The Dramatic Art of Susanna Centlivre

Abstract

This is a comprehensive critical and theatrical study of the nineteen plays of Susanna Centlivre (16691723). After an initial chapter that examines the work of three women dramatists active in the years 1695-1700, the seven following chapters are each devoted to between one and four of Mrs. Centlivre's plays. The order of treatment is chronological, but most space is allotted to the three major plays, The Busie Body (1709), The Wonder (1714-), and A Bold Stroke for Wife (1718). Literary concerns such as plot, structure, and character are considered, as well as theatrical qualities such as pace, timing, and tension. No uniformity of treatment is attempted, however, and such aspects of each play are discussed as seem most appropriate. New primary material includes the manuscript epilogues for a private performance of The Garriester; the original receipt for Curll's payments to Mrs. Centlivre; the Advice from Parnassus; and the prompt-books of The Wonder. But more significant than this new material is the study's theatrical emphasis: its analysis of particular scenes to bring out their theatrical qualities, and the reconstruction of the staging of The Busie Body and filar-Plot (1710). The study's conclusion recognizes the essentially theatrical nature of Mrs. Centlivre's dramatic art, and reconstructs the "typical" Centlivre play from exaJiples drawn from her most characteristic collieries. Gverall, the study combines critical enquiry into the "art" of a dramatist's oeuvre with a historical investigation of its theatrical environment.