The Wonder

by Centlivre, Susanna; O'Brien, John

• ISBN13: 9781551114545
• ISBN10: 1551114542
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781770483354
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-01-01
• Publisher: Broadview Pr

Summary

Susanna Centlivres play The Wonder (1714) was one of the most popular works on the eighteenthcenturyEnglish stage. Set in Lisbon, the plot interweaves two romantic intrigues around one secret: the heroine Violante is hiding her best friend, Isabella (who is the sister of her own lover, Don Felix) from Isabellas father, who wishes to marry her off to a rich but decrepit old merchant.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	7	(9)
Introduction	9	(20)
Susanna Centlivre: A Brief Chronology	29	(4)
A Note on the Text	33	(4)
The Wonder	37	(82)
Textual Notes	119	(26)
Appendix A: Contemporary Responses to Centlivre and The Wonder
1. The Tatler	121	(1)
Richard Steele
2. The Lover	121	(1)
Richard Steele
3. A Serious Remonstrance in Behalf of the Christian Religion	121	(3)
Arthur Bedford
Appendix B: Eighteenth-Century Biographical Accounts
1. The Poetical Register	124	(1)
Giles Jacob
2. The Political State of Great Britain	124	(1)
Abel Boyer
3. ``A Complete List of all the English Dramatic Poets''	125	(4)
John Mottley
4. The British Theatre	129	(1)
William Chetwood
Appendix C: Selections from Centlivre's Poetry
1. ``A Poem, Humbly Presented to His most Sacred Majesty George, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland. Upon his Accession to the Throne''	130	(2)
2. ``A Woman's Case''	132	(8)
Appendix D: Early Nineteenth-Century Criticism
1. ``Remarks'' on The Wonder, The British Theatre	140	(1)
Elizabeth Inchbald
2. The Examiner	141	(1)
William Hazlitt
3. ``On the Comic Writers of the Last Century''	142	(3)
William Hazlitt
Works Cited and Recommended Reading	145