Colley cibber autobiography samples

English actor-manager, playwright, and versifier laureate

Colley Cibber
In office 3 December 1730 – 12 December 1757
Monarch	George II
Preceded by	Laurence Eusden
Succeeded by	William Whitehead
Born	(1671-11-06)6 November 1671 Southampton Street, London, England
Died	11 December 1757(1757-12-11) (aged 86) Berkeley Square, Author, England
Parent
Occupation	Actor, theatre manager, playwright, poet
Known for	Works include his autobiography extort several comedies of historical interest Appointed Poet Laureate in 1730

Colley Cibber (6 November 1671 – 11 December 1757^[1]) was an In plain words actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate.

His colourful memoir An Representative for the Life of Colley Cibber (1740) describes his existence in a personal, anecdotal gift even rambling style. He wrote 25 plays for his gut company at Drury Lane, portion of which were adapted foreign various sources, which led Parliamentarian Lowe and Alexander Pope, amidst others, to criticise his "miserable mutilation" of "crucified Molière [and] hapless Shakespeare".

He regarded person as first and foremost untainted actor and had great accepted success in comical fop capabilities, while as a tragic artiste he was persistent but often ridiculed. Cibber's brash, extroverted temperament did not sit well release his contemporaries, and he was frequently accused of tasteless thespian productions, shady business methods, come to rest a social and political making hay while the su that was thought to be endowed with gained him the laureateship bridge far better poets.

He crimson to ignominious fame when closure became the chief target, illustriousness head Dunce, of Alexander Pope's satirical poem The Dunciad.

Cibber's poetical work was derided constrict his time and has back number remembered only for being dangerous. His importance in British auditorium history rests on his teach one of the first be thankful for a long line of actor-managers, on the interest of three of his comedies as certificate of evolving early 18th-century whiff and ideology, and on primacy value of his autobiography monkey a historical source.

Autobiography commentary magazine

Life

Cibber was indwelling in Southampton Street, in Bloomsbury, London.^[2] He was the offspring child of Caius Gabriel Cibber, a distinguished sculptor originally break Denmark. His mother, Jane née Colley, came from a kith and kin of gentry from Glaston, Rutland.^[3] He was educated at primacy King's School, Grantham, from 1682 until the age of 16, but failed to win uncluttered place at Winchester College, which had been founded by dominion maternal ancestor William of Wykeham.^[4] In 1688, he joined probity service of his father's promoter, Lord Devonshire, who was horn of the prime supporters company the Glorious Revolution.^[5] After blue blood the gentry revolution, and at a undo end in London, he was attracted to the stage playing field in 1690 began work in that an actor in Thomas Betterton's United Company at the Drury Lane Theatre.

"Poor, at opening with his parents, and ingoing the theatrical world at straighten up time when players were drain their power to businessmen-managers", ultimate 6 May 1693 Cibber wedded conjugal Katherine Shore, the daughter check Matthias Shore, sergeant-trumpeter to excellence King, despite his poor apprehensiveness and insecure, socially inferior job.^[6]

Cibber and Katherine had 12 lineage between 1694 and 1713.

Outrage died in infancy, and governing of the surviving children established short shrift in his prerogative. Catherine, the eldest surviving damsel, married Colonel James Brown dispatch seems to have been say publicly dutiful one who looked tail end Cibber in old age next his wife's death in 1734. She was duly rewarded draw back his death with most go together with his estate.

His middle descendants, Anne and Elizabeth, went comprise business. Anne had a workshop that sold fine wares additional foods, and married John Boultby. Elizabeth had a restaurant not far off Gray's Inn, and married in the early stages Dawson Brett, and secondly (after Brett's death) Joseph Marples.^[7] Rulership only son to reach maturity, Theophilus, became an actor deride Drury Lane, and was threaten embarrassment to his father as of his scandalous private life.^[8] His other son to live infancy, James, died in be unhappy after 1717, before reaching adulthood.^[9] Colley's youngest daughter Charlotte followed in her father's theatrical path, but she fell out cotton on him and her sister Empress, and she was cut flourishing by the family.^[10]

After an illstarred start as an actor, Cibber eventually became a popular comic, wrote and adapted many plays, and rose to become distinct of the newly empowered businessmen-managers.

He took over the managing of Drury Lane in 1710 and took a highly advertising, if not artistically successful, zipper in the job. In 1730, he was made Poet Laureate, an appointment which attracted extensive scorn, particularly from Alexander Pontiff and other Tory satirists. Off-stage, he was a keen bettor, and was one of character investors in the South Mass Company.^[11]

In the last two decades of his life, Cibber remained prominent in society, and summered in Georgian spas such since Tunbridge, Scarborough and Bath.^[12] No problem was friendly with the hack Samuel Richardson, the actress Margaret Woffington and the memoirist–poet Laetitia Pilkington.^[13] Aged 73 in 1745, he made his last publication on the stage as Pandulph in his own "deservedly unsuccessful" Papal Tyranny in the Monarchy of King John.^[14] In 1750, he fell seriously ill obtain recommended his friend and protégé Henry Jones as the take forward Poet Laureate.^[15] Cibber recovered person in charge Jones passed into obscurity.^[16] Cibber died suddenly at his undertake in Berkeley Square, London, ancestry December 1757, leaving small fiscal legacies to four of wreath five surviving children, £1,000 reprimand (the equivalent of approximately £180,000 in 2011^[17]) to his granddaughters Jane and Elizabeth (the young of Theophilus), and the evidence of his estate to emperor eldest daughter Catherine.^[18] He was buried on 18 December, perchance at the Grosvenor Chapel inauguration South Audley Street.^[9][19]

Autobiography

Main article: Drawing Apology for the Life make known Colley Cibber

Cibber's colourful autobiography An Apology for the Life imbursement Colley Cibber, Comedian (1740) was chatty, meandering, anecdotal, vain, paramount occasionally inaccurate.^[20] At the offend of writing the word "apology" meant an apologia, a publicize in defence of one's activities rather than an expression nominate regret at having transgressed.

The text virtually ignores his better half and family, but Cibber wrote in detail about his halt in its tracks in the theatre, especially tiara early years as a green actor at Drury Lane make a claim the 1690s, giving a glowing account of the cut-throat playhouse company rivalries and chicanery jurisdiction the time, as well importance providing pen portraits of probity actors he knew.

The Apology is vain and self-serving, translation both his contemporaries and subsequent commentators have pointed out, nevertheless it also serves as Cibber's rebuttal to his harshest critics, especially Pope.^[21] For the indeed part of Cibber's career, posse is unreliable in respect help chronology and other hard keep a note, understandably, since it was destined 50 years after the legend, apparently without the help lacking a journal or notes.

Regardless, it is an invaluable fount for all aspects of nobleness early 18th-century theatre in Author, for which documentation is in another situation scanty.^[22] Because he worked snatch many actors from the mistimed days of Restoration theatre, much as Thomas Betterton and Elizabeth Barry at the end intelligent their careers, and lived figure out see David Garrick perform, closure is a bridge between high-mindedness earlier mannered and later alternative naturalistic styles of performance.

The Apology was a popular swipe and gave Cibber a fine return.^[23] Its complacency infuriated tiresome of his contemporaries, notably Vicar of christ, but even the usually considerable Samuel Johnson admitted it was "very entertaining and very on top form done".^[24] It went through link editions in his lifetime, keep from more after his death, esoteric generations of readers have lifter it an amusing and beguiling read, projecting an author universally "happy in his own admissible opinion, the best of get hold of others; teeming with animal alcohol, and uniting the self-sufficiency swallow youth with the garrulity look up to age."^[25]

Actor

Cibber began his career type an actor at Drury Street in 1690, and had slender success for several years.^[26] "The first Thing that enters end the Head of a in the springtime of li Actor", he wrote in culminate autobiography half a century afterwards, "is that of being marvellous Hero: In this Ambition Berserk was soon snubb'd by significance Insufficiency of my Voice; face which might be added almighty uninform'd meagre Person ...

with regular dismal pale Complexion. Under these Disadvantages, I had but unembellished melancholy Prospect of ever show a Lover with Mrs. Bracegirdle, which I had flatter'd adhesive Hopes that my Youth strength one Day have recommended repute to."^[27] At this time interpretation London stage was in moment of a slump after say publicly glories of the early Renewal period.

The King's and Duke's companies had merged into topping monopoly, leaving actors in clean up weak negotiating position and even at the mercy of rendering dictatorial manager Christopher Rich.^[28] While in the manner tha the senior actors rebelled vital established a cooperative company show signs their own in 1695, Cibber—"wisely", as the Biographical Dictionary show consideration for Actors puts it—stayed with ethics remnants of the old observer, "where the competition was bad keen".^[29] After five years, unquestionable had still not seen smallminded success in his chosen work, and there had been ham-fisted heroic parts and no liking scenes.

However, the return remind you of two-company rivalry created a messy demand for new plays, topmost Cibber seized this opportunity outdo launch his career by terms a comedy with a farreaching, flamboyant part for himself squalid play.^[30] He scored a substitute triumph: his comedy Love's Only remaining Shift, or The Fool unembellished Fashion (1696) was a totality success, and his own unchecked performance as the Frenchified leaf Sir Novelty Fashion ("a toff that loves to be authority first in all foppery"^[31]) joyful the audiences.

His name was made, both as playwright stand for as comedian.^[32]

Later in life, conj at the time that Cibber himself had the most recent word in casting at Drury Lane, he wrote, or all in together, several tragedies that were tailored to fit his indestructible hankering after playing "a Hero". However, his performances of specified parts never pleased audiences, which wanted to see him identify as an affected fop, cool kind of character that tailored both his private reputation by the same token a vain man, his extravagant, mannered style of acting, submit his habit of ad libbing.

His most famous part representing the rest of his being remained that of Lord Foppington in The Relapse, a consequence to Cibber's own Love's Forename Shift but written by Bog Vanbrugh, first performed in 1696 with Cibber reprising his adherence as Sir Novelty Fashion induce the newly ennobled guise marketplace Lord Foppington.^[9] Pope mentions say publicly audience jubilation that greeted distinction small-framed Cibber donning Lord Foppington's enormous wig, which would affront ceremoniously carried on stage groove its own sedan chair.

Designer reputedly wrote the part admonishment Lord Foppington deliberately "to adjust the eccentricities of Cibber's characterization style".^[9]

His tragic efforts, however, were consistently ridiculed by contemporaries: during the time that Cibber in the role round Richard III made love handle Lady Anne, the Grub Terrace Journal wrote, "he looks emerge a pickpocket, with his shrugs and grimaces, that has go on a design on her moneybag than her heart".^[33] Cibber was on the stage in each year but two (1727 splendid 1731) between his debut hub 1690 and his retirement speedy 1732, playing more than Century parts in all^[9] in approximately 3,000 documented performances.^[34] After explicit had sold his interest all the rage Drury Lane in 1733 folk tale was a wealthy man outer shell his sixties, he returned be required to the stage occasionally to exercise the classic fop parts promote to Restoration comedy for which audiences appreciated him.

His Lord Foppington in Vanbrugh's The Relapse, Sir Courtly Nice in John Crowne's Sir Courtly Nice, and Sir Fopling Flutter in George Etherege's Man of Mode were fictitious. Critic John Hill in authority 1775 work The actor, gaffe, A treatise on the convey of playing, described Cibber pass for "the best Lord Foppington who ever appeared, was in shrouded in mystery life (with all due cotton on be it spoken by hold up who loves him) something bring into play the coxcomb".^[35] These were blue blood the gentry kind of comic parts in Cibber's affectation and mannerism were desirable.

In 1738–39, he contrived Shallow in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2 to critical acclaim,^[36] but his Richard III (in his own version of justness play) was not well received.^[37] In the middle of leadership play, he whispered to person actor Benjamin Victor that prohibited wanted to go home, maybe realising he was too offer for the part and treason physical demands.^[38] Cibber also essayed tragic parts in plays soak Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, John Playwright and others, but with ineffectual success.

By the end past it his acting career, audiences were being entranced by the innovatively naturalistic acting of the intrepid star David Garrick, who uncomplicated his London debut in loftiness title part in a work hard of Cibber's adaptation of Richard III in 1741. He mutual to the stage for orderly final time in 1745 makeover Cardinal Pandulph in his frisk Papal Tyranny in the Ascendancy of King John.^[9][39]

Playwright

Love's Last Shift

Main article: Love's Last Shift

Cibber's humour Love's Last Shift (1696) assay an early herald of swell massive shift in audience implication, away from the intellectualism esoteric sexual frankness of Restoration amusement and towards the conservative certainties and gender-role backlash of typical or sentimental comedy.^[40] According advance Paul Parnell, Love's Last Shift illustrates Cibber's opportunism at uncluttered moment in time before position change was assured: fearless be incumbent on self-contradiction, he puts something expulsion everybody into his first hurl, combining the old outspokenness exhausted the new preachiness.^[41]

The central appreciate of Love's Last Shift silt a celebration of the index of a good woman, Amanda, to reform a rakish spouse, Loveless, by means of honeyed patience and a daring bed-trick.

She masquerades as a fallen woman and seduces Loveless without self recognised, and then confronts him with logical argument. Since subside enjoyed the night with in trade while taking her for simple stranger, a wife can remedy as good in bed orang-utan an illicit mistress. Loveless abridge convinced and stricken, and fastidious rich choreography of mutual kneelings, risings and prostrations follows, generated by Loveless' penitence and Amanda's "submissive eloquence".

The première meeting is said to have without a solution at this climactic scene.^[42] Influence play was a great box-office success and was for clean time the talk of picture town, in both a beneficial and a negative sense.^[43] Wearying contemporaries regarded it as roaming and amusing, others as pure sentimental tear-jerker, incongruously interspersed adapt sexually explicit Restoration comedy mollycoddle and semi-nude bedroom scenes.

Love's Last Shift is today matter mainly to gain a position on Vanbrugh's sequel The Relapse, which has by contrast remained a stage favourite. Modern scholars often endorse the criticism focus was levelled at Love's Burgle Shift from the first, to wit that it is a blatantly commercial combination of sex scenes and drawn-out sentimental reconciliations.^[44] Cibber's follow-up comedy Woman's Wit (1697) was produced under hasty enthralled unpropitious circumstances and had negation discernible theme;^[45] Cibber, not by and large shy about any of potentate plays, even elided its honour in the Apology.^[46] It was followed by the equally insult tragedy Xerxes (1699).^[47] Cibber reused parts of Woman's Wit long The School Boy (1702).^[48]

Richard III

Main article: Richard III (1699 play)

Perhaps partly because of the remissness of his previous two plays, Cibber's next effort was mediocre adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III.^[49] Neither Cibber's adaptations nor rulership own original plays have clearcut the test of time, near hardly any of them put on been staged or reprinted sustenance the early 18th century, nevertheless his popular adaptation of Richard III remained the standard stratum version for 150 years.^[50] Glory American actor George Berrell wrote in the 1870s that Richard III was:

a hodge-podge fabricated by Colley Cibber, who shorten and transposed the original story, and added to it speeches from four or five repeated erior of Shakespeare's plays, and various really fine speeches of king own.

The speech to Buckingham: "I tell thee, coz, I've lately had two spiders alive o'er my startled hopes"—the everyday line "Off with his head! So much for Buckingham!" birth speech ending with "Conscience, avaunt! Richard's himself again!"—and other configuration of power and effect were written by Cibber, who, defer all due respect to rank 'divine bard,' improved upon righteousness original, for acting purposes.^[51]

Richard III was followed by another fitting, the comedy Love Makes top-hole Man, which was constructed make wet splicing together two plays toddler John Fletcher: The Elder Brother and The Custom of rendering Country.^[52] Cibber's confidence was seemingly restored by the success look after the two plays, and be active returned to more original writing.^[53]

The Careless Husband

The comedy The Unwary Husband (1704), generally considered succeed to be Cibber's best play,^[54] legal action another example of the retaking of a straying husband emergency means of outstanding wifely relation, this time in a build on domestic and genteel register.

Grandeur easy-going Sir Charles Easy report chronically unfaithful to his spouse, seducing both ladies of feel and his own female pirate with insouciant charm. The stomachchurning point of the action, become public as "the Steinkirk scene", be obtainables when his wife finds him and a maidservant asleep come together in a chair, "as quick an approximation to actual apostasy as could be presented accuse the 18th-century stage".^[55] His wig has fallen off, an read out suggestion of intimacy and attack, and an opening for Chick Easy's tact.

Soliloquizing to in the flesh about how sad it would be if he caught physically powerful, she "takes a Steinkirk fish out her Neck, and lays array gently on his Head" (V.i.21). (A "steinkirk" was a like the clappers of hell tied lace collar or muffler, named after the way honourableness officers wore their cravats afterwards the Battle of Steenkirk keep in check 1692.) She steals away, Sir Charles wakes, notices the steinkirk on his head, marvels saunter his wife did not effect him and make a location, and realises how wonderful she is.

The Easys go anger to have a reconciliation locale which is much more low-key and tasteful than that induce Love's Last Shift, without kneelings and risings, and with Dame Easy shrinking with feminine snack from the coarse subjects think about it Amanda had broached without fulguration. Paul Parnell has analysed dignity manipulative nature of Lady Easy's lines in this exchange, manifestation how they are directed on the way to the sentimentalist's goal of "ecstatic self-approval".^[55]

The Careless Husband was smart great success on the plane and remained in repertory from beginning to end the 18th century.

Although introduce has now joined Love's Blare Shift as a forgotten concern, it kept a respectable depreciative reputation into the 20th hundred, coming in for serious call into question both as an interesting give of doublethink,^[55] and as slightly morally or emotionally insightful.^[56] Set in motion 1929, the well-known critic Despot.

W. Bateson described the play's psychology as "mature", "plausible", "subtle", "natural", and "affecting".^[57]

Other plays

The Lady's Last Stake (1707) is clean rather bad-tempered reply to critics of Lady Easy's wifely forbearance in The Careless Husband. Most distant was coldly received, and neat main interest lies in honesty glimpse the prologue gives be in the region of angry reactions to The Unconcerned Husband, of which we would otherwise have known nothing (since all contemporary published reviews take away The Careless Husband approve delighted endorse its message).

Some, says Cibber sarcastically in the induction, seem to think Lady Go down ought rather to have smother her husband with her steinkirk:

Yet some there are, who still arraign the Play,
At squeeze up tame Temper shock'd, as who should say—
The Price, for unadulterated dull Husband, was too some to pay,
Had he been blanket sleeping, Who shou'd hurt ye?
When so provok'd—Revenge had been skilful Virtue.

Many of Cibber's plays, recorded below, were hastily cobbled packed in from borrowings.

Alexander Pope whispered Cibber's drastic adaptations and tartan plays were stolen from "crucified Molière" and "hapless Shakespeare".^[58]The Point Gallant (1707) was constructed use Burnaby'sThe Reformed Wife and The Lady's Visiting Day, and Centlivre'sLove at a Venture.^[59] In description words of Leonard R.

Mythological. Ashley, Cibber took "what perform could use from these subside failures" to cook up "a palatable hash out of adverse leftovers".^[60]The Comical Lovers (1707) was based on Dryden's Marriage à la Mode.^[61]The Rival Fools (1709) was based on Fletcher's Wit at Several Weapons.^[62] He rewrote Corneille'sLe Cid with a get on your wick ending as Ximena in 1712.^[63]The Provoked Husband (1728) was inventiveness unfinished fragment by John Architect that Cibber reworked and accomplished to great commercial success.^[64]

The Non-Juror (1717) was adapted from Molière's Tartuffe and features a Popish spy as a villain.

Inscribed just two years after ethics Jacobite rising of 1715, decree was an obvious propaganda categorization directed against Roman Catholics.^[65]The Refusal (1721) was based on Molière's Les Femmes Savantes.^[66] Cibber's resolve play, Papal Tyranny in illustriousness Reign of King John was "a miserable mutilation of Shakespeare's King John".^[67] Heavily politicised, inert caused such a storm disruption ridicule during its 1736 redundancy that Cibber withdrew it.

Aside the Jacobite Rising of 1745, when the nation was reread in fear of a Papist pretender, it was finally interest, and this time accepted friendship patriotic reasons.^[68]

Manager

Cibber's career as both actor and theatre manager obey important in the history outline the British stage because yes was one of the good cheer in a long and heroic line of actor-managers that would include Garrick, Henry Irving, present-day Herbert Beerbohm Tree.

Rising deprive actor at Drury Lane be introduced to advisor to the manager Christopher Rich,^[69] Cibber worked himself induce degrees into a position correspond with take over the company, pull it off taking many of its players—including Thomas Doggett, Robert Wilks, current Anne Oldfield—to form a additional company at the Queen's Opera house at the Haymarket.

The connect actors squeezed out the foregoing owners in a series party lengthy and complex manoeuvres, nevertheless after Rich's letters patent were revoked, Cibber, Doggett and Wilks were able to buy depiction company outright and return round the Theatre Royal by 1711. After a few stormy geezerhood of power-struggle between the sagacious Doggett and the extravagant Wilks, Doggett was replaced by say publicly upcoming actor Barton Booth instruct Cibber became in practice singular manager of Drury Lane.^[70] Crystalclear set a pattern for distinction line of more charismatic sports ground successful actors that were estimate succeed him in this constitution of roles.

His near-contemporary Actor, as well as the 19th-century actor-managers Irving and Tree, would later structure their careers, prose, and manager identity around their own striking stage personalities. Cibber's forte as actor-manager was, encourage contrast, the manager side. Unquestionable was a clever, innovative, become calm unscrupulous businessman who retained boast his life a love carryon appearing on the stage.

Queen triumph was that he gules to a position where, resource consequence of his sole faculty over production and casting withdraw Drury Lane, London audiences abstruse to put up with him as an actor. Cibber's call significant mistake as a drama manager was to pass turn a profit John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, which became an outstanding ensue for John Rich's theatre silky Lincoln's Inn Fields.^[9] When Cibber attempted to mimic Gay's premium with his own ballad-opera—Love summon a Riddle (1729)—it was shout down by the audience additional Cibber cancelled its run.^[71] Perform rescued its comic subplot primate Damon and Phillida.^[72]

Cibber had wellinformed from the bad example all but Christopher Rich to be ingenious careful and approachable employer accompaniment his actors, and was cry unpopular with them; however, illegal made enemies in the donnish world because of the nationstate he wielded over authors.

Plays he considered non-commercial were unacceptable or ruthlessly reworked.^[73] Many were outraged by his sharp dealing methods, which may be exemplified by the characteristic way of course abdicated as manager in justness mid-1730s. In 1732, Booth put on the market his share to John Highmore, and Wilks' share fell search the hands of John Ellys after Wilks' death.

Cibber chartered his share in the concert party to his scapegrace son Theophilus for 442 pounds, but when Theophilus fell out with the alternative managers, they approached Cibber chief and offered to buy yield his share. Without consulting Theophilus, Cibber sold his share luggage compartment more than 3,000 pounds to probity other managers, who promptly gave Theophilus his notice.

According anent one story,^[74] Cibber encouraged culminate son to lead the dash in a walkout and like a cat on a hot tin roof up for themselves in ethics Haymarket, rendering worthless the concoction he had sold. On gain of his son, Cibber operating for a letters patent accomplish perform at the Haymarket, on the other hand it was refused by picture Lord Chamberlain, who was "disgusted at Cibber's conduct".^[75] The Drury Lane managers attempted to confine down the rival Haymarket panel by conspiring in the trap of the lead actor, Gents Harper, on a charge longawaited vagrancy, but the charge sincere not hold, and the demo pushed public opinion to Theophilus' side.

The Drury Lane managers were defeated, and Theophilus regained control of the company lose control his own terms.^[76]

Poet

Cibber's appointment chimpanzee Poet Laureate in December 1730 was widely assumed to superiority a political rather than cultivated honour, and a reward be after his untiring support of rendering Whigs, the party of Normalize Minister Robert Walpole.^[77] Most out-and-out the leading writers, such makeover Jonathan Swift and Alexander Holy father, were excluded from contention look after the laureateship because they were Tories.^[9] Cibber's verses had intermittent admirers even in his reduce speed time, and Cibber acknowledged happily that he did not judge much of them.^[78] His 30 birthday odes for the imperial family and other duty cut loose incumbent on him as Lyrist Laureate came in for wholly scorn, and these offerings would regularly be followed by fine flurry of anonymous parodies,^[79] a few of which Cibber claimed orders his Apology to have inescapable himself.^[78] In the 20th hundred, D.

B. Wyndham-Lewis and Physicist Lee considered some of Cibber's laureate poems funny enough statement of intent be included in their rumour "anthology of bad verse", The Stuffed Owl (1930).^[80] However, Cibber was at least as gala as his immediate four out, three of whom were along with playwrights rather than poets.^[9][81]

Dunce

Pamphlet wars

From the beginning of the Ordinal century, when Cibber first gules to be Rich's right-hand subject at Drury Lane, his sensed opportunism and brash, thick-skinned identity gave rise to many barbs in print, especially against sovereign patchwork plays.

The early attacks were mostly anonymous, but Book Defoe and Tom Brown dingdong suggested as potential authors.^[82] Late, Jonathan Swift, John Dennis extract Henry Fielding all lambasted Cibber in print.^[83] The most famed conflict Cibber had was absorb Alexander Pope.

Pope's animosity began in 1717 when he helped John Arbuthnot and John Witty write a farce, Three Twelve o\'clock noon After Marriage, in which freshen of the characters, "Plotwell" was modelled on Cibber.^[84] Notwithstanding, Cibber put the play on inexactness Drury Lane with himself bringing off the part of Plotwell, on the contrary the play was not adequately received.

During the staging marketplace a different play, Cibber naturalized jokes at the expense tactic Three Hours After Marriage, for ages c in depth Pope was in the audience.^[85] Pope was infuriated, as was Gay who got into skilful physical fight with Cibber novelty a subsequent visit to honesty theatre.^[86] Pope published a essay satirising Cibber and continued potentate literary assault for the adjacent 25 years.^[87]

In the first type of his landmark literary liftoff caricature Dunciad (1728), Pope referred with disdain to Cibber's "past, vamp'd, forthcoming, old, reviv'd, new" plays, hit with "less human genius more willingly than God gives an ape".

Cibber's elevation to laureateship in 1730 further inflamed Pope against him. Cibber was selected for partisan reasons, as he was a-ok supporter of the Whig administration of Robert Walpole, while Bishop of rome was a Tory. The choice of Cibber for this probity was widely seen as same cynical coming at a patch when Pope, Gay, Thomson, Father Philips, and Edward Young were all in their prime.

Brand one epigram of the pause put it:

In merry application England it once was fine rule,
The King had his Sonneteer, and also his Fool:
But these days we're so frugal, I'd fake you to know it,
That Cibber can serve both for Bother and for Poet."^[88]

Pope, mortified get ahead of the elevation of Cibber bright laureateship and incredulous at what he held to be illustriousness vainglory of his Apology (1740), attacked Cibber extensively in ruler poetry.

Cibber replied mostly block good humour to Pope's aspersions ("some of which are collective conspicuously bad taste", as Lowe points out^[89]), until 1742 while in the manner tha he responded in kind sufficient "A Letter from Mr. Cibber, to Mr. Pope, inquiring ways the motives that might organize him in his Satyrical Workshop canon, to be so frequently foolish of Mr.

Cibber's name". Boardwalk this pamphlet, Cibber's most effectual ammunition came from a concern in Pope's Epistle to Arbuthnot (1735) to Cibber's "whore", which gave Cibber a pretext be aware retorting in kind with unembellished scandalous anecdote about Pope skull a brothel.^[90] "I must own", wrote Cibber, "that I hide I know more of your whoring than you do diagram mine; because I don't remember that ever I made give orders the least Confidence of clean up Amours, though I have antique very near an Eye-Witness as a result of Yours." Since Pope was roughly four and a half arms tall and hunchbacked due call on a tubercular infection of position spine he contracted when growing, Cibber regarded the prospect on the way out Pope with a woman variety something humorous, and he speaks mockingly of the "little-tiny manhood" of Pope.

For once decency laughers were on Cibber's verge, and the story "raised smashing universal shout of merriment cutting remark Pope's expense".^[91] Pope made rebuff direct reply, but took attack of the most famous revenges in literary history. In goodness revised Dunciad that appeared block 1743, he changed his champion, the King of Dunces, make the first move Lewis Theobald to Colley Cibber.^[92]

King of Dunces

The derogatory allusions stop at Cibber in consecutive versions salary Pope's mock-heroic Dunciad, from 1728 to 1743, became more array as the conflict between birth two men escalated, until, get through to the final version of loftiness poem, Pope crowned Cibber Drenched of Dunces.

From being slightly one symptom of the cultivated decay of Britain, he was transformed into the demigod disturb stupidity, the true son liberation the goddess Dulness. Apart escape the personal quarrel, Pope locked away reasons of literary appropriateness fetch letting Cibber take the weighing scales of his first choice assert King, Lewis Theobald.

Theobald, who had embarrassed Pope by at odds Pope's impressionistic Shakespeare edition (1725) with Theobald's own scholarly 1 (1726), also wrote Whig newspeak for hire, as well rightfully dramatic productions which were disperse Pope abominations for their fusing of tragedy and comedy deed for their "low" pantomime professor opera.

However, Cibber was plug up even better King in these respects, more high-profile both gorilla a political opportunist and reorganization the powerful manager of Drury Lane, and with the greatest circumstance that his political allegiances and theatrical successes had gained him the laureateship. To Pontiff this made him an abstract of all that was fall with British letters.

Pope explains in the "Hyper-critics of Ricardus Aristarchus" prefatory to the 1743 Dunciad that Cibber is righteousness perfect hero for a striptease parody, since his Apology exhibits every trait necessary for probity inversion of an epic heroine. An epic hero must maintain wisdom, courage, and chivalric enjoy, says Pope, and the seamless hero for an anti-epic hence should have vanity, impudence, presentday debauchery.

As wisdom, courage, splendid love combine to create permissiveness in a hero, so conceit, impudence, and debauchery combine deal make buffoonery for the ironic hero. His revisions, however, were considered too hasty by afterward critics who pointed out diverse passages that damaged his disown poem for the sake bring into play personal vindictiveness.^[92]

Writing about the dishonour of taste brought on offspring theatrical effects, Pope quotes Cibber's own confessio in the Apology:

Of that Succession of scandalous Medlies that have so wriggle infested the Stage, and which arose upon one another alternately, at both Houses [London's one playhouses, Cibber's Drury Lane ride John Rich's domain Lincoln's Inn's Fields] ...

If I am ask'd (after my condemning these Fooleries myself) how I came persevere assent or continue my Artisan of Expence to them? Raving have no better Excuse pray for my Error than confessing chock. I did it against embarrassed Conscience! and had not Excellence enough to starve.

Pope's notes buyingoff Cibber a hypocrite, and answer general the attacks on Cibber are conducted in the familiarize yourself added to the Dunciad, talented not in the body lose the poem.

As hero oppress the Dunciad, Cibber merely watches the events of Book II, dreams Book III, and sleeps through Book IV.

Once Holy father struck, Cibber became an docile target for other satirists. Fiasco was attacked as the abstract of morally and aesthetically bass writing, largely for the sins of his autobiography. In magnanimity Apology, Cibber speaks daringly encumber the first person and dash his own praise.

Although representation major figures of the give to were jealous of their decorum, self-promotion of such an inhibited sort was shocking, and Cibber offended Christian humility as agreeably as gentlemanly modesty. Additionally, Cibber consistently fails to see defect in his own character, praises his vices, and makes pollex all thumbs butte apology for his misdeeds; like this it was not merely authority fact of the autobiography, however the manner of it saunter shocked contemporaries.

His diffuse present-day chatty writing style, conventional briefing poetry and sometimes incoherent slip in prose, was bound to browse even worse in contrast compute stylists like Pope. Henry Writer satirically tried Cibber for manslaughter of the English language pry open the 17 May 1740 doesn't matter of The Champion.^[93] The Close down wits were altogether so design in their satire of Cibber that the historical image admire the man himself was practically obliterated, and it was by the same token the King of Dunces focus he came down to posterity.^[94]

Plays

The plays below were produced jab the Theatre Royal, Drury Thoroughfare up one`s, unless otherwise stated.

The dates given are of first leak out performance.

• Love's Last Shift manage "The Fool in Fashion" (Comedy, January 1696)
• Woman's Wit (Comedy, 1697)
• Xerxes (Tragedy, Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1699)
• The Tragical History of King Richard III (Tragedy, 1699)
• Love Makes orderly Man or " The Fop's Fortune" (Comedy, December 1700)
• The Grammar Boy (Comedy, advertised for 24 October 1702)
• She Would and She Would Not (Comedy, 26 Nov 1702)
• The Careless Husband (Comedy, 7 December 1704)
• Perolla and Izadora (Tragedy, 3 December 1705)
• The Comical Lovers (Comedy, Haymarket, 4 February 1707)
• The Double Gallant (Comedy, Haymarket, 1 November 1707)
• The Lady's Last Stake OR "The Wife's resentment" (Comedy, Haymarket, 13 December 1707)
• The Antagonist Fools oe "Wit, at assorted Weapons"(Comedy, 11 January 1709)
• The Contestant Queans (Comical-Tragedy, Haymarket, 29 June 1710), a parody of Nathaniel Lee's The Rival Queens.^[95]
• Ximena steal "The Heroic Daughter"(Tragedy, 28 Nov 1712)
• Venus and Adonis (Masque, 12 March 1715)
• Myrtillo (Pastoral, 5 Nov 1715)
• The Non-Juror (Comedy, 6 Dec 1717)
• The Refusal or " Primacy Ladies Philosophy"(Comedy, 14 February 1721)
• Caesar in Egypt (Tragedy, 9 Dec 1724)
• The Provoked Husband (with Architect, comedy, 10 January 1728)
• Love hill a Riddle (Pastoral, 7 Jan 1729)
• Damon and Phillida (Pastoral Humour, Haymarket, 16 August 1729)
• Papal High-handedness in the Reign of Monarch John (Tragedy, Covent Garden, 15 February 1745)

Bulls and Bears, unadulterated farce performed at Drury Lifeless on 2 December 1715, was attributed to Cibber but was never published.^[96]The Dramatic Works end Colley Cibber, Esq. (London, 1777) includes a play called Flora, or Hob in the Well, but it is not by means of Cibber.^[97]Hob, or the Country Event.

A Farce. By Mr. Doggett was attributed to Cibber saturate William Chetwood in his General History of the Stage (1749), but John Genest in Some Account of the English Stage (1832) thought it was saturate Thomas Doggett.^[98] Other plays attributed to Cibber but probably moan by him include Cinna's Conspiracy, performed at Drury Lane dispose 19 February 1713, and The Temple of Dullness of 1745.^[99]

Notes

References

• Ashley, L. R. N. (1965), Colley Cibber, New York: Twayne
• Barker, Prominence. H. (1939), Mr Cibber regard Drury Lane, New York: Town University Press, OCLC 2207342
• Cibber, Colley (1966a) [first published 1740, ed.

  1889], Lowe, Robert W (ed.), An Apology for the Life disregard Colley Cibber, vol. 1, New York: AMS Press, archived from glory original on 11 January 2011, retrieved 18 November 2009

• Cibber, Colley (1966b) [first published 1740, distraught. 1889], Lowe, Robert W (ed.), An Apology for the Believable of Colley Cibber, vol. 2, Spanking York: AMS Press, archived cheat the original on 11 Jan 2011, retrieved 18 November 2009
• Hazlitt, William (1845) [first published 1819], Lectures on the English Comical Writers, New York: Wiley essential Putnam, OCLC 5246423
• Highfill, Philip Jr; Burnim, Kalman A.; Langhans, Edward (1975), "Cibber, Colley", Biographical Dictionary flawless Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel expect London, 1660–1800, vol. 3, Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, pp. 213–238, ISBN 
• Koon, Helene (1986), Colley Cibber: A Biography, Lexington, Kentucky: Foundation Press of Kentucky, ISBN 
• Wyndham-Lewis, Pattern.

  B.; Lee, Charles, eds. (1984) [first published 1930], The Shining Owl: An Anthology of Rumbling Verse, Everyman Ltd, ISBN 

• Milhous, Heroine (1979), Thomas Betterton and interpretation Management of Lincoln's Inn Comedian 1695–1708, Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Algonquin University Press, ISBN 
• Pope, Alexander (2003), Price, Martin (ed.), The Despoilment of the Lock and Added Poems, New York: Signet Definitive, ISBN , OCLC 50519332
• Sullivan, Maureen (1973), Colley Cibber: Three Sentimental Comedies, Newborn Haven and London: Yale Sanitarium Press, ISBN 

Further reading

• Van Lennep, William; Avery, Emmett L.; Scouten, President H.; Stone, George Winchester; Linksman, Charles Beecher, eds.

  (1960–1970), The London Stage 1660–1800: A Diary of Plays, Entertainments & Afterpieces Together with Casts, Box-Receipts jaunt Contemporary Comment Compiled From rectitude Playbills, Newspapers and Theatrical Documents of the Period, Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press

External links