''The Fair Example, or the Modish Citizen'' is a 1703

comedy play Comedy is a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents and in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a stage-play with a happy endi ...

by the English writer

Richard Estcourt Richard Estcourt (1668–1712) was an English actor, who began by playing comedy parts in Dublin. His first London appearance was in 1704 as Dominick, in John Dryden, Dryden's ''Spanish Friar'', and he continued to take important parts at Drury ...

, originally staged 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 ...

. It was part of a growing trend of plays to feature a plot of an honest wife reforming her

rakish In a historical context, a rake (short for rakehell, analogous to "hellraiser") was a man who was habituated to immoral conduct, particularly womanizing. Often, a rake was also prodigal, wasting his (usually inherited) fortune on gambling, w ...

husband along with '' Sir Harry Wildair'', '' As You Find It'', ''

The Wife's Relief ''The Wife's Relief, or, The Husband's Cure'' is a 1711 comedy play by the British writer Charles Johnson. The plot revolves around a virtuous wife who tries to mend her husband's rakish ways.Gollapudi p.77 The cast included Robert Wilks as Vo ...

'' and '' The Modish Couple''.Gollapudi p.77 It is a reworking of the 1693 French play ''Les Bourgeoises à la Mode'' by

Florent Carton Dancourt Florent Carton aka Dancourt (1 November 16617 December 1725), French dramatist and actor, was born at Fontainebleau. He belonged to a family of rank, and his parents entrusted his education to Pere de la Rue, a Jesuit, who made earnest efforts t ...

. In 1705 a separate English adaptation of the French work

John Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restor ...

's ''

The Confederacy The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States from 1861 to 1865. It comprised eleven U.S. states tha ...

'' appeared at the rival Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket. The cast included

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 Springlove,

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 Lucia, Benjamin Johnson as Sir Rice-ap-Adam, William Penkethman as Mr Whimsey, William Bullock as Mr Fancy,

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 Sir Charles, Henry Norris as Symons,

Susanna Verbruggen Susanna Verbruggen (née Percival) (–1703), aka Susanna Mountfort, was an English actress working in London. Life She was the daughter of Thomas Percival, a member of the Duke's Company for more than a decade. Her first recorded stage appear ...

as Mrs Cringe and Mary Powell as Mrs Furnish,

Frances Maria Knight Frances is an English given name or last name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'the French.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from ...

as Florinda, Margaret Mills as Lettice and

Jane Lucas Jane Lucas was an English stage actress and singer of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. From around 1693 she was a member of the United Company based at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. In 1697 she had fellow actor Colley Cibber ar ...

as Flora.

References

Bibliography

* Burling, William J. ''A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992. * Gollapudi, Aparna. ''Moral Reform in Comedy and Culture, 1696–1747''. Ashgate Publishing, 2013. * Nicoll, Allardyce. ''History of English Drama, 1660-1900, Volume 2''. Cambridge University Press, 2009. 1703 plays English plays West End plays Comedy plays {{18thC-play-stub