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''The Welsh Opera'' is a play by
Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English writer and magistrate known for the use of humour and satire in his works. His 1749 comic novel ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'' was a seminal work in the genre. Along wi ...
. First performed on 22 April 1731 in Haymarket, the play replaced '' The Letter Writers'' and became the companion piece to ''
The Tragedy of Tragedies ''The Tragedy of Tragedies'', also known as ''The Tragedy of Tragedies; or, The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great'', is a play by Henry Fielding. It is an expanded and reworked version of one of his earlier plays, ''Tom Thumb'', and tells th ...
''. It was also later expanded into '' The Grub-Street Opera''. The play's purported author is Scriblerus Secundus who is also a character in the play. This play is about Secundus' role in writing two (Fielding) plays: ''The Tragedy of Tragedies'' and ''The Welsh Opera''. The play served as a tribute to Scriblerians (satirists and members of the informal
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 ...
), as such it allowed Fielding to satirise politics. As a political
allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...
that satirised the government of the time, the play was subject to attacks and a ban. Critics agree that the play was bold in both its writing and its message.


Background

The first mention of ''The Welsh Opera'' in production comes from a ''Daily Post'' announcement on 6 April 1731 that the play would be postponed. It first ran on 22 April 1731 with three shows following in April and another in May. These performances were in the position of
companion piece A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to ''The Tragedy of Tragedies'' as a replacement for ''The Letter Writers'' in that position. It later ran five times with ''The Fall of Mortimer'' during the summer and four times on its own before it was expanded into ''The Grub-Street Opera''.Rivero 1989 p. 88 The expansion was put in place to capitalise on the concept that was deemed popular by the public. The expanded version of the play, ''The Grub-Street Opera'', was not put on for an audience, which provoked E. Rayner to print ''The Welsh Opera'' without Fielding's consent. On 26 June 1731, the ''Daily Journal'' announced that E. Rayner and H. Cook published an edition of ''The Welsh Opera'', which was followed by an announcement in the 28 June 1731 ''Daily Post'':
Wheras one Rayner hath publish'd a strange Medley of Nonsense, under the Title of the ''Welch Opera'', said to be written by the Author of the ''Tragedy of Tragedies''; and also hath impudently affirm'd that this was a great Part of the ''Grub-Street Opera'', which he attempts to insinuate was stopt by the Authority: This is to assure the Town, that what he hath publish'd is a very incorrect and spurious Edition of the ''Welch Opera'', a very small Part of which was originally written by the said Author; and that it contains scarce any thing of the ''Grub-street Opera'', excepting the Names of some of the Characters and a few of the Songs: This later Piece hath in it above fifty entire new Songs; and is so far from having been stopt by Authority (for which there could be no manner of Reason) that it is only postponed to a proper Time, when it is not doubted but the Town will be convinced how little that Performance agrees with the intolerable and scandalous Nonsense of this notorious Paper Pyrate.


Cast

* Scriblerus Secundus * Madam Apshinken


Plot

The play introduces Scriblerus Secundus as a character and no longer simply a commentary to the print editions of Fielding's plays. In a speech, he mentions his role in working on ''The Tragedy of Tragedies'' and mentions that he would serve as an editor and commentary to ''The Welsh Opera'' within the play itself. However, Scriblerus storms off stage after he is informed that one of his actresses requires a drink before performing in ''The Welsh Opera'' that evening. The story of the play revolves around a country household and various disputes between the members of the family and the staff.Paulson 2000 p. 52


Themes

''The Welsh Opera'' was a tribute to the Scriblerians, especially to
John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peach ...
and to his most famous work ''
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 sati ...
''. This served as a means to put forth a general political view and deal with politics in a more critical way unlike any of Fielding's previous plays. The play is a political allegory that satirises
Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...
's government and the British monarchy. Fielding also used Gay's technique of swapping London for a pastoral environment. Within the play, a country household represents Great Britain and the people represent various leaders and political figures. Fielding also adds many praises of the pastoral life along with favourably portraying roast beef and tobacco while mocking anything foreign. The play was attacked for its political implications, which later resulted in a ban on the play and its sequel from being performed. However, Fielding does not favour any political party; instead, he attacks both parties while recognising their importance to the nation as a whole. His attacks are personal, especially in alluding to rumours that the Prince of Wales was impotent.Loftis 1963 p. 105 The play did run with ''The Fall of Mortimer'', which made fun of Walpole. The revisions to the play form ''The Grub-Street Opera''.Battestin and Battestin 1993 p. 117


Sources

Part of satire originates from the events surrounding the feud between Walpole and
William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, (22 March 16847 July 1764) was an English Whigs (British political party), Whig politician and peer who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain, British House of Commons from 1707 to 1742 when he was r ...
that gained intensity during the creation of the Treaty of Seville and during the Civil List debate. Later in January 1731,
Sir William Yonge, 4th Baronet Sir William Yonge, 4th Baronet, (c. 169310 August 1755) of Escot House in the parish of Talaton in Devon, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons for 39 years from 1715 to 1754. Origins Yonge was the son and heir of Sir W ...
produced ''Sedition and Defamation Display'd'', a pamphlet that mocked Pulteney and defended Yonge's friend, Walpole. Pulteney, in return, dueled with
John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey, (13 October 16965 August 1743) was an English courtier and political writer. Heir to the Earl of Bristol, he obtained the key patronage of Walpole, and was involved in many court intrigues and literary quarrel ...
, another Walpole friend, after mistaking that it was Hervey who wrote ''Sedition and Defamation Display'd''. Although no one was hurt, the fighting continued in the form of pamphlet attacks until 1 July 1731 when King George II removed Pulteney from the Privy Council. Many works began to satirise elements of the battle between Pulteney and Walpole, including the poems ''The Devil Knows What'' and ''The Compromise'' (March 1731); these poems depict both Pulteney and Walpole as equivalent complicit in the unfolding events, which is later picked up by Fielding.


Response

The contemporary view of ''The Welsh Opera'' was split: the common people enjoyed the show, but the members of the government did not. However, there was no prohibition of the play by the government. This, according to F. Homes Dudden, encouraged Fielding to expand the play into ''The Grub-Street Opera''. John Loftis focuses on the blatant politics of Fielding's piece and declared, "If the political meaning of ''The Tragedy of Tragedies'' is mild and ambiguous, that of Fielding's ''The Welsh Opera'' ..is audacious and absolutely clear". Thomas Cleary wrote that the revised version "is a much better play". Robert Hume believes that, in ''The Welsh Opera'', "Fielding daringly vented his penchant for burlesque. Its politicality has often been overestimated, but its audacity is beyond question." Likewise, the Battestins point out that "the play cannot have been acceptable to the authorities; it is too impudent in making a public spectacle of the foibles of the Royal Family". Harold Pagliaro characterised the play as "often droll and always merry." Thomas Lockwood declares that the plays ''The Welsh Opera'' and ''The Grub-Street Opera'' are characterised by a "spirit of fun" but are complicated by the 18th-century politics that gave them birth.Fielding 2004 II p. 1


Notes


References

* Battestin, Martin, and Battestin, Ruthe. ''Henry Fielding: a Life''. London: Routledge, 1993. * Cleary, Thomas. ''Henry Fielding, Political Writer''. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1984. * Dudden, F. Homes. ''Henry Fielding: His Life, Works and Times''. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1966. * Fielding, Henry. ''Plays'' Vol. II. Ed. Thomas Lockwood. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2004. * Hume, Robert. ''Fielding and the London Theater''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988. * Loftis, John. ''The Politics of Drama in Augustan England''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963. * Pagliaro, Harold. ''Henry Fielding: A Literary Life''. New York: St Martin's Press, 1998, * Paulson, Ronald. ''The Life of Henry Fielding: A Critical Biography''. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2000, * Rivero, Albert. ''The Plays of Henry Fielding: A Critical Study of His Dramatic Career''. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1989, {{DEFAULTSORT:Welsh Opera Plays by Henry Fielding British comedy plays British satirical plays Political satire plays British political satire British political plays 1731 plays