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The Forc'd Marriage
''The Forc'd Marriage; or, The Jealous Bridegroom'' is a play by Aphra Behn, staged by the Duke's Company on 20 September 1670 in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, England. This sex tragicomedy ran for six nights, which granted Behn the house profits for both the third and six nights. It is considered her first staged play. Thomas Otway played a "probation part." Plot Like ''The Amorous Prince'' and ''The Young King'', ''The Forc'd Marriage'' draws heavily on Caroline stage effects, such as the use of the masque, disguise and costume. It features themes of proper authority in royal succession as well as Behn's recurrent concerns with interactions of sex, power and state politics.Janet Todd, 'Behn, Aphra (1640?-1689)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. In this class-based comedy, the king forces the protagonist, Erminia, to marry Alcippus, a military man. But Erminia is in love with the king's son, Philander. And Philander's sister Galatea is i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn (; bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barriers and served as a literary role model for later generations of women authors. Rising from obscurity, she came to the notice of Charles II, who employed her as a spy in Antwerp. Upon her return to London and a probable brief stay in debtors' prison, she began writing for the stage. She belonged to a coterie of poets and famous libertines such as John Wilmot, Lord Rochester. Behn wrote under the pastoral pseudonym Astrea. During the turbulent political times of the Exclusion Crisis, she wrote an epilogue and prologue that brought her into legal trouble; she thereafter devoted most of her writing to prose genres and translations. A staunch supporter of the Stuart line, she declined an invitation from Bishop Burnet to write a welcoming p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxford Dictionary Of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes and online, with 50,113 biographical articles covering 54,922 lives. First series Hoping to emulate national biographical collections published elsewhere in Europe, such as the '' Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (1875), in 1882 the publisher George Smith (1824–1901), of Smith, Elder & Co., planned a universal dictionary that would include biographical entries on individuals from world history. He approached Leslie Stephen, then editor of the ''Cornhill Magazine'', owned by Smith, to become the editor. Stephen persuaded Smith that the work should focus only on subjects from the United Kingdom and its present and former colonies. An early working title was the ''Biographia Britannica'', the name of an earlier eightee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Slingsby
Mary, Lady Slingsby, born Aldridge (perhaps died 1693), was an English actress. After a marriage lasting 1670 to 1680 to John Lee, an actor, during which she was on the stage as Mrs. Lee, she was widowed. She then married Sir Charles Slingsby, 2nd Baronet, a nephew of Sir Robert Slingsby, and performed as Lady Slingsby. Theatre historians have pointed out the difficulty in identifying her roles in the period when Elinor Leigh, wife of Anthony Leigh, was performing as Mrs. Leigh, because the homophones "Lee" and "Leigh" were not consistently spelled at the time. Stage career In 1671 Mrs Lee appeared at Lincoln's Inn Fields in the character of Daranthe in Edward Howard's tragi-comedy ''Woman's Conquest'', and as Leticia in ''Town-Shifts, or the Suburb-Justice'', attributed to Edward Revet, and licensed on 2 May 1672. Next, at Dorset Garden, where Mrs Lee remained for ten years, she played opposite Æmilia in Joseph Arrowsmith's ''Reformation'' (1672). In ''Henry VI, Part I, wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Betterton
Mary Saunderson (1637–1712), later known as Mary Saunderson Betterton after her marriage to Thomas Betterton, was an actress and singer in England during the 1660s and 1690s. She is considered one of the first English actresses. Stage career Her most notable accomplishments are her being the first female actress to portray several of Shakespeare's woman characters on the professional stage. She was the first to portray Juliet in ''Romeo and Juliet'', Lady Macbeth in ''Macbeth'', and other female roles in '' The Tempest'', ''Hamlet'' (as Ophelia), ''Measure for Measure'', ''Much Ado About Nothing'', ''Twelfth Night'', ''King Lear''. In Shakespeare's day, female roles were played by teenage boys, as women and young girls were not allowed on the stage. By the 1660s, however, the laws in England had changed, allowing females to act professionally. Mary's connections through her husband, Thomas, who was also a famous actor, allowed her to play several significant roles. Saunderso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Crosby (actor)
John Crosby (died 1724) was an English stage actor of the Restoration Period. He first recorded performance is in 1662 when he appeared in '' Ignoramus'' at Whitehall Palace, likely as a child actor. It was further eight years before he was solidly established in the Duke's Company in 1670 beginning with '' The Forc'd Marriage'' by Aphra Behn. He became a regular with the company over the following decade, often playing young lover roles. He retired from the stage in 1679 and later became a justice of the peace for Middlesex. He died on 8 April 1724 and was buried in St Sepulchre.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.54-55 Selected roles * Cleontius in '' The Forc'd Marriage'' by Aphra Behn (1670) * Andrages in ''The Women's Conquest'' by Edward Howard (1670) * Louis in '' Charles VIII of France'' by John Crowne (1671) * Pheroras in ''Herod and Mariamne'' by Samuel Pordage (1671) * Featlin in ''The Six Days' Adventure'' by Edward Howard (1671) * Otanes in ''Cambyses, King Of Persi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Angel (actor)
Edward Angel (died 1673) was an English stage actor of the early Restoration Era. Along with James Nokes and Cave Underhill he was one of the leading comedians of the period. It is possible he began his career as a boy actor during the pre-English Civil War era, but he was an experienced actor by the time he was a member of John Rhodes's troupe in 1660. From 1662 he acted with the Duke's Company, initially at Lincoln's Inn Fields and after 1671 at the new Dorset Garden Theatre.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.83 Selected roles * Pyropus in ''Ignoramus'' by William Davenant (1662) * Friskin in '' The Unfortunate Lovers'' by William Davenant (1664) * Viche in '' Mustapha'' by Roger Boyle (1665) * Woodcock in '' The Sullen Lovers'' by Thomas Shadwell (1668) * Fallatius in '' The Forc'd Marriage'' by Aphra Behn (1670) * Peacock in ''The Six Days' Adventure'' by Edward Howard (1671) * Leftwell in ''The Town Shifts'' by Edward Revet (1671) * Landlord in ''Juliana'' by John Crowne (167 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Cademan
Philip Cademan (born. 1643) was an English stage actor of the Restoration era. The son of an apothecary Thomas Cross, he adopted his stepfather's surname of Cademan after his mother remarried. In 1651 she married again this time to the playwright William Davenant, who following the return of Charles II to the throne and the reopening of theatres, brought Cademan into the newly formed Duke's Company. His first known role as Sylvio in ''The Duchess of Malfi'' in 1662. He continued acting with the company, at Lincoln's Inn Fields and then the Dorset Gardens Theatre until 1673, when he was involved in a stage accident. During a performance of '' The Man's the Master'' he was wounded in the head with a sword during a stagefight with fellow actor Henry Harris. Unable to resume his career, he was paid a pension of thirty shillings a week.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.4 Selected roles * Arviedo in '' The Slighted Maid'' by Robert Stapylton (1663) * Haly in '' Mustapha'' by Roger B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Young (stage Actor)
John Young was an English stage actor of the seventeenth century. He was active as a member of the Duke's Company during the Restoration Era, appearing at Lincoln's Inn Fields and then at the Dorset Garden Theatre when the company relocated. While not much is known about his background, he was repeatedly in debt during his acting career. In 1667 he stood in for Thomas Betterton after he fell ill during the run of '' Macbeth'' appearing as the title role. Samuel Pepys described him as "a bad actor at best".Roberts p.99 Selected roles * Cardinal in ''The Duchess of Malfi'' by John Webster (1662) * Bontefeu in '' The Villain'' by Thomas Porter (1663) * Octavio in ''The Adventures of Five Hours'' by Samuel Tuke (1663) * Corbulo in '' The Slighted Maid'' by Robert Stapylton (1663) * Adolph in '' The Stepmother'' by Robert Stapylton (1663) * Arcon in ''The Rivals'' by William Davenant (1664) * Cardinal of Veradium in '' Mustapha'' by Roger Boyle (1665) * Lord Dartmouth in '' Sir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Smith (stage Actor)
William, Willie, Will, Bill, or Billy Smith may refer to: Academics * William Smith (Master of Clare College, Cambridge) (1556–1615), English academic * William Smith (antiquary) (c. 1653–1735), English antiquary and historian of University College, Oxford * William Smith (scholar) (1711–1787), classical scholar and Anglican Dean of Chester * William Smith (Episcopal priest) (1727–1803), First Provost of the University of Pennsylvania * William Pitt Smith (1760–1796), American physician, educator and theological writer * William Smith (lexicographer) (1813–1893), English lexicographer * William Robertson Smith (1846–1894), philologist, physicist, archaeologist, and Biblical critic * William Benjamin Smith (1850–1934), professor of mathematics at Tulane University * William Ramsay Smith (1859–1937), Australian anthropologist * William Hall Smith (1866–?), President of the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1916–1920 * William Cunningham Smith (18 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Betterton
Thomas Patrick Betterton (August 1635 – 28 April 1710), the leading male actor and theatre manager during Restoration England, son of an under-cook to King Charles I, was born in London. Apprentice and actor Betterton was born in August 1635 in Tothill Street, Westminster.''The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge'', Vol.III, London, Charles Knight, 1847, p.273 He was apprenticed to John Holden, Sir William Davenant's publisher, and possibly later to a bookseller named John Rhodes, who had been wardrobe-keeper at the Blackfriars Theatre. In 1659, Rhodes obtained a license to set up a company of players at the Cockpit Theatre in Drury Lane; and on the reopening of this theatre in 1660, Betterton made his first appearance on the stage. Betterton's talents at once brought him into prominence, and he was given leading parts. On the opening of the new theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1661, Davenant, the patentee of the Duke's Company, engaged Betterton and all Rhodes's co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke's Company
The Duke's Company was a theatre company chartered by King Charles II at the start of the Restoration era, 1660. Sir William Davenant was manager of the company under the patronage of Prince James, Duke of York. During hats period, theatres began to flourish again after they had been closed from the restrictions throughout the English Civil War and the Interregnum. The Duke's Company existed from 1660 to 1682, when it merged with the King's Company to form the United Company. History The Duke's Company was one of the two theatre companies (the other being the King's Company) that were chartered by King Charles II at the start of the English Restoration era, when the London theatres re-opened after their eighteen-year closure (1642–60) during the English Civil War and the Interregnum. The Duke's Company had the patronage of the King's younger brother Prince James, Duke of York and of Albany (later King James II & VII). It was managed by Sir William Davenant. The co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Crowne
John Crowne (6 April 1641 – 1712) was a British dramatist. His father "Colonel" William Crowne, accompanied the earl of Arundel on a diplomatic mission to Vienna in 1637, and wrote an account of his journey. He emigrated to Nova Scotia where he received a grant of land from Cromwell, but the French took possession of his property, and the home government did nothing to uphold his rights. Biography He was born in London on 6 April 1641, and emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1657 with his father, a joint proprietor of the colony, aboard the ship ''Satisfaction'', and studied at Harvard College. While studying at Harvard, Crowne lived with Puritan divine John Norton. Crowne left without graduating, however, and returned to England with his father in 1660. When the son came to England his poverty compelled him to act as gentleman usher to an independent lady of quality, and his enemies asserted that his father had been an Independent minister. He began his literary career with a roman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
