''The Sultaness'' is a 1717

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 Charles Johnson. It is a reworking of the 1672 French play '' Bajazet'' by

Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...

set in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. In common with early eighteenth century plays it places much greater emphasis on the emotional anguish of its female characters than Racine's original. Like other plays set in Ottoman courts there may have been subtle parallels with contemporary British politics, particularly the divisions between

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 ...

and his son George, Prince of Wales. More strongly the play references the ongoing Austro-Turkish War and the role of Prince Eugene of Savoy who later that year won a major victory at the Siege of Belgrade. The original cast included

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 Bajazet, Mary Porter as Roxana, Anne Oldfield as Atalida,

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 portra ...

as Acomat 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 Osmyn. Johnson used the preface of the play to attack the recent comedy '' Three Hours After Marriage'' by John Gay and

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, ...

, provoking a long-standing rivalry. In 1720 it was followed at Drury Lane by another oriental-set drama '' The Siege of Damascus'' by John Hughes, which took a more original approach.Orr p.66

References

Bibliography

* Burling, William J. ''A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992. * Orr, Bridget. ''British Enlightenment Theatre: Dramatizing Difference''. Cambridge University Press, 2020. 1717 plays Plays by Charles Johnson West End plays Tragedy plays Adaptations of works by Jean Racine {{play-stub