Susannah Centlivre, The Gamester

Laura Favero Carraro (Università degli Studi di Padova)

Ed. by Janet Todd, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1705

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Comedy
Play

Resources

The Gamester, first staged at Lincoln Inn Fields in January 1705 and then chosen for the opening of the new Queen's Theatre at Haymarket on April 27, was Susanna Centlivre's fifth play but first popular success. It established her as “the Author of the Gamester”, a literary identity she continued to use before her great success with The Busie Body (1709). Centlivre's story of the prospective buyer who threw away the copy of The Gamester he was purchasing when learning it had been written by a woman, told in her dedication to The Platonick Lady (1706), explains why she preferred anonymity. Frequently she complained about contemporary prejudices against women's manifestations of learning, as in her …

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1696 words

Citation: Carraro, Laura Favero. "The Gamester". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 October 2002 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=757, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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