Samuel Foote (January 1720 – 21 October 1777) was a British
dramatist
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
,
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...
and
theatre manager
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...
. He was known for his comedic acting and writing, and for turning the loss of a leg in a riding accident in 1766 to comedic opportunity.
Early life
Born into a well-to-do family,Hartnoll, p. 290. Foote was
baptized
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
in
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro c ...
, Cornwall on 27 January 1720.Britannica. His father, Samuel Foote, held several public positions, including
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...
of Truro,
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
Prize Office
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.
. His mother, née Eleanor Goodere, was the daughter of Sir Edward Goodere
Baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
of
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a populatio ...
.Murphy, p. 1104. Foote may have inherited his wit and sharp humour from her and her family which was described as "eccentric. ..whose peculiarities ranged from the harmless to the malevolent."Howard, p. 131. About the time Foote came of age, he inherited his first fortune when one of his uncles,
Sir John Dineley Goodere, 2nd Baronet
Sir John Dineley 2nd Baronet (c. 1680 – 1741) of Burhope/Burghope House in the parish of Wellington Herefordshire, was a British aristocrat and murder victim.
Early life
He was born John Goodere in about 1680, the second son, and eventual heir, ...
was murdered by another uncle, Captain Samuel Goodere. This murder was the subject of his first
pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a f ...
, which he published around 1741.
Foote was educated at Truro Grammar School,Nicholas Carlisle, ''A concise description of the endowed grammar schools in England'', vol. 1 (1818) p. 151 /ref> the collegiate school at Worcester, and at
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms ...
, distinguishing himself in these places by mimicry and audacious pleasantries of all kinds. An undisciplined student, he frequently was absent from his
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
and
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
classes and subsequently, Oxford expelled him on 28 January 1740. Although he left Oxford without receiving his degree, he acquired a classical training which afterwards enabled him to easily turn a classical quotation or allusion, and helped to give to his
prose
Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...
style a certain fluency and elegance.
Foote was destined for the law, but certainly not by nature. In his chambers at the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and W ...
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...
s if not of law, and was afterwards able to jest at the jargon and to mimic the mannerisms of the bar, and to satirize the
Latitat A latitat is a legal device, namely a writ, that is "based upon the presumption that the person summoned was hiding", see Blackstone. The word "latitat" is Latin for "he lurks"." derives its name from a supposition that the defendant lurks and l ...
s of the other branch of the profession with particular success. Though he never applied himself to his studies at the Inner Temple, he well applied himself to spending money and living as a ''
bon vivant
''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initially developed in ...
,'' which led to him quickly running out of funds.
After finding himself in
debt
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The d ...
, Foote married a certain Mary Hickes (or Hicks) on 10 January 1741. With his wife also came a sizable
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...
. Contemporaries note that Foote mistreated his wife, deserting her when his financial situation improved and Hickes may have died an early death. But a stronger attraction drew him to the Bedford Coffee-house in
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
, and to the theatrical world of which it was the social centre. His extravagant living soon forced him into
debtor's prison
A debtors' prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt. Until the mid-19th century, debtors' prisons (usually similar in form to locked workhouses) were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe.Cory, Lucinda"A Histori ...
in 1742, and friends encouraged Foote's going onto the stage to make a living.Hartnoll, p. 290.
Initial theatrical ventures
Foote's first training for the stage came under the tutelage of
Charles Macklin
Charles Macklin (26 September 1699 – 11 July 1797), (Gaelic: Cathal MacLochlainn, English: Charles McLaughlin), was an Irish actor and dramatist who performed extensively at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Macklin revolutionised theatre in ...
. By 1744, when they appeared onstage together, Macklin had made a name for himself as one of the most notable actors on the British stage, after David Garrick. His appearance as Shylock in Shakespeare's ''
The Merchant of Venice
''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock.
Although classified as ...
'' 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 ...
in 1741, mesmerized London audiences. Dismissing the conventional comedic approach to the character, Macklin played the character as consummately evil. Following his debut, George II reportedly could not sleep, while Georg Lichtenberg described Macklin's interpretation of Shylock's first line—"Three thousand ducats"—as being uttered "as lickerously as if he were savouring the ducats and all they would buy." Following less than a year of training, Foote appeared opposite Macklin's Iago as the titular role in Shakespeare's ''
Othello
''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyp ...
'' at the
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foot ...
, 6 February 1744. While his first appearance was unsuccessful, it is noted that this production was produced illegally under the
Licensing Act of 1737
The Licensing Act of 1737 is a defunct Act of Parliament in the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a pivotal moment in theatrical history. Its purpose was to control and censor what was being said about the British government through theatre. The act ...
which forbade the production of plays by theatres not holding
letters patent
Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, t ...
or the production of plays not approved by the
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main c ...
. In order to skirt this law, the Haymarket Theatre held musical concerts with plays included ''gratis''.
Following his unsuccessful London appearance, Foote spent the summer season in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
at the Theatre Royal, Smock Alley where he found his first success. Returning to England, he joined the company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane which at that time included such noted actors as Peg Woffington, David Garrick and
Spranger Barry
Spranger Barry (23 November 1719 – 10 January 1777) was an Irish actor.
Life
He was born in Skinner's Row, Dublin, the son of a silversmith, to whose business he was brought up. He took over the business but was not successful.
His fir ...
The Relapse
''The Relapse, or, Virtue in Danger'' is a Restoration comedy from 1696 written by John Vanbrugh. The play is a sequel to Colley Cibber's '' Love's Last Shift, or, The Fool in Fashion''.
In Cibber's ''Love's Last Shift'', a free-living Rest ...
'' and most notably, the playwright, Bayes in Villiers' '' The Rehearsal''. It was in this role that Foote publicly showed his gift of mimicry. Borrowing from David Garrick's interpretation of the role, Foote used this role to mock many leading contemporaries.Howard, p. 132.
The Haymarket Theatre
Even with his success onstage, Foote remained impoverished. Attempting life as a theatre manager, he secured a lease on the Haymarket Theatre in 1746. Foote began writing in earnest, producing two pamphlets, ''A Treatise on the Passions'' and ''The Roman and English Comedy Considered''. After illegally producing ''Othello'', Foote opened one of his own plays, ''The Diversions of the Morning or, A Dish of Chocolate'', a satire on contemporary actors and public figures performed by himself, on 22 April 1747. The ''Dish of Chocolate'' of the title referred to a dish or tea offered by Foote to accompany the musical entertainment while the performance was offered gratis, all done to avoid the Licensing Act. On the morning following the performance, the theatre was locked and audiences gathering for the noon performance (another gimmick to evade the law was to stage the show as a matinée) were turned away by authorities. Foote's jabs at other actors brought the ire of many at Drury Lane and the managers took steps to protect their patent.
Fortunately for Foote, some highly placed friends at court helped the theatre reopen and the play continued. In June, Foote offered ''A Cup of Tea'', a revision of his revue, ''Diversions'', again in the guise of a culinary offering. After a brief trip to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
, Foote opened ''The Auction of Pictures'' which satirized satirist
Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel ''Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...
. A war of wit was launched with each lambasting the other in ink and onstage. Among the verbal missiles hurled, Fielding denounced Foote in ''The Jacobite's Journal'' saying "you ''Samuel Fut'' icbe pissed upon, with Scorn and Contempt, as a low Buffoon; and I do, with the utmost Scorn and Contempt, piss on you accordingly."
''The Author'' himself
The Fielding quarrel was followed by a more serious quarrel with actor Henry Woodward. This resulted in a small
riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property target ...
that was damaging not only to the Haymarket Theatre but to Foote's reputation. He began to deflect criticism only with the opening of his play, ''The Knights''. This play, unlike his earlier satirical revues, was a romantic comedy set in the country, though he did use this play as a vehicle to satirize such things as
Italian opera
Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many fam ...
and the
gentry
Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past.
Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies
''Gentry'', in its widest c ...
of Cornwall.Howard, p. 133.
At the close of the Haymarket season in 1749, Foote left London for Paris in order to spend money he had recently inherited. Upon his return to London in 1752, Foote's new comedy, ''Taste'', was produced at Drury Lane. Foote took aim at the burgeoning art and
antiquities
Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Meso ...
market and particularly aristocratic collectors. In his preface to the play, Foote specifies his targets as the "barbarians who have prostituted the study of antiquity to trifling superficiality, who have blasted the progress of the elegant arts by unpardonable frauds and absurd prejudices, and who have vitiated the minds and morals of youth by persuading them that what serves only to illustrate literature is true knowledge and that active idelness is real business."Murphy, pp. 1106–7.
''Taste'' opens with Lady Pentweazel who believes that the works of art, the Venus de' Medici and the Mary de Medici, are sisters in the
Medici
The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...
family. Two other collectors, Novice and Lord Dupe, claim to be able to determine the age and value of coins and medals by tasting them while Puff, an
auctioneer
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition e ...
, convinces them and Sir Positive Bubble that broken china and statuary are worth far more than perfect pieces. Lord Dupe follows this advice by purchasing a canvas with the paint scraped off. The foibles of ignorant art collectors and predatory dealers were presented by Foote in this high
burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
comedy. In order for an audience to appreciate high burlesque, they must understand the standards of true taste before they can recognize the conflict between those standards and the characters. The audience that saw the premier of ''Taste'' evidently did not understand this conflict as the play was not successful and played only five performances.
Following the unsuccessful reception of ''Taste'', Foote staged a new production, ''An Englishman in Paris'', inspired by both his trip there and possibly, as Davison suggests, a French play, ''Frenchman in London'' which he may have seen. Here, Foote satirized the boorish behaviour of English gentlemen abroad. The play garnered wide acclaim and became a part of the repertoires of the Drury Lane and
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
theatres where it remained for a few decades.Howard, p. 135. While his success was becoming more solidified as a writer, Foote was also in demand as an actor, working at Drury Lane and Covent Garden during the 1753–4 season.
When he found himself out of work in November 1754, Foote rented the Haymarket theatre and began to stage mock lectures. Satirizing
Charles Macklin
Charles Macklin (26 September 1699 – 11 July 1797), (Gaelic: Cathal MacLochlainn, English: Charles McLaughlin), was an Irish actor and dramatist who performed extensively at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Macklin revolutionised theatre in ...
's newly opened school of oratory, these lectures created a sort of theatrical war, especially when Macklin began to appear at the lectures himself. At one particular lecture, Foote extemporized a piece of
nonsense
Nonsense is a communication, via speech, writing, or any other symbolic system, that lacks any coherent meaning. Sometimes in ordinary usage, nonsense is synonymous with absurdity or the ridiculous. Many poets, novelists and songwriters have us ...
prose to test Macklin's assertion that he could memorise any text at a single reading.
So she went into the garden to cut a cabbage-leaf to make an apple-pie; and at the same time a great she-bear, coming up the street, pops its head into the shop. "What! No soap?" So he died, and she very imprudently married the barber; and there were present the Picninnies, and the Joblillies, and the Garyulies, and the grand Panjandrum himself, with the little round button at top, and they all fell to playing the game of catch-as-catch-can till the gunpowder ran out at the heels of their boots.
This introduced the nonsense term "The Grand Panjandrum" into the English language and the name was adopted for the Panjandrum or Great Panjandrum, an experimental
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
-era explosive device.
With Foote's success in writing ''An Englishman in Paris'', Irish playwright Arthur Murphy was moved to create a sequel, ''The Englishman returned from Paris''. While Foote readily encouraged Murphy's plan, Foote secretly wrote his own version which opened at Covent Garden on 3 February 1756. While early biographers scorned Foote's plagiarism of Murphy's play, the 1969 discovery of that manuscript laid it to rest when it was proven that Foote's play was far superior. The play was successful at Covent Garden and played regularly until 1760.
Two rival actresses captured the attention of London audiences and Foote's satire. Peg Woffington and George Anne Bellamy apparently took their roles rather seriously in a production of
Nathaniel Lee
Nathaniel Lee (c. 1653 – 6 May 1692) was an English dramatist. He was the son of Dr Richard Lee, a Presbyterian clergyman who was rector of Hatfield and held many preferments under the Commonwealth; Dr Lee was chaplain to George Monck, afterw ...
's ''The Rival Queens''. When Bellamy's Parisian fashions began to upstage Woffington, Bellamy was driven offstage by a dagger-wielding Woffington thus providing a source for Foote's ''The Green-Room Squabble or a Battle Royal between the Queen of Babylon and the Daughter of Darius''. The text of this farce is now lost.
Having turned his satire on Englishmen abroad and actresses at home, Foote pointed his daggered pen towards himself, other writers and the condition of the "starving writer" in his play ''The Author'' which premiered at Drury Lane on 5 February 1757. The plot concerned a poor author's father who disguises himself in order to spy on his son. Again, Foote created the role of Cadwallader for himself and used it to satirize John Apreece, a patron of authors. While critics derided Foote's attack on Apreece, audiences flocked to the theatre. Apreece even appeared and sat "open-mouthed and silly, in the boxes, to the delight of the audience, and mystified by the reflection of himself, which he beheld on the stage." Foote noted later that Apreece finding "the resemblance ..too strong, and the ridicule too pungent ..occasioned an application for the suppression of the piece, which was therefore forbidden to be anymore performed." The play was forbidden further productions by the Lord Chamberlain. While success may have been limited,
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as ''The Rivals'', ''The S ...
adapted the plot in his '' School for Scandal''. Modern critics would point out that ''The Author'' shows great development in Foote's ability in creating characters and sustaining plot.
Of mimicry and Methodists
Late in 1757, Foote faced himself in the guise of young actor and mimic, Tate Wilkinson. Wilkinson, like Foote, had failed somewhat as an actor, but was renowned for his satiric mimicry of others. Foote traveled with him to Dublin for part of the 1757–58 season and he also revived ''Diversions of the Morning'' as a vehicle to display Wilkinson's talents. The popularity of these talents crowded out all other performances at Drury Lane in the first half of the season, much to the chagrin of Garrick and the other actors. Soon, however, the luck ran out and by March, Foote was seeking employment elsewhere. With little luck in London, Foote traveled to perform a season in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
and found success with many of his works, including ''The Author'' which could not be staged in London. The following season found Foote in Dublin where Wilkinson was drawing crowds with his imitations and on 28 January 1760, Foote opened a new play, ''The Minor.'' The production was a failure.
Returning to London, Foote's financial situation was still quite poor. After renting the Haymarket theatre and revising ''The Minor'' into a three-act version (up from the two-act version presented in Dublin), the play opened in London. Doran remarks that while "''The Minor'' failed in Dublin, very much to the credit of an Irish audience, ..they condemned it on the ground of its grossness and immorality English society, nevertheless, while hearing condemnations of the play, filled the theatres. The play played for full houses for 38 nights.
''The Minor'' utilizes a fairly pedestrian plot to satirize the Methodist movement. Before its premiere, Foote showed the text of ''The Minor'' to the Archbishop of Canterbury,
Thomas Secker
Thomas Secker (21 September 16933 August 1768) was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England.
Early life and studies
Secker was born in Sibthorpe, Nottinghamshire. In 1699, he went to Richard Brown's free school in Chesterfield, ...
. Secker objected to several passages, but particularly to Mrs Cole referring to herself as a "lost sheep". This expression, he said, was sacred to the pulpit. Foote besought the archbishop to take the manuscript and strike the exceptionable passages; he agreed on the condition that it should be published "Revised and Corrected by the Archbishop of Canterbury."
''The Devil on Two Sticks''
While riding with
Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany
Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany, (Edward Augustus;In ''The London Gazette'', the Prince is called simply 'Prince Edward'16 November 1756 He bought the theatre outright and remodelled the interior the same year and continued to operate the theatre until he was forced to give up his patent to
George Colman the Elder
George Colman (April 1732 – 14 August 1794) was an English dramatist and essayist, usually called "the Elder", and sometimes "George the First", to distinguish him from his son, George Colman the Younger. He also owned a theatre.
Early life
...
the following year. Near London, Foote lived and wrote in his much loved villa, 'The Hermitage', in North End village in the Parish of
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...
. He died on 21 October 1777 in
Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
, while en route to France.
Foote's satires are based on caricatures of characters and situations from his era. His facility and wit in writing these earned him the title "the English
Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his fo ...
." While, often, his subjects found his literary jabs just as humorous as his audiences, they often both feared and admired him.
Legal troubles
In 1774, the Duke of Kingston's sister was able to invalidate the Duke's will, on the grounds that his widow, Elizabeth Chudleigh, was guilty of bigamy. Foote picked up this news and began work on a new play in which the character "Lady Kitty Crockodile" was clearly based on Chudleigh. In response a supporter of Chudleigh's, William Jackson, in 1775 began publishing in '' The Public Ledger'' veiled accusations of homosexuality. Not long after Chudleigh was convicted of bigamy in spring 1776, Foote's coachman accused Foote of sexual assault, leading to a trial at which Foote was eventually acquitted. In the interim, the ''Ledger'' filled its pages with the story, and an anonymous pamphlet (likely written by Jackson) aimed at Foote, "Sodom and Onan", appeared. The work was subtitled "A Satire Inscrib'd to
– –
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
Esqr, alias the Devil upon Two Sticks", with the blank filled by an engraving of a foot. Inevitably, these events provided more fodder for Foote's pen, with Jackson making a disguised appearance in ''The Capuchin''.
Mentions of Foote
In the 1844 novel by
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...
''
The Luck of Barry Lyndon
''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' is a picaresque novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published as a serial in ''Fraser's Magazine'' in 1844, about a member of the Irish gentry trying to become a member of the English aristocracy. Thacker ...
'', which was later published as ''Barry Lyndon; The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq.'' the protagonist claims Foote as a friend.Thackeray, William Makepeace. ''Barry Lyndon; The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq.'' Oxford University Press (January 15, 2009) page 248 Foote is also referred to in ''
The Boswell Brothers
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speak ...
''by
Philip Baruth
Philip E. Baruth (born February 10, 1962) is an American politician, novelist, biographer, professor, and former radio commentator from Vermont. A Democrat and member of the Vermont Progressive Party, he represents Chittenden County in the Vermo ...
.
Dramatic works
Books
* Cooke, William. ''Memoirs of Samuel Foote, Esq: With a Collection of His Genuine Bon-mots, Anecdotes, Opinions, &c'' 1805. Online )
* Foote, Samuel. ''The Dramatic Works of Samuel Foote, Esq.; to which is prefaced A Life of the Author.'' London, 1809. Reprinted by Benjamin Bloom, Bronx, New York.
* Kelly, Ian. ''Mr Foote's Other Leg: Comedy, tragedy and murder in Georgian London'', 2012. Picador; later adapted as a play under the same title
Notes
References
*
*Davison, Peter. ''Samuel Foote''. in Pickering, David, ed. ''International Dictionary of Theatre.'' Vol. 3. New York, St. James Press. 1996.
*Doran, Dr. ''Annals of the English Stage from Thomas Betterton to Edmund Kean. Vol. II.'' London, John C. Nimmo. 1888. Reprinted by AMS Press, New York. 1968.
*Douglas, Howard. ''Samuel Foote''. in Backscheider, Paula, ed. ''Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 89: Restoration and Eighteenth Century Dramatists, 3rd Series.'' Detroit, Gale Research. 1989.
*Findlay, Robert. ''Charles Macklin''. in Pickering, David, ed. ''International Dictionary of Theatre.'' Vol. 3. New York, St. James Press. 1996.
*Foote, Samuel. ''The Dramatic Works of Samuel Foote, Esq.; to which is prefaced A Life of the Author.'' London, 1809. Reprinted by Benjamin Bloom, Bronx, New York.
*Hartnoll, Phyllis. ed. ''The Oxford Companion to the Theatre''. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1983.
*Holland, Peter. "Samuel Foote." in Banham, Martin. ed. ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre.'' Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1995.
*Melville, Lewis (pseud.) (ed.) ''The Trial of the Duchess of Kingston'' ("The Notable British Trial Series) (New York: John Day & Co., 1928), 328p., illus. See the introduction pages 24–29.
*Murphy, Mary C. and updated by Gerald S. Argetsinger. "Samuel Foote." in Rollyson, Carl and Frank N. Magill ed. ''Critical Survey of Drama, 2nd Revised Edition, Vol. 2.'' Pasadena, CA, Salem Press, 2003.
*Parry,
is Honor Judge
In linguistics, a copula (plural: copulas or copulae; abbreviated ) is a word or phrase that links the subject of a sentence to a subject complement, such as the word ''is'' in the sentence "The sky is blue" or the phrase ''was not being'' i ...
Edward Abbott ''Vagabonds All'' (New York: Charles Scribners' Sons, 1926), 264 p., illus. See "Chapter VIII: Samuel Foote, The Player of Interludes", pp. 158–183.
*Thomson, Peter. "Haymarket, Theatre Royal." in Banham, Martin. ed. ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre.'' Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1995.