''The Tragedy of Lady Jane Grey'', often shortened to ''Lady Jane Grey'', is a 1715

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

by the British writer Nicholas Rowe. It portrays the brief reign of

Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey ( 1537 – 12 February 1554), later known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage) and as the "Nine Days' Queen", was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553. Jane was ...

, a pretender to the English throne following the death of

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

and her defeat and execution by

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...

in 1554. The title role was played by the prominent actress

Anne Oldfield Anne Oldfield (168323 October 1730) was an English actress and one of the highest paid actresses of her time. Early life and discovery She was born in London in 1683. Her father was a soldier, James Oldfield. Her mother was either Anne or Eliz ...

. The cast also included

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

as the Duke of Northumberland,

Barton Booth Barton Booth (168210 May 1733) was one of the most famous dramatic actors of the first part of the 18th century. Early life Booth was the son of The Hon and Very Revd Dr Robert Booth, Dean of Bristol, by his first wife and distant cousin An ...

as Lord Guilford Dudley and

Lacy Ryan Lacy Ryan (c. 1694–1760), English actor, appeared at the Haymarket Theatre about 1709. Life By 1718 he had joined the company at Lincoln's Inn Fields, where he shared the lead with his friend James Quin. He took leading roles in ''Richard ...

as the Earl of Sussex,

Colley Cibber Colley Cibber (6 November 1671 – 11 December 1757) was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir ''Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber'' (1740) describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling ...

as Bishop Gardiner,

James Quin James Quin (24 February 1693 – 21 January 1766) was an English actor of Irish descent. Life Quin was born in King Street, Covent Garden, London, an illegitimate son of James Quin, an Irish-born barrister, and his partner (whom he apparently n ...

as the Lieutenant of the Tower and Mary Porter as the Duchess of Suffolk. Rowe was a staunch Whig and wrote the play in the wake of the

Hanoverian Succession The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, bec ...

where

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

had taken the throne ahead of his Catholic Jacobite rival James Stuart, who launched an unsuccessful rebellion later in 1715. Rowe dedicated the work to Caroline, Princess of Wales drawing comparisons between her and Lady Jane Grey as a rightful Protestant heir.Dennison p.151 Shortly afterwards he was appointed

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...

. It was the final play written by Rowe. Although not his most successful play, it was revived on a number of occasions during the following century. The 1836 opera '' Giovanna Gray'', with a libretto by

Carlo Pepoli Count Carlo Pepoli (22 July 1796 – 7 December 1881) was an Italian politician and journalist. He was also acclaimed as a poet, his most well-known work being the libretto for Vincenzo Bellini's final opera, ''I puritani'' which was given its ...

, was based on the play.

References

Bibliography

* Burling, William J. ''A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992. * Dennison, Matthew. ''The First Iron Lady: A Life of Caroline of Ansbach''. HarperCollins, 2017.

External links

Lady Jane Gray
in the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

1715 plays Plays by Nicholas Rowe West End plays Plays set in the 16th century Plays set in London Plays based on actual events Cultural depictions of Lady Jane Grey Tragedy plays Plays about English royalty Caroline of Ansbach {{1710s-play-stub