Dorothea Celesia (bap. 1738, died 1790) was a poet and playwright best known for ''Almida'', her free translation of Voltaire's ''

Tancrède ''Tancrède'' is a 1702 ''tragédie en musique'' (a French opera in the lyric tragedy tradition) in a prologue and five acts by composer André Campra and librettist Antoine Danchet, based on ''Gerusalemme liberata'' by Torquato Tasso. The opera ...

'' (1760) notable for its emphasis on the heroine.

Life and work

Dorothea Mallet was the youngest child of David Mallet (ca. 1701–1765), playwright and poet, and his first wife, Susanna (d. 1742). She was educated at home, and in 1758 she married Pietro Paolo Celesia (d. 1806), Ambassador to England (1755 to 1759). She moved with her husband to Genoa in 1759 and remained there for the rest of her life.

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...

visited her when in Italy and produced her blank verse tragedy, ''Almida'', at the

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...

. The play premiered on January 1, 1771 and had a successful run of ten nights, which afforded Celesia with some short-lived celebrity. Her version of the story is notable for its shift of focus from the warrior Tancred, as in Voltaire's original, to Almida, the heroine, and the latter's assertion of her right to choose her own spouse. Celesia's second major work was a long poem in heroic couplets, ''Indolence'' (1772). Her proposed translation of Voltaire's heroic tragedy '' Sémiramis'' (1746) never materialized. Celesia was praised by Mary Scott in '' The Female Advocate'' (1775), her celebration of female writers and intellectuals.

Bibliography

*''Almida, a Tragedy, as It is Performed at the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane. By a Lady''. (London: T. Becket and Co. in the Strand, 1771): free translation of ''

'' (1760) by Francois-Marie Arouet (

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...

). The play sold successfully and went into several editions."Celesia, Dorothea." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 3020. Accessed 2022-07-22.
WPHP
*''Indolence: A Poem. By the author of Almida''. (London: T. Becket and Co. in the Strand, 1771)

Notes

Resources

*Breen, Jennifer.
Celesia , Dorothea (bap. 1738, d. 1790)
" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. 22 Jan. 2007.

Etexts

*''Almida, a Tragedy, as It is Performed at the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane. By a Lady''. Vol. I (London: T. Becket and Co. in the Strand, 1771)
Google Play
*''Indolence: A Poem. By the author of Almida''. (London: T. Becket and Co. in the Strand, 1771)
Internet Archive

Sites

* 1738 births 1790 deaths English dramatists and playwrights English women dramatists and playwrights English women poets 18th-century British women writers 18th-century British writers 18th-century English women 18th-century English people {{UK-theat-stub