''Three Hours After Marriage'' was a restoration comedy, written in 1717 as a collaboration between John Gay,

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

and John Arbuthnot, though Gay was the principal author. The play is best described as a satirical farce, and among its satirical targets was

Richard Blackmore Sir Richard Blackmore (22 January 1654 – 9 October 1729), English poet and physician, is remembered primarily as the object of satire and as an epic poet, but he was also a respected medical doctor and theologian. Earlier years He was born ...

. ''Three Hours After Marriage'' tells the story of Doctor Fossil, a pompous ageing scientist, who has just married a much younger woman, Mrs Townley who is then immediately beset by two rival suitors who try to win her affections. The wife and suitors then go to comical lengths to hide their intentions from Dr Fossil. The plot is complicated by the presence of a female poet Phoebe Clinket and Sir Tremendous, a literary critic. It premiered on 16 January 1717 at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane 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 Dr ...

. The cast included Benjamin Johnson as Doctor Fossil, Anne Oldfield as Mrs Townley,

Margaret Bicknell Margaret Bicknell (1695?–1723) was a Scottish theatre actress and dancer. Early life and education She was sister of Elizabeth Younger, an actress, who survived her some years. Younger informed Mrs. Saunders, a well-known actress who had f ...

as Phoebe Clinket,

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 Plotwell, William Penkethman as Underplot, Henry Norris as Possum, Elizabeth Willis as Prue, Thomas Walker as the First Actor, James Quin as the Second Actor and John Bowman as Sir Tremendous. It is likely that two of the targets of the play's satire;

John Woodward John Woodward or ''variant'', may refer to: Sports * John Woodward (English footballer) (born 1947), former footballer * John Woodward (Scottish footballer) (born 1949), former footballer * Johnny Woodward (1924–2002), English footballer * Jo ...

as Doctor Fossil and

John Dennis John Dennis may refer to: *John Dennis (dramatist) (1658–1734), English dramatist * John Dennis (1771–1806), Maryland congressman *John Dennis (1807–1859), his son, Maryland congressman *John Stoughton Dennis (1820–1885), Canadian surveyor ...

as Sir Tremendous, would have been recognisable to London audiences due to their known hostility to Gay, Pope and the

Scriblerus Club The Scriblerus Club was an informal association of authors, based in London, that came together in the early 18th century. They were prominent figures in the Augustan Age of English letters. The nucleus of the club included the satirists Jonathan ...

Initial reception

The play received seven sell-out performances, then a record for the Drury Lane theatre and influenced ''

The Author's Farce ''The Author's Farce and the Pleasures of the Town'' is a play by the English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding, first performed on 30 March 1730 at the Little Theatre, Haymarket. Written in response to the Theatre Royal's rejection of h ...

''. Critical reception was less friendly. Charles Johnson, in the preface to the published version of his '' The Sultaness'' called ''Three Hours'' "Long-labour'd Nonsense" and it was also attacked in

Leonard Welsted Leonard Welsted (''baptised'' 3 June 1688 – August 1747) was an English poet and "dunce" in Alexander Pope's writings (both in ''The Dunciad'' and in ''Peri Bathos''). Welsted was an accomplished writer who composed in a relaxed, light heart ...

's 1717 ''Palaemon to Caelia, or, The Triumvirate'' and in the ''Poetical Register'' by Giles Jacob, who stated that it included scenes that "trespass on Female Modesty". This view of the play as obscene became the majority view, and it would not be given a major performance again until 1996. It is likely that opponents of Pope and Gay succeeded in preventing any further performances after the initial, successful run. A probable influence on this was

Richard Steele Sir Richard Steele (bap. 12 March 1672 – 1 September 1729) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright, and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine ''The Spectator''. Early life Steele was born in D ...

, joint manager of Drury Lane, who was a friend of Doctor

one of the major targets of the play's mockery. Steele was also likely to have been concerned by criticisms of indecency which might have threatened Drury Lane's status as a patent theatre.

Commentary

Scientist

Jacob Bronowski Jacob Bronowski (18 January 1908 – 22 August 1974) was a Polish-British mathematician and philosopher. He was known to friends and professional colleagues alike by the nickname Bruno. He is best known for developing a humanistic approach to sc ...

cites the play in episode Seven of the 1973 BBC television documentary series ''

The Ascent of Man ''The Ascent of Man'' is a 13-part British documentary television series produced by the BBC and Time-Life Films first broadcast in 1973. It was written and presented by British mathematician and historian of science Jacob Bronowski, who ...

'',T''he Ascent of Man'' (1973) Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, Pages: 448 p. which deals with the discoveries of Newton and Einstein: "By the time Newton was in his seventies, England under the Georges was pre-occupied in the coffee houses with gossip, money, politics, and with scandal. Nimble businessmen floated companies, to exploit fictitious inventions (most famously The South Sea Bubble). Writers poked fun at scientists, in part from spite, and in part for political motives, because Newton was a big wig in the government establishment. The group of Tories, who later helped John Gay to satirise the government in '' The Beggar’s Opera'', also helped him, in 1717, to write the play ''Three Hours After Marriage''". While there is scholarly consensus about the active role of Arbuthnot and Pope in ''Three Hours After Marriage'', however, ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satiri ...

'' is generally considered Gay's own work.

Revivals

In 1996, Richard Cottrell directed a Royal Shakespeare Company production at the Swan Theatre. Dr. Fossil was played by Clive Francis, his new wife was played by Jane Gurnett, with her two persistent suitors Plotwell (Richard McCabe) and Underplot (Adam Godley). This production won two Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Set Designer and Best Costume Designer for Tim Goodchild in 1998. The play was revived again in 2008 at the Union Theatre in a production by Blanche McIntyre.

Sources

* RSC programme 1996
Recording of the 1996 production
in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

Performance Archive {{Authority control 1717 plays Works by Alexander Pope Plays by John Gay Adultery in plays