1705


 * England in 1705**

**Events that took place in 1705**

In 1705 the following events were happening in England. The monarchy was lead by Queen Anne. She was the niece of Charles II, who had no children. Under her reign the England and Scotland joined and became the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1705,The Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar was fought during the War of the Spanish Succession. England, the Netherlands, Pro-Habsburg Spain, and Portugal were all allies and their goal was to prevent the unification of the French and the Spanish Thrones. At the beginning of the Siege Gibralter had about 2000 English and Dutch troops facing almost 8000 French and Spanish troops. Although they were short of man power and ammunition, the English and Dutch did a great job in defending themselves by exploiting Gibralters geography. There were three naval battles fought during the Siege of Gibraltar and two of them were losses for the French. The French and spanish lost about 10,000 men over all while the english lost only 400. It ended in May of 1705. The England naval force was lead by Charles Mordaunt who was the 3rd Earl of Perterborough. They battled and captured Barcelona. At the end of 1705 The Sophia Naturalization act was passed by Parliament. This naturalized Sophia of Hanover. Besides the Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar many other events happened in 1705 including the fact that Isaac Newton was knighted by Queen Anne on April 16th and became Sir. Isaac Newton. He was the greatest scientist ever of his era and he discovered gravity. In December of 1705 The Sophia Naturalization Act was passed by Parliament. Sophia the Duchess Dowager of Hanover was not considered to be an Englishwoman because she wasn’t born in England. Sophia was the granddaughter of James I of England and she would be in line for the t hrone had it not been for the question of her citizenship. The Sophia Naturalization Act naturalized Sophia of Hanover and her son George I later on became king.




 * Events that took place with English Theatre in 1705 **

Although the Restoration was a time when people were glad to have the theatre back in England, their was a a lot of intense rivalry amongst the London actors. The United Company was a merger between the Kings Company and the Dukes Company. They consisted of the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, and Duke’s Dorset Gardens Theatre. Many actors and playwrights felt limited with the United Companies monopoly of English theater and strict management. John Vanbrugh acquired a former stable yard in 1703 and began the construction of a new theatre on the Haymarket. He had plans for this new theatre to improve the share of profits that would go to the actors and playwrights. Vanbrugh was joined by William Congreve and actors that were lead by Thomas Betterton. This theater would break the monopoly and provide a alternative to Drury Lane and Dorset Gardens. Vanbrugh and Congreve got permission from Queen Anne to form a Company of Comedians in 1704. And in April 1705 they officially opened the theatre as The Queen’s Theatre. They started off by bringing in an Italian opera singer to perform the theaters first opera, The Loves of Ergasto. This was the first Italian opera that was performed in London and it failed. The entire first season was a failure due to problems like the theatre being to loud for actors voices to carry across the auditorium and the quality of the plays and operas that were being performed. On October 30th, Vanbrugh put on the Confederacy a play that was adapted from the French, and had it performed at this new Theatre. And later on in December he debuted The Mistake, which was also a revival of a French play.

**A Legacy for the Ladies or Characters of the Women of the Age**

The journal I read is called A Legacy for the Ladies or Characters of the Women of the Age and it was made in 1705 by Mr. Thomas Brown. This journal has a lot of themes in common with the play A Careless Husband because it goes in to detail of how a woman of the eighteenth century carries herself. The following journal entires caught my interest: The character of a Model Woman (pg 9).To Summarize this journal entry talks about the the duties of honor that certain woman behold. All the actions of women must be accompanied with Decency. Brown talks about the fact that a model woman must live with perfection. That women's younger years must be lived in youthful innocence and virtue while their older years must by endowed with purity and wisdom. The Character of a good House Wife (pg 50) caught my interest because it talked about the fact that Men will inevitably make mistakes and fall into error. That although the man is the head of the household it is a good house wives responsibility to keep the order of the house together. Brown mentions that all men will fall into the pleasures of life and stray on their wives. A good house wife will forgive her husbands and keep the family together despite her feelings of betrayal. This is exactly what Lady Easy does in The Careless Husband. She puts her marriage over her feelings of betrayal and she forgives her husband in the end for his infidelity. The Character of a Pretended Godly woman (pg 16) talked about how fake devotion is the most dangerous of all crimes. Brown mentions that woman most of all are guilty of pretending to be wholesome, religious, and virtuous. This is because women value themselves off of Pride and Self Love. The typical pretend godly woman is more than likely to scheme to get her way and put up a facade in public. Brown warns against becoming this type of woman because it can never end well and tarnish ones reputation. The Character of a Quiet Woman (pg 72) encourages women to seek peace in their lives. That women who live by this find happiness and comfort. When a woman seeks a quiet life that the gift of peace will make it so no outward things will influence and act within her. All the fear and desire that one feels will be combated with peace and seize to exist. A quiet woman is always truthful, respectful, and stays away from scandal and gossip. The Character of a Religious Woman (pg 25) is one of the strictest roles to take on. Browns says that a Religious woman aught to know her Religion in and out, that she is to perform her duties diligently. She must never fall into the practices of rakes and libertines, and not fall into the same category as liars and bigots. Women who live their lives by faith will surly be lead by the “Way, the Truth, and the Life”. These women must have a heart filled with charity and always be willing to help others. Playwright and Actor Colley Cibber as Lord Foppington in The Careless Husband

The Careless H usband

The Careless Husband is one of the Plays that debuted in 1705. This play does not address or speak about the War of Spanish Succession, but it does have many characteristics of Restoration Drama. This is a easy going comedy by Colley Cibber. It was first presented before London audiences at Drury Lane. This play is about Sir Charles Easy who is a husband who who cheats on his wife frequently. He is a typical Rake who will take up with kind of woman, rich or poor, high ranking, or low ranking. Sir Charles Easy’s name is linked very much to his personality. He is as easy going as they come, he has a calm, relaxed, and carefree personality. His first name Charles could quite possibly be linked to Charles II due to their similar ways of womanizing and seducing. Through out this play Sir Charles goes about his rakish ways and even going as far as to seduce the house servants. He takes his wife for granted and does not realize how wonderful of a woman she is until the towards the end. The big moment in this play is called the “Steinkirk scene”. I was able to find out that a steinkirk is a loosely tied lace collar or scarf. It was named after the way the officers wore their cravats at the Battle of Steenkirk in 1692. This is when Lady Easy walks in on her husband and a maidservant asleep together in a chair. This is a big deal because it insinuates that they were intimate and it concludes that Sir Easy was having a adulterou s relationship with that maid. Lady Easy see’s that her husbands periwig has fallen off while he slept and she assumed he would catch a cold. She acted with tact as she takes a steinkirk off her neck and laid it on his head, so he wouldn't catch a cold. Lady Easy also did this because she wanted her husband to wake up and see the steinkirk and realize that she had caught him, but did not say anything. When Sir Charles woke up he noticed that his wife had put the steinkirk on his head and he was astonished and amazed that she did not wake him up and make a scene over the fact that he was sleeping with a servant. Through this scene and this act, Sir Charles is able to see how much his wife truly loves him and how amazing she really is. And he also realizes how badly he has been to her. They reconcile and are happy at the end. Lady Easy placing a steinkirk on Sir Charles head while she catches him sleeping with a maidservant


 * Works Cited**
 * Brown, Thomas. "Characters of the Woman of Age." A Legacy for the Ladies 1 (1705): Eighteenth Century Journals Online. 9,25,16,50,72.**


 * "Full text of "The careless husband: A comedy. Written by C. Cibber"." Full text of "The careless husband: A comedy. Written by C. Cibber". N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2014. .**


 * "Stuart - Sophia of Hanover." Stuart - Sophia of Hanover. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2014. .**


 * "The Great Siege of Gibraltar." - The Keep Military Museum, Dorchester, Dorset. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2014. .**