The Beaux-Stratagem | Page 3

but they have no bitter cynicism, no meanness; Aimwell refuses
to marry Dorinda under any deception. They thoroughly good fellows
at bottom, manly, accomplished his spirited, eloquent, generous--the
forerunners of Charles Surfor. Marriage retrieves them and turns them
into respectable and adoring husbands. Though rattle-brained, much
given to gallantry, and somewhat lax in morality, they are not knaves or
monsters; they do not inspire disgust. Even the lumpish blockhead,
Squire Sullen--according to Macaulay a type of the main strength of the

Tory party for half a century after the Revolution--contrasts favourably
with his prototype Sir John Brute in Vanbrugh's Provoked Wife, He is a
sodden sot, who always goes to bed drunk, but he is not a demon; he
does not beat his wife in public; he observes common decency
somewhat. His wife is a witty, attractive, warm-hearted woman, whose
faults are transparent; the chief one being that she has made the fatal
mistake of marrying for fortune and position instead of for love. There
is something pathetic in her position which claims our sympathy. She is
well contrasted with her sister-in-law, the sincere, though somewhat
weakly drawn, Dorinda; whilst their mother-in-law, Lady Bountiful,
famed for her charity, is an amusing and gracious figure, which has
often been copied. Cherry, with her honest heart and her quickness of
perception, is also a distinct creation. Strange to say, the only badly
drawn character is Foigard, the unscrupulous Irish Jesuit priest.
Farquhar is fond of introducing an Irishman into each of his plays, but I
cannot say that I think he is generally successful; certainly not in this
instance. They are mostly broad caricatures, and speak an outlandish
jargon, more like Welsh than Irish, supposed to be the Ulster dialect:
anything more unlike it would be difficult to conceive. The early
conventional stage Irishman, tracing him from Captain. Macmorris in
Henry V.,through Ben Jonson's Irish Masque and New Inn, Dekker's
Bryan, Ford's Mayor of Cork, Shadwell's O'Divelly (probably
Farquhar's model for Foigard), is truly a wondrous savage, chiefly
distinguished by his use of the expletives 'Dear Joy!' and 'By Creesh!'
This character naturally rendered the play somewhat unpopular in
Ireland, and its repulsiveness is unrelieved (as it is in the case of
Teague in The Twin Rivals) by a single touch of humour or native
comicality. It is an outrage.
The First Performance. The Beaux-Stratagem was first performed on
Saturday, 8th March 1707, at the Theatre Royal (or, as it was
sometimes called, the Queen's Theatre), situated in the Haymarket, on
the site afterwards occupied by Her Majesty's Theatre. It ran for ten
nights only, owing to benefits. The cast on that occasion was a strong
one. Robert Wilks (a brother-Irishman), who performed Archer, was
the foremost actor of the day. He was Farquhar's lifelong friend, and
appeared in all his plays, except Love and a Bottle which was produced

in London during Wilks's absence in Dublin. This actor's most famous
part was 'Sir Harry Wildair' (The Constant Couple), which our author
drew on purpose for him, and which ran for fifty-two nights on its first
appearance. Farquhar himself said that when the stage had the
misfortune to lose Wilks, 'Sir Harry Wildair' might go to the Jubilee!
Peg Woffington is said to have been his only rival in this part. Sullen
was the last original character undertaken by Verbruggen, a leading
actor of the time. It was from Verbruggen's wife (probably the 'Mrs.
V------' of Farquhar's letters) that the famous Mrs. Oldfield received her
earliest instructions in acting. The last-named lady was the original Mrs.
Sullen. Her connection with Farquhar is very interesting and romantic.
She resided with her aunt, Mrs. Voss, who kept the Mitre Tavern in St,
James's Market (between Jeryrm Street, Regent Street, and the
Haymarket). One day, when she was aged sixteen, Farquhar, a smart
young captain of twenty-two, happened to be dining there, and he
overheard her reading Beaumont and Fletcher's Scornful Lady aloud
behind the bar. When Farquhar, much struck by her musical delivery
and expression, pressed her to resume her reading, the tall and graceful
girl consented with hesitation and bashfulness; although she afterwards
confessed, 'I longed to be at it, and only needed a decent entreaty.' The
dramatist quickly acquainted Sir John Vanbrugh with the jewel he had
thus accidentally found, and she obtained through him an engagement
at the Theatre Royal as 'Candiope' in Dryden's Secret Love. She soon
became the fine lady of the stage, and was the original representative of
no less than sixty-five characters. Pope disliked and satirised her
severely; on the other hand, Cibber worshipped her. According to some,
Farquhar fell violently in love with her, and she is the 'Penelope' of his
letters; but although she often spoke of the happy hours she spent in his
company, there appears