Fair Penitent , comparing it to an earlier play entitled The Fatal Dowry written by Massenger and Field. Ellison’s work is comprehensive and contains a great deal of information on the background of both plays. Like the others, she does not discuss the productions nor the influence Rowe had on the theatre of the eighteenth century.