''The Generous Conqueror'' is a 1701

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 English writer

Bevil Higgons Bevil Higgons (1670–1735) was an English historian and poet, He was born at Kezo. Life Higgons was the third son of Sir Thomas Higgons, by his second wife, Bridget, who was herself the daughter of Sir Bevil Grenville, and widow of Sir Simon Lea ...

. It was published in January the following year, and is sometimes dated 1702 by this. Higgons was a well-known Jacobite who had been implicated in the

1696 Jacobite assassination plot The 1696 Jacobite assassination plot was an unsuccessful attempt led by George Barclay (Jacobite), George Barclay to ambush and kill William III of England, William III and II of England, Scotland and Ireland in early 1696. Background One of a ...

against

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

. In this play he effectively called for the peaceful succession of the pretender to the throne as James III. The

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Notable landmarks ...

cast included Robert Wilks as Almerick,

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 Rodomond,

Philip Griffin Philip Griffin was an English stage actor of the seventeenth century and early eighteenth century. He joined the King's Company at Drury Lane during the 1670s, and was later a member of the merged United Company from 1685. He was named as a manage ...

as Gonzalvo, Colley Cibber as Malespine, Thomas Simpson as Meroan, Jane Rogers as Armida,

Mary Kent Mary Kent (before 1692 – after 1718) was an English actress, whose career lasted from 1692 to 1718, and the wife of Drury Lane actor Thomas Kent. Her dates of birth and death are not known. Mary Kent appeared in many playbills from 1692 onwards ...

as Irene and

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 ...

as Cimene. It was not a success, partly because audiences and critics objected to its Jacobite arguments portrayed in the characters and plot. The

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...

was by the

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

politician and writer

George Granville George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne PC (9 March 1666 – 29 January 1735), of Stowe, Cornwall, was an English Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1702 until 1712, when he was raised to the peerage as Baro ...

, who shared the Jacobite sympathies of Higgons. The printed version play was dedicated to the Marquess of Normanby, who had attended the play several times, and was another Tory with Jacobite leanings.Hone p.33 A contemporary play '' Tamerlane'' by Nicholas Rowe, took the very opposite view to Higgons, presenting another historical tragedy that depicts William of Orange as a heroic figure in Whig eyes.

References

Bibliography

* Braverman, Richard. ''Plots and Counterplots: Sexual Politics and the Body Politic in English Literature, 1660-1730''. Cambridge University Press, 1993. * Burling, William J. ''A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992. * Hone, Joseph. ''Literature and Party Politics at the Accession of Queen Anne''. Oxford University Press, 2017. * Lowerre, Kathryn. ''Music and Musicians on the London Stage, 1695-1705''. Routledge, 2017. 1701 plays English plays West End plays Tragedy plays {{18thC-play-stub