''Love'' (also known as ''The Countess and the Serf'') is an 1839 play by the Irish writer

James Sheridan Knowles James Sheridan Knowles (12 May 1784 – 30 November 1862) was an Irish dramatist and actor. Biography Knowles was born in Cork. His father was the lexicographer James Knowles (1759–1840), cousin of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The family mov ...

. It premiered at the

Theatre Royal, Covent Garden The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

on 4 November 1839 with a cast that included

Charles Selby Charles Selby (c. 1802 – 1863) was a 19th-century English actor and playwright, and translator of many French plays (often without attribution, not uncommon at the time). Among his works was ''The Marble Heart'' (1854), a translation of Théod ...

as Prince Frederick, James Vining as Sir Rupert,

Alfred Wigan Alfred Sydney Wigan (24 March 1814Some sources say 24 March 1818 – 29 November 1878) was an English actor-manager who took part in the first Royal Command Performance before Queen Victoria on 28 December 1848.Gillan, DonA History of the Ro ...

as Sir Conrad, William Payne as Stephen,

Ellen Tree Ellen Kean (12 December 1805 – 20 August 1880) was an English actress. She was known as Ellen Tree until her marriage in 1842, after which she was known both privately and professionally as Mrs Charles Kean and always appeared in productions ...

as Countess, Emma Brougham as Empress and

Lucia Elizabeth Vestris Lucia Elizabeth Vestris (''née'' Elizabetta Lucia Bartolozzi; 3 March 1797 – 8 August 1856) was an English actress and a contralto opera singer, appearing in works by, among others, Mozart and Rossini. While popular in her time, she was more ...

as Catherine. Knowles was paid six hundred pounds for the work by the management of Covent Garden.

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of scie ...

praised the play for its "inspiring situations founded on sentiment and passion". It went on to enjoy success in the United States where it became part of the repertoire, being performed at the

Broadway Theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

many times in the 1850s. It was celebrated by

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

s who cheered its anti-slavery theme of a

serf Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...

falling in love with a

countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility.L. G. Pine, Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty'' ...

despite her father's disapproval and the threat of execution.Hughes p.26-27

References

Bibliography

* Crook, Nora. ''Mary Shelley's Literary Lives and Other Writings''. Taylor & Francis, 2022. * Hughes, Amy. ''Spectacles of Reform: Theater and Activism in Nineteenth-Century America''. University of Michigan Press, 2012. * James, Henry. ''A Small Boy and Others: A Critical Edition''. University of Virginia Press, 2011. * Morash, Christopher. ''A History of Irish Theatre 1601-2000''. Cambridge University Press, 2002. * Nicoll, Allardyce. ''A History of Early Nineteenth Century Drama 1800-1850''. Cambridge University Press, 1930. 1839 plays West End plays British plays Irish plays Plays by James Sheridan Knowles {{19thC-play-stub