Mary+Saunderson+Betterton

H. Samantha Pham ENGL 452: English Drama from 1660 to 1800 Section 0101 Rosenthal Fall 2016 17th-18th Century Performer Research Paper/Project: Mary Saunderson Betterton

One of the first actresses to ever grace the English stage, an originator of over twenty-five original roles (Gilder 157), teacher and mentor of young actresses including fellow Restoration actress Anne Bracegirdle (Gilder 159) princesses Mary and Anne of James II (Gilder 155), and, a key factor and role throughout her theatre career and life, wife to the even more famous and best considered actor of the Restoration, William Betterton (Cibber 115, Gilder 155, Highfill et al 97, Hook 291, and Stokes 22), Mary Saunderson Betterton, while considered one of the first and greatest English actresses to ever grace the Restoration stage, is also identified, especially in union with her husband, as exceptions to the unstable and turbulent theatrical period of the Restoration, Rosamund Gilder in //Enter the Actress: The First Women in Theatre// citing them as “[representing] qualities not usually associated with the Restoration stage, stability, devotion, and fidelity” (Gilder 155). In addition to said stability and longevity in Restoration theatre, notwithstanding her great dramatic, operatic, and theatric talents even in comparison to her husband’s reputed greater skills, Mrs. Betterton has also been noted, both historically (Highfill et al 98 and Cibber 176) and academically (Stokes 22 and Rosenthal 6), as having led a virtuous, upright life—a respect and luxury most other Restoration actresses were not privy to. On this page, you will find a description, discussion, and account of Mary Saunderson Betterton’s performance and history on the Restoration stage from approximately 1661 to 1694 and how factors like her virtuous reputation, marriage, flair for teaching, and general theatrical and acting skills factored into it all.
 * __ Introduction __**


 * __ Theatrical Roles and History __**

With a recorded career spanning over three decades on and off of the Restoration stage (not to mention all the revivals and roles that went unpublished), it is no wonder that Mary Saunderson Betterton (hereafter simply referred to as “Mrs. Betterton”) is considered of the better as well as one of the first English actresses during the Restoration with some records and hints of having a hand in the reputation and acting career of several other prominent Restoration actresses as well (such as Anne Bracegirdle, as noted above (Gilder 159), others unnamed (Cibber 176), and even young up-and-coming rival Elizabeth Barry (Stokes 26)). Before marrying her famous husband and becoming said lauded actress-mentor extraordinaire, Mary Saunderson is said to come from “humble” (Highfill et al 96) origins even as they are speculated to be more respectable in academic sources (Stokes 24), born about 1637 (Highfill et al 96) with an adolescence steeped in Commonwealth values before the return of Charles II and her own theatrical career began when Mrs. Betterton (then simply Mrs. Saunderson) “came under the influence of D’Avenant and began her stage career in his “moral representations” and early operas” (Gilder 151). Some early roles we have records of include taking over a part from Elizabeth Davenport (the first of several important roles she took over from Davenport, according to Samuel Pepys (117)) in //The Bondsman// in 1662 and the role she was to become famous for, the virtuous Ianthe of Sicily in D’Avenant’s //The Siege of Rhodes// as performed in its full theatrical glory in 1661 and beyond after masquerading as an opera during the Interregnum. From there, opposite her even then talented and well-used future husband Thomas Betterton, Mrs. Betterton played the lead in D’Avenant’s Shakespearean adaptations, playing the first female Ophelia of //Hamlet//, Juliet of //Romeo and Juliet//, Miranda of //The Tempest//, Lady Macbeth of //Macbeth//, and Queen Katharine of //Henry VIII// (Gilder 154) not to mention the countless others we have no record of and D’Avenant surely used her for (Cibber noting the commendation and importance these roles and their repetition carried, 177). Although particularly noted for her virtuous Ianthe role for whom Mrs. Betterton is discussed academically as creating the virtuous feminine character archetype upon the Restoration stage (Hook 291) to the point of such roles she originated having been written to fit that archetype (Hook 294-295) and subverting the usual Restoration actress “whore” generality and norm in that sense (Stokes 22-23 and Rosenthal 6), Mrs. Betterton is also noted for her diversity and immense theatrical abilities and skillset that even rivaled her husband’s (Mrs. Betterton reputedly being a lovely dancer while Thomas Betterton’s one flaw noted as an inability to dance (Gilder 158)) as seen in her range of reputed and well-acted roles. Cibber in particular notes that Elizabeth Barry, considered one of the greatest if not the greatest actress of the Restoration, “could not in that part, with all her superior strength, and melody of voice, throw out those quick and careless strokes of terror, which [Mrs. Betterton] gave us, with a facility in her manner, that rendered them at once tremendous and delightful” (174-177) and Pepys, another big fan of both Bettertons, noted how “the eldest [Anne] Marshall did do her part most excellently well as I ever heard woman in my life; but her voice was not so sweet as [Mrs. Betterton’s]” (156). Beyond the praises of her fans, however, Mrs. Betterton’s skill in the theatrical arts speaks for itself not only in how she not only dominated and led as lead actress of D’Avenant’s company until well past her supposed prime but the variety and diversity of roles she both originated and performed well during that period. Although Lady Macbeth and the Duchess of Malfi (of the eponymous play) were her supposed best creations and works (Gilder 156) as well as the Shakespearean heroines she originated (as discussed above), her skill is seen in the immense pressure and expectation put upon her as one of the leading if not the leading actress of her company (“In those spirited times repertory meant a change of bill every four or five days…It was therefore necessary for a leading actress like Mrs. Betterton to have innumerable parts word-perfect and to be able to memorise a new role in a few days’ time. When we read the ponderous and long-winded tragedies of the day, we are filled with admiration for the actress who could memorise these turgid lines and carry them off with such effect as to move her audiences” Gilder 156-157) as well as the range of roles and genres that she acted in and across from Shakespearean tragedy to comedy of manners to Aphra Behn and D’Avenant’s operas, all performed admirably and making the stage and genres themselves better for it through the sixty or so (with undoubtedly more roles, revivals, and plays that we have no record of, Gilder 156) different roles she performed in her over thirty year long career, as we can envision to the best of our imaginations (Highfill et al 97-98). It was that same reputed and well-loved skill (Highfill et al 97) that kept her one of the leading actresses of the company even when Colley Cibber entered in 1690 (Cibber 87) and earned her the career that lasted much longer than her contemporaries and even competing with younger up-and-coming actresses when they appeared on the scene (Cibber 198 and Gilder 159). Her last recorded role is a lead in John Dryden’s last play //Love Triumphant// with “the remaining members of the old group [rallying] round her at her exit” (Gilder 159) because “she had outlasted all the other actresses of the original group and outlived many of her famous contemporaries” (Gilder 159) to the point that “many of the old players, men and women, had died or retired” (Gilder 159). She invariably remained a part of the theatre past her retirement, having made many friends and acquaintances there young and old, dead and alive (Gilder 155), to the point of a performance of //Sir Fopling Flutter// being “given by the Drury Lane Company, for the benefit of ‘the widow of the late Famous Tragedian, Mr. Betterton.’” (Gilder 162 and Cibber 178) although she did not long outlast her husband whom died in 1710 (by which she was “so strongly affected by that event, as to lose her senses, which were recovered, however, a short time previous to her own decease”, Cibber 178) by more than eighteen months according to Cibber and his source of the //Biographia Britannica// (Cibber 178). Mrs. Betterton left behind a legacy of feminist trailblazing, female actress archetypes (both rules and exceptions), and acting standards by which all the following female actresses had to live up to but also young Restoration actresses made better, more famous, and happy for her care and attention towards them.
 * Overview **

In addition to the skill she brought to the stage, with it Mrs. Betterton is recorded to have, on several different occasions and with a number of pupils, “a flair for teaching…and an interest in playing foster mother to young actresses” (Highfill et al 97), perhaps influenced with hers and Betterton’s own lack of biological children, having trained other notable Restoration actresses and even bringing them into the Betterton home such as Anne Bracegirdle and Elizabeth Watson to the point of brokering marriage for the young women she mentored (Highfill et al 97) and even instructing Princesses Mary and Anne to the credit of both young girls turned women, “as Queens, of pronouncing speeches in a distinct and clear voice, with sweetness of intonation and grace of enunciation” (Gilder 155). Cibber himself notes how “several good actresses were better for [Mrs. Betterton’s] instruction” (176), and //The Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel of London// notes how “Mary Betterton’s interest in helping others continued long after her own acting career ended, for after the turn of the century her chief function in theatre was training the younger performers” (Highfill et al 97). Mrs. Betterton’s penchant for teaching and taking in young actresses were only a small part as well as a result of the virtuous disposition and character that kept her free from any of the scorn, gossip, or rumors that normally followed the Restoration actresses, many academic scholars (Gilder 151 and 155, Stokes 22, and Rosenthal 6) attributing this unblemished status reported by Colley Cibber (176) among others (Highfill et al 98 and Gilder 171) to her marriage to Thomas Betterton, continually praised by both Colley Cibber (88-122 among others) and Samuel Pepys (42, 65, 68, 70, 74, and more among others) as well as lauded as one of the greatest if not the greatest Restoration actor.
 * Mentoring Younger Actresses **

Mrs. Betterton is noted to be the “striking [exception] to the general run of light-hearted and light-headed ladies who adorned the more spectacular moments of the Restoration stage” (Gilder 150), Gilder going on to describe her and married female actresses like her as “women who devoted their whole existence to the theatre, who lived and breathed and had their being within its bounds, acted an inconceivable number of parts and brought to their profession a hardy devotion which made of them the true mainstays of the stage.” (150) Gilder goes on to note, along with several other scholars on the subject (Stokes 22-23 and Rosenthal 6), that “perhaps the secret of her long and honorable career, her unsullied reputation, and her eminent position in the theatre of her time is that…she was fortunate enough to find the man whom she loved and married not only a devoted and faithful husband, but a leader her own profession. She was not snatched from it...for the temporary solace of some hair-brained lordling, nor was she distracted from her art by the pursuit of adventure on her own account.
 * Marriage to Thomas Betterton and Resulting Reputation **

She appears to have loved and admired her husband inordinately, and though of a quiet and somewhat melancholy disposition, to have been quite content with her lot.” (Gilder 151) Of how her happy and quiet marriage contributed to her theatrical career, Gilder goes on to say “[Mr. and Mrs. Betterton’s] life seems to have been uneventful, like those happy countries that have long known peace. All their interests were centred in the theatre in which they lived and where they worked in partnership for more than thirty years…Their joint careers mirror the whole history of the acting companies during the last quarter of the seventeenth century. They represent qualities not usually associated with the Restoration stage, stability, devotion, and fidelity.” (Gilder 155) Their happiness and reputation for fidelity as well as acting skill went beyond their careers though. Gilder immediately adds to this account, “Yet these virtues did not make them less loved and admired by their contemporaries. They held open house and had many friends.” (155) Thomas Betterton, “the most important theatrical figure of his day” (Gilder 155), “was a man who elicited the most ardent devotion form every one who knew him. He has been called the greatest actor of the English stage and he was without a doubt the leading figure of his day” (Gilder 151) with his wife Mrs. Mary Saunderson Betterton, “though not as outstanding a figure as an actress as [her husband Mr.] Betterton was an actor, had all the versatility and technical equipment which made her an invaluable member of the company.” (Gilder 158) However, it was their partnership and the virtue and skill it birthed that I imagine drove not only their spotless reputations on and off the stage but motivated their actions to take young actresses under their wings (as discussed above, Gilder 159), to stand up against oppression within the theatre, and to become leaders in their profession and respective careers well past their contemporaries. The fantasy and romanticism of the married virtuous Restoration actress, a rarity among the scandal and silliness of those we have record of, is grounded in the reality of both Bettertons’, but especially Mrs. Betterton’s as the woman of the pair, accomplishments and great skill on the stage which, among her immense talent, with the support her husband and friends and all the goodness naturally found and accrued in her marriage and upright environment, is a large part of how I imagine her performing her numerous and well-acted roles in plays to make her a leading Restoration actress and figure whom I can admire and report on even now.

=Works Cited= Cibber, Colley. //An Apology for the Life of Mr. Colley Cibber: Comedian and Patentee of the Theatre Royal//. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 1822. Print. Gilder, Rosamond. //Enter the Actress: The First Woman in the Theatre//. First Edition edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1931. Print. Highfill, Philip H., Kalman A. Burnim, and Edward A. Langhans. //A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800//. Carbondale, Ill: Southern Illinois University Press, 1973. //EBSCOhost//. Web. 21 Nov. 2016. Vol. 2, Belfort to Byzand. Hook, Lucyle. “Shakespeare Improv’d, or A Case for the Affirmative.” //Shakespeare Quarterly// 4.3 (1953): 289–299. //JSTOR//. Web. Pepys, Samuel, and Helen McAfee. //Pepys on the Restoration Stage//. Yale University Press, 1916. Print. Rosenthal, Laura J. “‘COUNTERFEIT SCRUBBADO’: WOMEN ACTORS IN THE RESTORATION.” //The Eighteenth Century// 34.1 (1993): 3–22. Print. Stokes, John. //The Cambridge Companion to the Actress//. Ed. Maggie B. Gale. Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print.