''The City-Heiress'', ''or, Sir Timothy Treat-all'' 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:
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* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
by
Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn (; baptism, bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration (England), Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writ ...
first performed in 1682. The play, a
Restoration comedy, reflects Behn's own highly
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
political point of view.
The character of Sir Timothy Treat-all is a caricature of the
first Earl of Shaftesbury, a founder of the
Whig party who had been arrested for
high treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...
in 1681.
It was staged at the
Dorset Garden Theatre
The Dorset Garden Theatre in London, built in 1671, was in its early years also known as the Duke of York's Theatre, or the Duke's Theatre. In 1685, King Charles II died and his brother, the Duke of York, was crowned as James II. When the Du ...
by the
Duke's Company
The Duke's Company was a theatre company chartered by King Charles II at the start of the Restoration era, 1660. Sir William Davenant was manager of the company under the patronage of Prince James, Duke of York. During that period, theatres ...
. The original cast included
James Nokes as Sir Timothy Treatall,
Thomas Betterton as Tom Wilding,
Anthony Leigh as Sir Anthony Meriwill,
Joseph Williams as Sir Charles Meriwill,
John Bowman as Dreswell,
Thomas Jevon as Fopington,
Elizabeth Barry as Lady Galliard,
Charlotte Butler as Charlotte,
Elizabeth Currer as Diana and
Elinor Leigh as Mrs Closet.
[Van Lennep, W. ''The London Stage, 1660-1800: Volume One, 1660-1700''. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960. p.308]
Plot
The play concerns the "seditious knight" Sir Timothy Treat-all and his
rakish Tory
A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...
nephew Tom Wilding. Both vie for the affections of Charlot, the eponymous city (
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 ...
) heiress. Treat-all keeps an open house for all of those who oppose the king, and he has disinherited Wilding.
Wilding launches a complex scheme to triumph over Treat-all. First, he introduces Diana (his mistress) to Treat-all as Charlot, allowing Treat-all to woo her. This allows him to court the real Charlot himself. Diana cares for Wilding, but after seeing him pursue both Charlot and Lady Galliard, she decides to make an advantageous marriage with the wealthy Treat-all.
During a staged entertainment, Wilding assumes a disguise and pretends to be a
Polish nobleman. He offers Treat-all the throne of Poland, which the greedy Treat-all accepts. Wilding then arranges for a burglary, where he and Treat-all both end up bound, and the burglars take all of Treat-all's papers. The burglars are Wilding's confidantes, and the papers contain evidence of Treat-all's treason.
Wilding ends up marrying Charlot, and Treat-all marries Diana. However, Treat-all is forced by blackmail to treat Wilding well and to leave him his estates. (((
In a sub-plot, Wilding successfully seduces the rich widow Lady Galliard. Shortly afterwards, one of her drunken former suitors (Sir Charles) breaks into her chamber and begins to undress. In order to get rid of him (and thinking that he will not remember their conversation), she agrees to marry him. She is then shocked to discover that two other people have overheard her make a legally binding promise of marriage.
Reception
Contemporaries singled out ''The City Heiress'' as one of Behn's "good" and lucrative comedies, although few modern critics have discussed it at length.
''The City Heiress'' was one of Behn's plays singled out by satirists for scorn. Referring to the
epilogue
An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the ...
,
Robert Gould sarcastically asked,
:"The City Heiress, by chast
Sappho
Sappho (; ''Sapphṓ'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; ) was an Ancient Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her lyric poetry, written to be sung while accompanied by music. In ancient times, Sapph ...
Writ:
:Where the Lewd Widow comes, with brazen Face,
:Just reeking from a Stallion's rank Embrace
:T'acquaint the Audience with her Filthy Case.
:Where can you find a Scene for juster Praise,
:In
Shakespear,
Johnson
Johnson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Johnson (surname), a common surname in English
* Johnson (given name), a list of people
* List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters
*Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...
, or in
Fletcher's Plays?" -- ''The Play-House, a Satyr''
Behn's play has been called "a comedy of
libertine
A libertine is a person questioning and challenging most moral principles, such as responsibility or Human sexual activity, sexual restraints, and will often declare these traits as unnecessary, undesirable or evil. A libertine is especially som ...
complicity: her characters act as though they believed in order, authority, true love, and marriage even though they celebrate for the better part of five acts their license to disbelieve".
Other
Restoration comedies were as frank with their sexuality, and others had women choosing their lovers on the basis of their wit (while wits choose theirs on the basis of money), but Behn's characters do not moderate their desires in their comedic solutions. Further, Treat-all's punishment is poverty and subjugation, rather than being hanged; and Wilding's goal is luxury, rather than moral justice. The distinctions are subtle, but it was not merely Behn's sex that made the play offensive to moralizing poets of the 1690s and the first decade of the 18th century.
References
External links
Mary O'Donnell's solid online Behn bibliography- an annotated contemporary bibliography
The University of Virginia's online edition- a text of the play
{{DEFAULTSORT:City Heiress, The
1682 plays
Restoration comedy
Plays by Aphra Behn
Plays set in the 17th century