1700


 * A Look at Europe in 1700 **

//December 21, 1699//- a report from Rome describes the end of 1699. A two-day celebration has taken place in the city, following the coronation of Pope Clement XI. With Ambassadors from around Europe, including France and Venice, the new Pope has decided to revoked the //Freedom of Quarters//, resulting in the arrests of three criminals taking refuge in the Spanish, French, and Polish houses. He has also disposed of several vacant offices, and appointed a number of new secretaries. As time passes, the Pope is forced to deal with advances by the King of Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor. Both leaders are interested in are interested in acquiring the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily. As the head of the Church the Pope remains in control of these territories and is determined to retain rule over them. //February 1700,// Out of Warsaw, news of the beginning of the Great Northern War comes in. Charles XII, King of Sweden, is a fifteen year-old king, who must defend his kingdom from Russian invasion. With a force of 8,000 swedes, the King uses his military knowledge to defeat Peter the Great and his force of 23,000 Russian soldiers. Charles is spending time in Poland building up a firm military base there before his planned invasion of Russia. Charles courted anti-Saxon and anti-Russian Polish nobles for their support. In addition to threats against Naples and Sicily, a January report out of Rome expresses the Popes concerns about French forces entering Milan. Under the control of Louis XIV, the French army looks to take control of a weak Italian state. Fearing the French will not just stop at Milan, the Pope sends money to aid Mantua. Venice borrows 40,000 Ducats to reinforce their territory’s protection. With much of the focus on Italy during this year, one hears little about Great Britain until August. On the 18th of August Charles XII and his allies England and the Netherlands begin an attack on Russia. Russia is attempting to gain control of a warm water seaport in order to increase trade capabilities. On November 30, Charles XII defeats the Russians at the Battle of Narva. On the same day, Turkey declares war on Russia. Italy continues to deal with foreign countries attempting to invade and control the still un-united country.

Between 1660 and 1700 several new theatres were constructed in London. Due to the Great Fire of London, some burned down. Many of the remaining stages proved to be unsatisfactory. By 1700 only three theatres remained in regular use: Lincoln Inn Fields, Dorset Garden, and Drury Lane.

// Lincoln Inn Fields // - Opened in 1661, this playhouse passed through several ownerships, landing in the possession of Thomas Betterton at the beginning of the 18th century. A relatively small theatre, The Lincoln Inn had only a single gallery, whereas most of the larger theatres had two. In 1705, Betterton’s company moved into the larger Queen’s theatre in the Haymarket. And, by September 1708, the building was advertised to be used as a tennis court or for any other nontheatrical purpose.

// Dorset Garden // - this playhouse opened in 1671 under the same management as Drury Lane. According to //The London Stage//, the theatre occasionally offered operas and concerts after the opening of the 18th century, but rarely presented plays. On June 1, 1709 the //Daily Courant// reported that the playhouse “at Dorset-Stairs is now pulling down”(London Stage xxiv).

// Drury Lane // - a playhouse that is still open today, was the second in the historic line bearing the most famous name in English theatrical annals. According to Cibber, the co-manager of the theatre, Drury Lane was a model theatre. By 1700, though, the original excellence of the playhouse ha been modified by remodeling to increase the capacity of the pit and boxes. There is, however, no detailed account that clarifies the capacity of Drury Lane after these alterations. Drury Lane, under the management of Christopher Rich, was the most popular theatre in London at the start of the eighteenth century.

Records of the Theatre Season begin in September of 1700. With plays like //The Perjured Husband// and //The Plain Dealer//, the year was fairly busy. Drury Lane hosted many of the shows including //Love at a Loss// and //The London Cuckolds//. However, it was Lincoln Inn Fields who put on the more popular of these plays. Shakespeare’s Henry VIII was performed there in November 1700. And, one of the most influential plays, William Congreve’s //The Way of the World,// premiered at Lincoln’s Inn in 1700.

Catharine Trotter’s //Love at a Loss//, was first performed at the Drury Lane theatre on Saturday, November 23, 1700. An unsuccessful play when performed, //Love at a Loss// is still considered important today for its “uncharacteristic exploration of social comedy’s familiar marriage plot from the perspective of the play’s female characters” (Restoration and Early Eighteenth-Century Drama 591). It is a play similar to the greats of its time, focusing on the issues of married couples, and the various ways in which plots are discovered and, in effect, resolved. According to our class book, many of the central characters were played actors Drury Lane audiences expected to see. However, despite these actors and actresses, and Trotter’s use of conventional plot devices, //Love at a Loss// avoids the “usual trajectory of social comedy, which tacitly approves both trickster men who marry for land…and the women who marry them over the objections of their obstructing guardians” (591). This play, instead, focuses on the institution of marriage and the occurrence of happy marriage. By the end of the play, Lesbia has a husband chosen for her, which whom she must accept to protect her honor. This, however, is something she is not happy about because she loves Grandfoy. As a result, the play ends with and unhappy marriage, that “upsets the conventional endings of social comedy” (591). It carries a message critiquing the institution of marriage and its restrictions on women.

In my research, I found very little connection between the periodicals and the theatre. //The London Gazette// in 1700 was more concerned with abroad affairs than occurrences back home. The new Pope Clement XI was dealing with invasions from both the North and South of Italy. While, The Russians and Swedish were declare a war which would last over two decades. Although England played a small role in the Great Northern War, little was reported about the country in 1700. Perhaps that explains the lack of non-convetional plays in London at the time. Although Trotter focused on a different aspect of social comedy, the subject of marriage was still being examined. England, it seems, was fairly isolated from the rest of Europe at this time period, and I think because of that there were no plays about the battles that were taking place elsewhere.

___

Works Cited

//The London Stage, 1660-1800, Part 2,1700-1729:// ‪//A Calendar of Plays, Entertainment and Afterpieces Together with Casts, Box-Reciepts and Contemporary Comment//. Ed. Emmet L. Avery. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois UP, 1965. Print.

Trotter, Catharine. "Love at a Loss." //The Broadview Anthology of Restoration & Early Eighteenth-Century Drama Concise Edition//. Toronto: Access Copyright, 2003. 591-636. Print.

Muddiman, Henry, ed. //The London Gazette// 1700, 199-210. //17th and 18th Century// // Burney Collection Newspapers //. Web. 20 July 2012.