''Foscari'' is an 1826

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

by the British writer

Mary Russell Mitford Mary Russell Mitford (16 December 1787 – 10 January 1855) was an English essayist, novelist, poet and dramatist. She was born at Alresford in Hampshire, England. She is best known for '' Our Village'', a series of sketches of village scenes ...

. The plot revolves around

Francesco Foscari Francesco Foscari (19 June 1373 – 1 November 1457) was the 65th Doge of the Republic of Venice from 1423 to 1457. His reign, the longest of all Doges in Venetian history, lasted 34 years, 6 months and 8 days, and coincided with the inception ...

, the son of the

Doge Doge, DoGE or DOGE may refer to: Internet culture * Doge (meme), an Internet meme primarily associated with the Shiba Inu dog breed ** Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency named after the meme ** Kabosu (dog), the dog portrayed in the original Doge image ...

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, who is wrongly accused of murder and has to go into exile. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 4 November 1826. The original cast included Charles Mayne Young as Foscari, Doge of Venice, Charles Kemble as Francesco Foscari, James Prescott Warde as Count Erizzo, and Daniel Egerton as Donato. Mitford began writing the play in 1821 with the Covent Garden company in mind for the characters, but tensions between Charles Kemble and his rival at the theatre William Macready led to a long delay and Macready eventually did not appear. During the delay, the publication of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

's '' The Two Foscari'' based on the same subject, disturbed Mitford as she did not wish to be seen in competition with Byron. During the delay, she wrote another play '' Julian'' which was successfully performed at Covent Garden in 1823.The Encyclopedia of Romantic Literature p.859

References

Bibliography

* Burwick, Frederick Goslee, Nancy Moore & Hoeveler Diane Long . ''The Encyclopedia of Romantic Literature''. John Wiley & Sons, 2012. * Nicoll, Allardyce. ''A History of Early Nineteenth Century Drama 1800-1850''. Cambridge University Press, 1930. 1826 plays West End plays Tragedy plays Historical plays Plays set in Italy Plays by Mary Russell Mitford Plays set in the 15th century {{19thC-play-stub