Anonymous

“ Pat. Indeed, Madam; 'tis but just made; I wou'd not offer such an affront to those charming Hands for the World.
Mar. Commended by thee! I shall grow sick of 'em.—— Well, but Patty, are not you vain enough to hope from the fragments of my Discourse you may pick up a Play? Come, be diligent, it might pass amongst a Crowd, And do as well as some of its Predecessors.
Pat. Nothing but flattery brings my Lady into a good humour. ”

“ D'ye mark! This was Mr. Amorous the Steward, and he was transported, he never saw Betty. Look Betty's surpris'd again.
Mr. Prais. 'Tis amazingly fine!
Betty. What's this I have heard? It makes for us; Mischief and Scandal are a Feast for them who have past the Line of Shame: Amorous has a Wife, and Isabella Faustins, work on together, work, work, on together work.
Mar. Now make haste off, Mrs. Betty, as if you were so full of Thought, you did not know what you did. Gentlemen and Ladies, how d'ye like the first Scene? ”

“ Osman is to be accused of infidelity with Bassima, who is to be poisoned by Ismael. Word of this gets to Osman, who urges Bassima to flee with or without him, but she refuses because her virtue would be called into question in either case. But plans go awry, the Prince is not dispatched, and while Levan Dadian is absent, Homais is seized by her husband and given the choice of drinking poison or submitting to death by the bow-string. She charms him out of killing her, and he, overcome by her beauty, weakly believes her promises and sets her free to pursue her wickedness. ”

“ Mrs. Knight. I beg your Pardon, Madam, if we poor Folks, without Titles, cou'd have serv'd you, we are ready.
Mar. Mr. Powell! Mr. Powell! Pray stay by my Elbow. Lord! I don't use to ask a Man twice to stand by me.
Mr. Pow. Madam, I am here.
Mr. Prais. Ha! A rising Favourite, that may Eclipse my Glory; Madam, I have been taking true Pains to keep your Princes and Princesses together here. [24]
Mar. Pray don't interrupt me, Mr. Praiseall, at this time. Mr. Powell, I suppose you observe, throughout my Play, I make the Heroes, and Heroines in Love with those they shou'd not be. ”

“ But at the height of her triumph, the Prince burst in, sword in hand, and runs Homais through before she can change his mind. Unrepenting to the end, she goes to her death and into her final rant with defiance on her lovely lusty lips as she ticks off the men in her life one by one. In the last three minutes, Osman's faithful but jealous wife gathers his smoking remains, Levan Dadian falls on his sword, and the Prince of Libardian ends the play with ”

“ Oh, my Sides! my Sides! the wrathful Lady has run over a Chair, shatter'd the Glasses to pieces: The Chair-Men, to save it, fell pell-mell in with her. She has lost part of her Tail, broke her Fan, tore her Ruffles, and pull'd off half my Lord Whiffle's Wigg, with trying to rise by it: So they are, with a Shagreen Air, and tatter'd Dress, gone into the Coach: Mr. Praisall thrust in after 'em, with the bundle of Fragments, his Care had pick'd up from under the Fellows Feet. Come, to make some Atonement, Entertain this Gentleman with the Dance you are practising for the next new Play. ”

“ Mars. There's nothing gives me greater Fatigue than any one that talks much; Oh! 'Tis the superlative Plague of the Universe. Ump! This foolish Patch won't stick: Oh Lord! Don't go Mr. Powell, I have a World of things to say to you. [Patching at her Glass.
Mr. Pow. The more's my Sorrow. [23]
Enter Mr. Praiseall and Mrs. Knight.
Mar. How do you like my Play, Mr. Powell?
Mr. Pow. Extraordinary, Madam, 'tis like your Ladyship, at Miracle. ”

“ Mrs. Barry's ability and her strength of voice in expressing the passions led to the full development of the rant, which was the test of the dramatic actress as the aria is the test of the opera singer. Ordinarily in a tragedy, there were two: one, the melodious expression of unattainable love in the first part of the play, and the second in the death scene, usually of raving madness. In The Royal Mischief, there are at least six major rants, each more powerful and surprising than the one preceding it. If Mrs. Barry's ability was ever tested, it was with Mrs. Manley's Homais. ”

“ Not one upon my Word, they are more Gentlemen, than to pretend to either, a Witty Man and a Soldier; you may as well say a modest Man, and a Courtier; Wit is always in the Civil Power, take my Word for it; Courage, and Honesty work hard for their Bread; Wit and Flattery feeds on Fools, and if they are counted Wise, who keep out of Harm's way, there's scarce a Fool now in the Kingdom. ”

“ Since the same company of actors was presenting the old plays (indeed, most of the actors were still playing their original roles) , the histrionic magic of the early tragic hero could still lift an audience to the empyrean heights reached in the heady first years of the restoration of Charles II. If there is anything strange in Mrs. Manley's The Royal Mischief in 1696, it is not that it was an heroic play but that the leading character was a woman, Homais, who out-hectors and out-loves all of the Restoration Alexanders, Montezumas, and Drawcansirs written for and by men. ”

“ Manley considered herself privileged at Drury Lane, that The Royal Mischief had gone into rehearsal, but that her imperious manner had alienated the actors who laughed at her dramatic pretentions; and that she had stormed out of the Theatre Royal vowing never again to honor them with her works. After much bickering among patrons, patentees, players, and playwright, The Royal Mischief was finally presented by the newly formed Betterton company at Lincoln's Inn Fields in May, 1696, instead of by the company of actors led by George Powell at the rival Drury Lane Theatre. ”

“ When Levan Dadian brings Bassima to court, the recognition between Osman and Bassima is endured in silence, but the trusting Osman bares his heart to Homais' creature Ismael, who inflames the hitherto platonic Osman with unholy desire for the pure Bassima. The wily Acmat insinuates distrust for Bassima into Levan Dadian's heart at the same time that he inspires lust for Homais and brings about the promised meeting. Homais immediately sets about disposing of everyone who stands in her way. ”

“ I am ready to swoon, Madam.
Mr. Prais. Wou'd I had some Cordial-water.
Mr. Awd. Art thou Marsilia? wilt thou confess it? so weak to believe these Coxcombs?
Mar. I always choose to believe what pleases me best. If a School-Boy had been told so often of a Fault, as you have been, of Interruption, he had certainly left it. Make a Noise agen without. ”

“ Because a Truncheon's like a Quarter-staff, has a mischievous Look with it, and a Critick is cursedly afraid of any thing that looks terrible.
Mr. Prais. Why, Madam, there are abundance of Critticks, and witty Men that are Soldiers. ”

“ Powell sick: Well, Impertinence, in a Woman is the Devil!
Mrs. Wellf. Shall we stay to be affronted?
Calista. Prithee let's stay, and laugh at her Opera, as she calls it, for I hear 'tis a very foolish one.
Mar. Come Prologue-Speakers! Prologue Speakers! Where are you? I shall want Sack my self, by and by, I believe. [27]
Enter Two Men with Whiskers, large Truncheons, Drest strangely.
Mar. Lord, Mr. Powell, these Men are not half tall enough, nor half big enough! What shall I do for a larger sort of Men?
Mr. Pow. Faith, Madam, I can't tell, they say the Race diminishes every Day. ”

“ Madam, han't they took Betty with 'em to his Castle?
Mar. Yes, yes; But, Mr. Praisall, you must keep your Distance a little now, and not interrupt me, when I am talking to my Lord.
Mr. Prais. I am dumb as a fish.
Mar. Now, if your Lordship pleases to sit down, you will see my Opera begin; for tho' some of the Play is over, there has been no Scene Operaish yet.
Mr. Awd. Operaish! Thats' a word of your own, I suppose, Madam.
Mr. Prais. Ne're the worse for that, I hope, Sir; why mayn't the Ladies make a word as well as the Men? ”

“ Calista. I'll maintain it with my Life. Learning is absolutely necessary to all who pretend to Poetry.
Mrs. Wellf. We'll adjourn the Argument, Marsilia shall hear the Cause.
Prais. Ay, if you can perswade her to hold her Tongue so long.
Mrs. Wellf. I wish I cou'd engage you two in a Latin Dispute, Mr. Praiseall, and you shou'd tell how often the Lady breaks Pris—Pris—What's his Name? His Head, you know.
Prais. Priscian, you mean; Hush! Hush!
Mrs. Wellf. He cares not for entring the Lists neither. Come, Mr. Praiseall, I'll put you upon a more pleasing Task. ”

“ Since there was only one theatre in London from 1682 to 1695, she wrote for Thomas Betterton, Elizabeth Barry, Anne Bracegirdle, Edward Kynaston, and other veterans in the Betterton company, who were the prototypes for the characters in the early heroic plays. She could have known no others. When Betterton seceded from the Theatre Royal in 1695 and set up the independent theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, Mrs. Manley, already committed to Drury Lane because of her first play, gave Drury Lane The Royal Mischief even though it had been written for the Betterton company. ”

“ Mar. But I had rather see one dear Player than all the Poets in the Kingdom. [6]
Calis. Good Gad! That you shou'd be in Love with an Old Man!
Mar. He is so with me; and you'll grant 'tis a harder Task to Re-kindle dying Coals, than set Tinder on a Blaze.
Mr. Wellf. I guess the Spark. But why then is your Play at this House?
Mar. I thought you had known 't had been an Opera; and such an Opera! But I wont talk on't, 'till you see it. Mrs. Wellfed, is not your Lodgings often fill'd with the Cabals of Poets and Judges? ”

“ Take off your Eyes; mine shou'd be fix'd above; but Love draws 'em downwards, and almost pulls my Heart along.
Amo. Give me your Heart! your Arms! Oh! give me all! see at your Feet the wretched Amorous falls! Be not more cruel than our Foes. Behold me on the Torture! Fastin cannot Punish me with half the Racks denying Beauty lays on longing Love.
Isab. I recover strength: rise, and begone; Alas, thou can'st not go; then at awful distance, cold as Ice, not dare to let thy hot Breath agen offend my chaste Ears! If thou hast, a Dagger rams thy Passion down thy Throat. ”

“ Each character was a stick figure for a single quality. Incidents happened so rapidly that continual surprise is the predominant emotion if one discounts the miasma of hot surging sex that hovers over the entire production. ”

“ La. Lov.—Oh Betty! Betty!
Mar. Good Mrs. Knight speak that as passionately as you can, because you are going to Swoon, you know; and I hate Women shou'd go into a Swoon, as some of our Authors make 'em, without so much as altering their Face, or Voice. [31]
La. Lov.——Madam, I never knew Betty sound well in Heroick.
Mar. Why, no Mrs Knight, therefore in that lies the Art, for you to make it sound well; I think I may say, without a Blush, I am the first that made Heroick natural.
La. Lov. I'll do my best. Oh! Betty! Betty! ”

“ I do not doubt when the Ladies have given themselves the trouble of reading, and comparing it with others, they'll find the prejudice against our Sex, and not refuse me the satisfaction of entertaining them...." Everything Mrs. Manley wrote, however, simply added to the ridicule that had been mounting against women playwrights, and The Female Wits is merely the distillation of the general attitude of the self-appointed critics and wits at the Rose and the Grecian, at Maynwaring's and at Will's. ”

“ Ouns, I'll be hang'd if it don't bring a Swindging Audience, on the third day.
Mr. Aw'dw. To dance naked on the third Day, wou'd bring a bigger Audience; Why don't you perswade the Lady to that? [Speaking loud to Marsillia.
Do, Marsillia, be rul'd by your Vanity, and that good Friend, Mr. Praiseall; but rest assur'd, after such a weakness, I will never see your Face again. [40]
Mar. Ha! I must not loose him. (aside) Why, Mr. Aw'dwell, wou'd you have such a hopeful Play lost? Can you be so unreasonable to desire it? And that Part ruins all.
Mr. Aw'dwell. ”

“ Manley as Marsilia, Mrs. Pix as Mrs. Wellfed, and Mrs. Trotter as Calista as well as his commendation of the acting of Mr. and Mrs. Powell, and his praise of Mrs. Verbruggen (now deceased also) are expressions of nostalgia from a man whose duty to his dead friend is now accomplished. He ends his laconic preface with a reference to the reformers led by Jeremy Collier, "a Fig for their Censures, which can neither affect him that Wrote this Play, nor him that Publishes it." ”

“ Mar. Now I must beg your Lordship to suppose Fastin having seen his Mother-in-Law, is wholly captivated with [44] her Charms, and Betty and she have both foresworn the Consummation of her Marriage with Fastin's Father; so he takes her to an adjacent Castle of his; she having cast the old Philosopher in a deep sleep. I'm forc't to tell your Lordship this, because the Play does not mention it.
Mr. Awd. I am afraid your Ladyship will be wanted, like the Chorus of Old, to enlighten the understanding of the Audience. ”

“ Now she falls in a Swoon, and never wakes 'till they come into another world.
Mr. Prais. E gad, 'tis well I am not in the Chariot with her.
Mar. You may open the Door, they are out of sight.
Enter Fastin, Lady Loveall and Betty.
Fast. Where is the Hellish Pair? Let my Eyes be fasten'd on 'em, that I may look 'em dead.
Mar. Look dreadfully, sweet Mr. Powell, look dreadfully.
Mr. Awd. Hark'e, Madam, only one thing; did you never hear an old Proverb; He that has a House of Glass shou'd never throw Stones at his Neighbours? I think this young Gentleman is guilty of much the same fault. ”

“ The Female Wits is correctly compared in its preface to the satiric masterpiece which had been written as a corrective to the bombastic tragedy supplied by Dryden, Howard, and others in the early years of the Restoration. With The Rehearsal, Buckingham and his fellow wits had supposedly succeeded in laughing heroic tragedy into oblivion in the 1670's. By the 1690's, another type of heroic drama, equally unrealistic but tinged with sentimentality, was enjoying a certain success. ”

“ Wellfed.
Mrs. Wellf. At your Service, Madam.
Calista. Marsilia committed me to the Care of Mr. Praiseall; but more powerful Charms have robb'd me of my Gallant.
Mrs. Wellf. I thank Heav'n, I'm big enough to take care of myself. Indeed to neglect a young pretty Lady, expose her unmask'd amongst a Company of wild Players, is very dangerous. ”