''Die Entführung, oder: die zärtliche Mutter'' ("The Abduction, or The Tender Mother") is a

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

in five acts by

Friederike Sophie Seyler Friederike Sophie Seyler (1738, Dresden – 22 November 1789, Schleswig; née Sparmann, formerly married Hensel) was a German actress, playwright and librettist. Alongside Friederike Caroline Neuber, she was widely considered Germany's greatest a ...

. It was originally published in 1770 under the title ''Die Familie auf dem Lande'' ("The Family in the Country") and then in a revised version under the new title in 1772. It is one of few 18th century plays written by a female playwright. The play was a dramatic adaptation of the 1767 novel ''Conclusion of the Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph'' (1767) by

Frances Sheridan Frances Sheridan (''née'' Chamberlaine; 1724 – 26 September 1766) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and playwright. Life Frances Chamberlaine was born in Dublin, Ireland. Her father, Dr. Phillip Chamberlaine, was an Anglican minister. In 1747 s ...

, that was a sequel to her earlier novel ''

Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph ''Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph'' is a 1761 novel by the Irish writer Frances Sheridan, published in three volumes.. A sentimental novel, it was strongly influenced by Samuel Richardson's 1748 novel '' Clarissa''. Sheridan became acquainted with ...

''.Anne Fleig:
Friederike Sophie Hensel: Die Entführung, oder: die zärtliche Mutter (1772)
. In ''Handlungs-Spiel-Räume: Dramen von Autorinnen im Theater des ausgehenden 18. Jahrhunderts'' (pp. 145–167), Königshausen & Neumann, 1999 The latter novel was itself inspired by ''

Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' is an epistolary novel, epistolary novel first published in 1740 by the English writer Samuel Richardson. Considered one of the first true English novels, it serves as Richardson's version of conduct book, condu ...

'' by

Samuel Richardson Samuel Richardson (baptised 19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: '' Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' (1740), '' Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and '' The Histo ...

. The play is written in the style of a

comédie larmoyante was a genre of French drama of the 18th century. In this type of sentimental comedy, the impending tragedy was resolved at the end, amid reconciliations and floods of tears. Plays of this genre that ended unhappily nevertheless allowed the a ...

, popular with female playwrights, where a happy ending follows a tragic narrative.Susanne Kord (1996). "All's Well That Ends Well? Marriage, Madness and Other Happy Endings in Eighteenth-Century Women's Comedies." The Lessing Yearbook 28 (1996): 181–197

References

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Die Entführung, oder Die zärtliche Mutter
', play in five acts, 1772. 1770 plays 1772 plays German-language plays Plays based on novels