''The Tragedy of Jane Shore'' is a 1714

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 Nicholas Rowe. It was his penultimate play, and was inspired by the life of

Jane Shore Elizabeth "Jane" Shore (née Lambert; 1445 – c. 1527) was one of the many mistresses of King Edward IV of England. She became the best known in history by being later accused of conspiracy by the future King Richard III and compelled to do p ...

the mistress of

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

. It premiered at the

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dru ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 2 February 1714. The original cast included

Anne Oldfield Anne Oldfield (168323 October 1730) was an England, English actress and one of the highest paid actresses of her time. Early life and discovery She was born in London in 1683. Her father was a soldier, James Oldfield. Her mother was either Ann ...

as Jane Shore,

Robert Wilks Robert Wilks (''c.'' 1665 – 27 September 1732) was a British actor and theatrical manager who was one of the leading managers of Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in its heyday of the 1710s. He was, with Colley Cibber and Thomas Doggett, one of the ...

as Dumont,

Colley Cibber Colley Cibber (6 November 1671 – 11 December 1757) was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir ''An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber'' (1740) describes his life in ...

as the Duke of Gloucester,

Barton Booth Barton Booth (168210 May 1733) was one of the most famous British dramatic actors of the first part of the 18th century. Early life Booth was the son of The Hon and Very Revd Dr Robert Booth, Dean of Bristol, by his first wife and distant co ...

as Lord Hastings,

Benjamin Husband Benjamin Husband was a British stage actor of the eighteenth century. His surname is sometimes written as Husbands. Reportedly born in Pembrokeshire in 1672, he was a member of the Lincolns Inn Fields and Drury Lane companies during the 1700s. H ...

as Catesby, John Bowman as Sir Richard Radcliff,

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

as Bellmour and Mary Porter as Alicia. The play was a major success, and was performed eighteen times by mid-March. Rowe dedicated the published work to

Charles Douglas, 3rd Duke of Queensberry Charles Douglas, 3rd Duke of Queensberry, 2nd Duke of Dover, (24 November 169822 October 1778) was a Scottish nobleman, extensive landowner, Privy Council of Great Britain, Privy Counsellor and Vice Admiral of Scotland. Life Charles was born ...

, the son of the Second Duke who had employed Rowe as

under-secretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

when he was serving as Scottish Secretary between 1709 and 1711. Bullard & McTague p.19-20 Rowe wrote one further play ''

Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey (1536/1537 – 12 February 1554), also known as Lady Jane Dudley after her marriage, and nicknamed as the "Nine Days Queen", was an English noblewoman who was proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland on 10 July 1553 and reigned ...

'', another historical work set in England. In 1715 he was appointed as Poet Laureate by the new monarch

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George of Beltan (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgoruk ...

, having been a strong supporter of the

Hanoverian Succession The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catho ...

that brought him to the throne.

References

Bibliography

* Burling, William J. ''A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992. * Bullard, Rebecca & McTague, John. ''The Plays and Poems of Nicholas Rowe, Volume I: The Early Plays''. Taylor & Francis, 2016. * Wilson, Brett D. ''A Race of Female Patriots: Women and Public Spirit on the British Stage, 1688-1745''. Lexington Books, 2012. {{Nicholas Rowe 1714 plays Plays by Nicholas Rowe West End plays Plays set in the 15th century Plays set in London Plays based on actual events Tragedy plays Historical plays British plays