Thomas Otway is one of the most brilliant--and one of the most disturbed-of Restoration playwrights. His two most popular tragedies, The Orphan and Venice Preserved, held the boards for a century and ...
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In this essay, Ham considers the early plays of Thomas Otway and Nathaniel Lee, when each experimented with heroic drama before moving on to other forms.
Pouring forth Tears at such a lavish rate, ...
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In this essay, Jason proposes that the working relationship between Thomas Otway and the actor Thomas Betterton influenced the writing of Otway's successful Don Carlos.
Human destinies are o...
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In the following essay, Hume rejects scholarly opinion that Otway's comedies are badly written and profane, arguing that they are in no way more risqué than those of his contemporaries. ...
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In the following essay, Warner interprets Otway's writings as responses to the political unrest in Restoration England.
We have seen that there was a good deal of interest in the personal de...
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In the following essay, Kelsall probes the texts that influenced Venice Preserv'd, considers its relation to the political intrigue and environment in the latter half of the seventeenth century...
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In the following essay, Rogers argues that Venice Preserv'd is one of the only plays of the period that realistically balances the values and motivations of its male and female characters.
T...
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In the following essay, Munns shows how Otway portrays authority figures as repressive tyrants, focusing especially on The History and Fall of Caius Marius.
Thomas Otway's sixth play, The Hi...
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In the following essay, Hume finds in all Otway's comedies and tragedies the playwright's characteristically pessimistic view of human nature.
Otway is usually thought of as a Tory lo...
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In the following essay, Munns speculates on who Daredevil is supposed to represent in The Atheist, concluding that is most likely Otway's early patron, the Earl of Rochester.
The role of Dar...
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In the following essay, Munns asserts that the Exclusion Crisis, coupled with Otway's own need for artistic patronage, led him to compose The Poet's Complaint, an ode that gives qualifie...
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In the following essay, Morgan-Russell discusses public and private spaces in The Souldiers Fortune, concluding that the plot, which concerns adultery, is meant to offer political lessons.
The subj...
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In the following essay, Leissner enlists twentieth-century psychoanalytical theory to offer fresh interpretations of Otway's reaction to political and social tension in late seventeenth-century...
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In the following excerpt, Hagstrum discusses satire and pathos in Otway's comedies and tragedies.
Thomas Otway fully deserves the reputation he possessed for over a century following his dea...
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In the following excerpts, Lund-Baer argues that The Orphan cannot be understood without a grounding in contemporary events and social trends and that the play's thematic concerns were creative...
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Thomas Otway
Critical Essay by Roswell Gray Ham
