The Beaux' Stratagem
Encyclopedia
The Beaux' Stratagem is a comedy by George Farquhar
, first produced at the Haymarket Theatre
, London, in March 1707. In the play, Archer and Aimwell, two young gentlemen who have fallen on hard times, plan to travel through small towns, entrap young heiress
es, steal their money and move on. In the first town, Lichfield
, they set their sights on Dorinda. Aimwell falls truly in love, and comedy ensues. Foigard, a priest and chaplain to the French officer, is actually an Irish priest called MacShane (a sombre version of the stage-Irish stereotype).
Obstacles to a happy ending include; the fact that Kate's husband despises her; that the innkeeper's saucy daughter, Cherry, has fallen in love with Archer; that Lady Bountiful, who is extremely over-protective of Dorinda's virtue, mistakenly believes herself to be a great healer of the sick, while a band of brigands plans to rob Lady Bountiful that very night.
They arrive at Litchfield Inn, and Aimwell, taking the first turn at playing the lord, drinks with the garrulous Will Boniface, the landlord, in order to learn of the prospects in the vicinity. The countryside's most notable household, he finds, is that of Lady Bountiful, a wealthy widow whose philanthropy and skill as a healer have made her an idolized figure. She has a young, wealthy and lovely daughter called Dorinda, and a sluggard son, Squire Sullen, who has recently married a comely London lady. Also at the inn are some captive French officers, among them Count Bellair and Foigard, their priest.
Aimwell, to strengthen the impression of his high estate, puts his money in the landlord's strongbox, bidding Boniface to keep it in readiness as he may stay at the inn only a half hour. Boniface, himself in league with the highwaymen, Gibbet, Hounslow and Bagshot, suspects that Aimwell and Archer are thieves, and, to betray them and get their money, he tells his pretty daughter, Cherry, to tease what information she can from Archer while he plies Aimwell with drink and subtle questioning. But Boniface is outwitted by Aimwell who reveals nothing, and Cherry only succeeds in falling in love with Archer.
Dorinda and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Sullen, are also curious about the travelers, for Aimwell has gone to church to meet the rich Dorinda. Dorinda immediately becomes deeply interested in the handsome stranger. She and Mrs. Sullen induce Scrub, servant to the Sullens, to invite Archer (still playing Aimwell's servant) to their home for questioning. They too are checkmated in their attempt to get information, but the discontented Mrs. Sullen observes that Archer is not without charm.
When Archer has gone, Mrs. Sullen and Dorinda carry out a ruse to awaken Sullen, who has been derelict in this respect, to his duties as a loving husband. Dorinda has concealed Sullen in a closet in order that he may hear Count Bellair woo his wife and she ridicule her husband. Sullen reacts by rushing out with a drawn sword, but is restrained from attacking Bellair by a pistol leveled at him by his wife. He scores a point, however, when he observes that he does not care if his wife bestows her favors elsewhere if she does so secretly and not to a Frenchman—he detests all Frenchmen. Bellair, whom Mrs. Sullen now informs, with some exaggeration, that her passion has been only feigned, notes that her virtue may be very great but her honesty very little, and invites her to send for him whenever she needs a fool. All in all, the stratagem has not done well, but Mrs. Sullen is still in a reckless mood.
A diversion is created when Archer appears, simulating great concern, to report that his master is outside, suffering from a fit, and he implores the good offices of Lady Bountiful. Aimwell, feigning coma, is borne in, but quickly regains consciousness after violently squeezing the comforting hand of the beautiful Dorinda. When Archer suggests that Aimwell should not yet venture into the open air, Dorinda and her sister-in-law escort the men on a tour of the house. Aimwell and Dorinda stray off by themselves, and only a determined effort of conscience saves Mrs. Sullen from a lapse from virtue when the industrious Archer entices her into her own bedchamber.
As Archer leaves, Scrub tells him that he has overheard Foigard, the priest, bribing Gipsy, the Sullens' maid, to conceal Bellair in Mrs. Sullen's chamber that night. Mrs. Sullen now wonders if, without supernatural gifts, she can do more than simply avoid the temptation of Archer, and Dorinda dreams of marrying "Lord" Aimwell and living a gay life in London. Archer and Aimwell, meanwhile, confront Foigard with a trumped-up charge of treason, and, in exchange for their silence, win the priest's promise that he will conduct Archer, instead of the Count, to Mrs. Sullen's bedroom.
Other developments are in the making for the household that same night. Boniface has arranged that Gibbet, Hounslow and Bagshot, armed to the teeth, shall rob Lady Bountiful. Gibbet has already gotten Sullen well besotted with drink by way of preparation. Sir Charles Freeman, brother of Mrs. Sullen, whom she has summoned to help her get free of her obnoxious husband, now arrives at the inn. Freeman and Sullen, the latter unaware that he is talking with his brother-in-law, fall into conversation. Sullen becomes indignant when Freeman suggests that he should not go home to his wife in his drunken condition. "What!" he exclaims, "not lie with my wife! Sir, do you take me for an atheist or a rake? I'm a justice of the peace, and must do nothing against the law." Since Freeman takes her part, he makes a drunken promise that Freeman shall have his wife in the morning, with a venison pasty to boot.
At two o'clock the next morning, Cherry, unable to find Archer, who by this time is concealed in Mrs. Sullen's closet, runs to Aimwell with the news that the robbers are leaving for Lady Bountiful's home. Mrs. Sullen, sighing languorously, is entertaining disturbing thoughts of Archer: "...Suppose him here, dressed like a youthful, gay and burning bridegroom, with tongue enchanting, eyes bewitching, knees imploring..." She shrieks as she sees Archer, who steals forth from his closet hiding place and faithfully acts out her thought. Again, Mrs. Sullen's conscience comes reluctantly to the rescue, and she is summoning resolution enough to scream when Scrub rushes in with word that the robbers are in the house.
Archer, drawing his sword, hides as Gibbet enters to plunder, then springs upon the bandit and subdues him, summoning Foigard, who is hiding in Gipsy's chamber, to bind the fellow. Meanwhile, Aimwell has arrived and has engaged in combat Hounslow and Bagshot, who are robbing Lady Bountiful and Dorinda. Archer and Mrs. Sullen appear, and soon the bandits are disarmed. Archer, slightly wounded, contrives that Mrs. Sullen show him to a bed-chamber, but this time she is saved by a servant announcing the arrival of Freeman, her brother. It so happens that Freeman is an acquaintance of both Archer and Aimwell. Archer fears that the masquerade will now be spoiled just at the very moment of its almost sure success, for Aimwell is about to propose to Dorinda while she, grateful for her rescue, is sure to be in a softened mood. Aimwell proposes, but under the compunction of his sincere love for Dorinda, confesses that he is a fraud, wearing his brother's title.
Dorinda accepts Aimwell for himself, then hears some good news. As she and Aimwell are about to be married, she tells him that his brother is dead and that he has succeeded to his title and estate. Freeman verifies this report and all are happy, Aimwell with his bride and Archer with Dorinda's ample fortune which Aimwell gives to him.
Bellair arrives to tell them that the inn has also been robbed and Cherry sends to Archer a note disclosing that her father, fearing betrayal by the bandits, has fled. She sends the strongbox, as well as her love, to Archer. The company agrees to seek a pardon for Boniface and to accept Cherry in the service of the Aimwells.
There remains only one problem—the freeing of Mrs. Sullen and her fortune from her husband. This is contrived by Archer, who has recovered from Gibbet all the papers of her estate and, with the consent of Sullen, whose headache from the night before has left him wanting "only a dram," Archer and Mrs. Sullen lead a final dance, joined by everybody but Sullen.
The Beaux' Stratagem is one of the last Restoration comedies, before the genre was replaced by a new style of more mannered comedy. In a few years, The Beaux' Strategem would have been considered somewhat immoral, notably Farquhar's cynicism about the charms of matrimony.
and Ken Ludwig
. Wilder had begun the adaptation in 1939 and never finished it; in the summer of 2004, Wilder's estate asked Ludwig to complete the adaptation. The resulting play had its world première production in November 2006 at The Shakespeare Theatre Company
of Washington, D.C., directed by Michael Kahn.
1989: Stephen Dillane
(spelt Dillon on the poster) as Archer; Marc Sinden
and Brenda Blethyn
as Squire and Mrs Sullen, with Harold Innocent
as Boniface and Jane Gurnett
as Dorinda.
Michigan State University Department of Theatre 2011: Wes Haskell as Archer, Brandon Piper as Aimwell, Krista Delong as Lady Bountiful, Caitlyn Knisely as Mrs. Sullen, Lydia Hiller as Dorinda, Christopher Robinson as Scrub, Andrea Miller as Cherry, and Edward O'Ryan as Gibbet.
George Farquhar
George Farquhar was an Irish dramatist. He is noted for his contributions to late Restoration comedy, particularly for his plays The Recruiting Officer and The Beaux' Stratagem .-Early life:...
, first produced at the Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
, London, in March 1707. In the play, Archer and Aimwell, two young gentlemen who have fallen on hard times, plan to travel through small towns, entrap young heiress
Beneficiary
A beneficiary in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example: The beneficiary of a life insurance policy, is the person who receives the payment of the amount of insurance after the death of the insured...
es, steal their money and move on. In the first town, Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
, they set their sights on Dorinda. Aimwell falls truly in love, and comedy ensues. Foigard, a priest and chaplain to the French officer, is actually an Irish priest called MacShane (a sombre version of the stage-Irish stereotype).
Characters
- Archer, a beauFopFop became a pejorative term for a foolish man over-concerned with his appearance and clothes in 17th century England. Some of the very many similar alternative terms are: "coxcomb", fribble, "popinjay" , fashion-monger, and "ninny"...
, posing as servant to Aimwell - Aimwell, another beau
- Count Bellair, a French count
- Boniface, a Landlord
- Cherry, his daughter
- Lady Bountiful, country women, specialises in herbal medicine
- Dorinda, her daughter
- A countrywoman
- Squire Sullen, a country block-head
- Scrub, his servant
- Mrs (Kate) Sullen, his unhappy wife
- Gypsy, her servant
- Foigard, a priest and chaplain to the French officers
- Gibbet, a highwaymanHighwaymanA highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...
- Hounslow, his associate
- Bagshot, another associate
- Sir Charles Freeman, brother to Mrs. Sullen
Plot
Aimwell and Archer are two fashionable beaux, on the lookout for an heiress to marry so they can repair their fortunes. To help their scheme, Archer poses as Aimwell's servant when they arrive in the city of Lichfield. Aimwell insinuates himself into friendship with the beautiful Dorinda, daughter of Lady Bountiful. Meanwhile, Archer strikes up an extremely worldly friendship with Kate, Dorinda's sister-in-law. She's unhappily married to Sullen, a parody of a country squire, mad for hunting and eating and (especially) drinking.Obstacles to a happy ending include; the fact that Kate's husband despises her; that the innkeeper's saucy daughter, Cherry, has fallen in love with Archer; that Lady Bountiful, who is extremely over-protective of Dorinda's virtue, mistakenly believes herself to be a great healer of the sick, while a band of brigands plans to rob Lady Bountiful that very night.
Summary
In London in the early eighteenth century, two rollicking young gentlemen, Aimwell and Archer, their money spent and their only alternatives being to marry money or to sell their swords for the wars, conceal their poverty from their gay London friends, and ride into the country to let fate decide their course for them. They are still in possession of their last two hundred pounds, and they have conceived a shrewd plan: by turns one is to play the fine lord, the other his servant, the better to impress the country folk.They arrive at Litchfield Inn, and Aimwell, taking the first turn at playing the lord, drinks with the garrulous Will Boniface, the landlord, in order to learn of the prospects in the vicinity. The countryside's most notable household, he finds, is that of Lady Bountiful, a wealthy widow whose philanthropy and skill as a healer have made her an idolized figure. She has a young, wealthy and lovely daughter called Dorinda, and a sluggard son, Squire Sullen, who has recently married a comely London lady. Also at the inn are some captive French officers, among them Count Bellair and Foigard, their priest.
Aimwell, to strengthen the impression of his high estate, puts his money in the landlord's strongbox, bidding Boniface to keep it in readiness as he may stay at the inn only a half hour. Boniface, himself in league with the highwaymen, Gibbet, Hounslow and Bagshot, suspects that Aimwell and Archer are thieves, and, to betray them and get their money, he tells his pretty daughter, Cherry, to tease what information she can from Archer while he plies Aimwell with drink and subtle questioning. But Boniface is outwitted by Aimwell who reveals nothing, and Cherry only succeeds in falling in love with Archer.
Dorinda and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Sullen, are also curious about the travelers, for Aimwell has gone to church to meet the rich Dorinda. Dorinda immediately becomes deeply interested in the handsome stranger. She and Mrs. Sullen induce Scrub, servant to the Sullens, to invite Archer (still playing Aimwell's servant) to their home for questioning. They too are checkmated in their attempt to get information, but the discontented Mrs. Sullen observes that Archer is not without charm.
When Archer has gone, Mrs. Sullen and Dorinda carry out a ruse to awaken Sullen, who has been derelict in this respect, to his duties as a loving husband. Dorinda has concealed Sullen in a closet in order that he may hear Count Bellair woo his wife and she ridicule her husband. Sullen reacts by rushing out with a drawn sword, but is restrained from attacking Bellair by a pistol leveled at him by his wife. He scores a point, however, when he observes that he does not care if his wife bestows her favors elsewhere if she does so secretly and not to a Frenchman—he detests all Frenchmen. Bellair, whom Mrs. Sullen now informs, with some exaggeration, that her passion has been only feigned, notes that her virtue may be very great but her honesty very little, and invites her to send for him whenever she needs a fool. All in all, the stratagem has not done well, but Mrs. Sullen is still in a reckless mood.
A diversion is created when Archer appears, simulating great concern, to report that his master is outside, suffering from a fit, and he implores the good offices of Lady Bountiful. Aimwell, feigning coma, is borne in, but quickly regains consciousness after violently squeezing the comforting hand of the beautiful Dorinda. When Archer suggests that Aimwell should not yet venture into the open air, Dorinda and her sister-in-law escort the men on a tour of the house. Aimwell and Dorinda stray off by themselves, and only a determined effort of conscience saves Mrs. Sullen from a lapse from virtue when the industrious Archer entices her into her own bedchamber.
As Archer leaves, Scrub tells him that he has overheard Foigard, the priest, bribing Gipsy, the Sullens' maid, to conceal Bellair in Mrs. Sullen's chamber that night. Mrs. Sullen now wonders if, without supernatural gifts, she can do more than simply avoid the temptation of Archer, and Dorinda dreams of marrying "Lord" Aimwell and living a gay life in London. Archer and Aimwell, meanwhile, confront Foigard with a trumped-up charge of treason, and, in exchange for their silence, win the priest's promise that he will conduct Archer, instead of the Count, to Mrs. Sullen's bedroom.
Other developments are in the making for the household that same night. Boniface has arranged that Gibbet, Hounslow and Bagshot, armed to the teeth, shall rob Lady Bountiful. Gibbet has already gotten Sullen well besotted with drink by way of preparation. Sir Charles Freeman, brother of Mrs. Sullen, whom she has summoned to help her get free of her obnoxious husband, now arrives at the inn. Freeman and Sullen, the latter unaware that he is talking with his brother-in-law, fall into conversation. Sullen becomes indignant when Freeman suggests that he should not go home to his wife in his drunken condition. "What!" he exclaims, "not lie with my wife! Sir, do you take me for an atheist or a rake? I'm a justice of the peace, and must do nothing against the law." Since Freeman takes her part, he makes a drunken promise that Freeman shall have his wife in the morning, with a venison pasty to boot.
At two o'clock the next morning, Cherry, unable to find Archer, who by this time is concealed in Mrs. Sullen's closet, runs to Aimwell with the news that the robbers are leaving for Lady Bountiful's home. Mrs. Sullen, sighing languorously, is entertaining disturbing thoughts of Archer: "...Suppose him here, dressed like a youthful, gay and burning bridegroom, with tongue enchanting, eyes bewitching, knees imploring..." She shrieks as she sees Archer, who steals forth from his closet hiding place and faithfully acts out her thought. Again, Mrs. Sullen's conscience comes reluctantly to the rescue, and she is summoning resolution enough to scream when Scrub rushes in with word that the robbers are in the house.
Archer, drawing his sword, hides as Gibbet enters to plunder, then springs upon the bandit and subdues him, summoning Foigard, who is hiding in Gipsy's chamber, to bind the fellow. Meanwhile, Aimwell has arrived and has engaged in combat Hounslow and Bagshot, who are robbing Lady Bountiful and Dorinda. Archer and Mrs. Sullen appear, and soon the bandits are disarmed. Archer, slightly wounded, contrives that Mrs. Sullen show him to a bed-chamber, but this time she is saved by a servant announcing the arrival of Freeman, her brother. It so happens that Freeman is an acquaintance of both Archer and Aimwell. Archer fears that the masquerade will now be spoiled just at the very moment of its almost sure success, for Aimwell is about to propose to Dorinda while she, grateful for her rescue, is sure to be in a softened mood. Aimwell proposes, but under the compunction of his sincere love for Dorinda, confesses that he is a fraud, wearing his brother's title.
Dorinda accepts Aimwell for himself, then hears some good news. As she and Aimwell are about to be married, she tells him that his brother is dead and that he has succeeded to his title and estate. Freeman verifies this report and all are happy, Aimwell with his bride and Archer with Dorinda's ample fortune which Aimwell gives to him.
Bellair arrives to tell them that the inn has also been robbed and Cherry sends to Archer a note disclosing that her father, fearing betrayal by the bandits, has fled. She sends the strongbox, as well as her love, to Archer. The company agrees to seek a pardon for Boniface and to accept Cherry in the service of the Aimwells.
There remains only one problem—the freeing of Mrs. Sullen and her fortune from her husband. This is contrived by Archer, who has recovered from Gibbet all the papers of her estate and, with the consent of Sullen, whose headache from the night before has left him wanting "only a dram," Archer and Mrs. Sullen lead a final dance, joined by everybody but Sullen.
Analysis
Aimwell and Dorinda become engaged to be married at the end of the play, in accordance with the rules of the genre, in which young lovers always get married in the end. However, Farquhar uses Kate Sullen to criticise this facile outcome. She, originally rich in her own right, is trapped in a loveless marriage to a man she despises, who keeps her from the town-based society she adores. The legal system does not allow divorce based on incompatibility, and any divorce at the time left women disgraced and penniless. The dark side to the play produced by this theme threatens to overwhelm the rest of it, and Farquhar has to resort to a deus ex machina character and an arbitrary adjustment to English law to get out of the hole he has dug for himself. Noticeably, even when Kate's separation from her husband seems an accomplished fact, the possibility of marriage never seems to cross either her or Archer's mind.The Beaux' Stratagem is one of the last Restoration comedies, before the genre was replaced by a new style of more mannered comedy. In a few years, The Beaux' Strategem would have been considered somewhat immoral, notably Farquhar's cynicism about the charms of matrimony.
Adaptations
The Beaux' Stratagem has been adapted by Thornton WilderThornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
and Ken Ludwig
Ken Ludwig
Ken Ludwig is an American playwright and theatre director.Born in York, Pennsylvania, Ludwig was educated at the York Suburban Senior High School, York PA Haverford College , Harvard Law School, and Trinity College at Cambridge University...
. Wilder had begun the adaptation in 1939 and never finished it; in the summer of 2004, Wilder's estate asked Ludwig to complete the adaptation. The resulting play had its world première production in November 2006 at The Shakespeare Theatre Company
Shakespeare Theatre Company
The Shakespeare Theatre Company is a regional theatre company located in Washington, D.C. Their self professed mission "is to present classic theatre of scope and size in an imaginative, skillful and accessible American style that honors the playwrights’ language and intentions while viewing their...
of Washington, D.C., directed by Michael Kahn.
Recent Productions
Royal National TheatreRoyal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
1989: Stephen Dillane
Stephen Dillane
Stephen J. Dillane is an English actor. He won a Tony Award for his lead performance in Tom Stoppard's play The Real Thing.-Early life:...
(spelt Dillon on the poster) as Archer; Marc Sinden
Marc Sinden
Marc Sinden is an English theatre producer, documentary director and actor. His father is the actor Sir Donald Sinden.-Theatre:...
and Brenda Blethyn
Brenda Blethyn
Brenda Anne Blethyn, OBE is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
as Squire and Mrs Sullen, with Harold Innocent
Harold Innocent
Harold Sidney Innocent was a British actor who appeared in many film and television roles.After attending Broad Street Secondary Modern School in Coventry, Innocent worked for a short time as an office clerk...
as Boniface and Jane Gurnett
Jane Gurnett
Jane Gurnett is a British actress best known for her leading roles in British TV series Casualty , Dangerfield and the second incarnation of Crossroads .-Career:...
as Dorinda.
Michigan State University Department of Theatre 2011: Wes Haskell as Archer, Brandon Piper as Aimwell, Krista Delong as Lady Bountiful, Caitlyn Knisely as Mrs. Sullen, Lydia Hiller as Dorinda, Christopher Robinson as Scrub, Andrea Miller as Cherry, and Edward O'Ryan as Gibbet.
External links
- The Beaux' Stratagem at Bibliomania.com
- Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
's text of The Beaux' Stratagem.