SOURCE: Munns, Jessica. “The Beast of Reason: The Orphan; or, The Unhappy Marriage.” In Restoration Politics and Drama: The Plays of Thomas Otway, 1675-1683, pp. 129-66. Newark, N.J.: University of Delaware Press, 1995.

In the following excerpt, Munns surveys critical interpretations of The Orphan and analyzes the impact of patriarchal power on familial relations and social degeneration in the play.

The Orphan; or, The Unhappy Marriage, first performed at the Duke's Theatre in February or March 1680, stands between Otway's two tragedies set in republican states, Caius Marius and Venice Preserv'd.¹ Its setting—an isolated and initially idyllic country estate—and its subject matter—incest and fratricide—would seem to represent a departure from the earlier and later plays' urban locations and concerns with the nature of authority, and the rights, dues, and obligations of citizens and governors. There are, however, more similarities than differences between these works, not...