''The False Friend; or, the Fate of Disobedience'' is a

she-tragedy The term she-tragedy, also known as pathetic tragedy refers to a vogue in the late 17th and early 18th centuries for tragic plays focused on the sufferings of a woman, sometimes innocent and virtuous but often a woman who had committed some sort o ...

written by

Mary Pix Mary Pix (1666 – 17 May 1709) was an English novelist and playwright. As an admirer of Aphra Behn and colleague of Susanna Centlivre, Pix has been called "a link between women writers of the Stuart Restoration, Restoration and Augustan litera ...

, and first performed at

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is located in Holborn and is the List of city squares by size, largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a ...

in 1699. The play is a reworking of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

. The original cast featured John Bowman as Viceroy of Sardinia, John Verbruggen as Emilius, John Thurmond as Lorenzo, John Hodgson as Bucarius, Joseph Harris as Roderigo, Elizabeth Barry as Adellaida,

Elizabeth Bowman Elizabeth Bowman (c. 1677 – 1707) was an English stage actress of the seventeenth and early eighteenth century.Caines p.149 The daughter of Sir Francis Watson, 1st Baronet she was adopted by the actor manager Thomas Betterton. In 1692, she mar ...

as Appamia,

Anne Bracegirdle Anne Bracegirdle (possibly 167112 September 1748) was an English actress and soprano. Most of the plays she performed in involved singing as well as acting. She often performed music written for her by the composer John Eccles, and also sung mu ...

as Lovisa, and Abigail Lawson as Zelide.

Plot

The Spanish Emilius has secretly married the French Louisa. The play begins with their safe arrival in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, where Emilius' father is the

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

. Appamia (Emilius' foster-sister) is also in love with Emilius, and is shocked to hear of his marriage. She hopes to make the couple doubt each other's fidelity, and when this doesn't work, she tricks Emilius into giving Louisa poison. As Louisa convulses in agony, Appamia's plot is revealed to all. A distraught Emilius kills himself, and Louisa dies immediately afterwards. Appamia is taken into custody.

Portrayal of Appamia

Jacqueline Pearson argues that Pix treats Appamia and her desires 'with deep sympathy "...as a result of Pix's sympathy for Appamia - the central emotional pivot, I think, of the play - the character is modeled not only on the evil

Iago Iago () is a fictional character in Shakespeare's '' Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Iago is the play's main antagonist and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago ha ...

but also on the heroic

". Unlike Shakespeare's Iago, Appamia ultimately repents of her actions, and through her final words, Pix gives the audience a moral message:

"Let me for ever Warn my Sex, and fright 'em from the thoughts of Black Revenge, from being by Violent Passions Sway'd. Murder! And am I the cause? Fall Mountains On this Guilty Head, and let me think no more."

Appamia is closely linked to the Greek mythological figure of

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...

: at one point, she explicitly compares herself to Medea; both women murdered their love-rivals with an extremely painful poison. K. Heavey writes that Pix "recognised the dramatic and pathetic potential of a comparison between Medea and a scorned woman".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:False Friend; or, the Fate of Disobedience 1699 plays Tragedy plays Plays by Mary Pix