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This article is a summary of the major literary events and publications of 1721.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1749.
Eliza Haywood, born Elizabeth Fowler, was an English writer, actress and publisher. An increase in interest and recognition of Haywood's literary works began in the 1980s. Described as "prolific even by the standards of a prolific age", Haywood wrote and published over seventy works during her lifetime including fiction, drama, translations, poetry, conduct literature and periodicals. Haywood is a significant figure of the 18th century as one of the important founders of the novel in English. Today she is studied primarily as a novelist.
Zaïre is a five-act tragedy in verse by Voltaire. Written in three weeks, it was given its first public performance on 13 August 1732 by the Comédie française in Paris. It was a great success with the Paris audiences and marked a turning away from tragedies caused by a fatal flaw in the protagonist's character to ones based on pathos. The tragic fate of its heroine is caused not through any fault of her own, but by the jealousy of her Muslim lover and the intolerance of her fellow Christians. Zaïre was notably revived in 1874 with Sarah Bernhardt in the title role, and it was the only one of Voltaire's plays to be performed by the Comédie française during the 20th century. The play was widely performed in Britain well into the 19th century in an English adaptation by Aaron Hill and was the inspiration for at least thirteen operas.
William Hatchett was a translator, dramatist and pamphleteer. He was born and went to school in York, but by the late 1720s was living in London, where he remained for most of his life. Hatchett appears to have been a long-time partner of Eliza Haywood; some of Hatchett’s works were also either co-written with, or published by, Haywood.
William Rufus Chetwood was an English or Anglo-Irish publisher and bookseller, and a prolific writer of plays and adventure novels. He also penned a valuable General History of the Stage.
Martha Fowke, later Martha Sansom, was an English poet associated chiefly with the circle about Aaron Hill. She was the daughter of Major Thomas Fowke and his wife Mary. Born in Hertfordshire on 1 May 1689 to a family of Roman Catholic gentry, she was educated at home and at boarding school. Her mother was less supportive of her daughter's writing than her father. Fowke lived in London after her mother died in 1705 but moved to East Anglia in 1730 with her husband, Arnold Sansom, whom she had married around 1721. Their marriage was not happy.
Mérope is a tragedy in five acts by Voltaire. The text is a reworking by Voltaire of the Italian tragedy Merope (1713) by Scipione Maffei, dating from 1736/1737. The play premiered in 1743 and first appeared in print in 1744.
Sir Thomas Overbury is a 1723 tragedy by the British writer Richard Savage. It is based on the life of Thomas Overbury an associate of the Jacobean royal favourite Robert Carr whose apparent murder while incarcerated in the Tower of London provoked a trial and major scandal.
The Fatal Vision is a 1716 tragedy by the British writer Aaron Hill. It is also known as The Fatal Vision: Or, the Fall of Siam.
Fatal Extravagance is a 1721 tragedy by the British writer Aaron Hill. It was presented by another writer Joseph Mitchell, a friend of Hill, at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London. The original cast included James Quin as Bellmour, Anthony Boheme as Courtney, John Ogden as Bargrave and Anna Maria Seymour as Louisa. It was printed with the slightly longer title The Fatal Extravagance.
Elfrid: or The Fair Inconstant, generally shortened to Elfrid, is a 1710 tragedy by the British writer Aaron Hill.
Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lunenburgh is a 1729 historical tragedy by the British writer Eliza Haywood. It is based on the life medieval ruler Frederick I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
A Wife to be Let is a 1723 comedy play by the British writer Eliza Haywood. Better known for her novels, it was Haywood's first theatrical play.
Roger Bridgewater was a British stage actor of the eighteenth century. He worked as party of the Drury Lane company for many years, specialising in dramatic roles, before switching to Covent Garden in 1734. In later years he frequently played Falstaff.
Sophonisba is a 1730 tragedy by the British writer James Thomson. It is based on the story of the Carthaginian noblewoman Sophonisba who committed suicide rather than be paraded in a Roman triumph at the end of the Second Punic War. The story has been made into a number of plays including Nathaniel Lee's restoration tragedy Sophonisba and Voltaire's later Sophonisbe.
William Milward (1702-1742) was a British stage actor.
Merope is a 1731 tragedy by the British writer George Jeffreys. It takes place in Ancient Greece, based around the myth of Merope. Voltaire wrote his own play Mérope on the subject in 1743.
The Tuscan Treaty is a 1733 tragedy by the British writer William Bond also known by the longer title The Tuscan Treaty: or, Tarquin's overthrow. It is set during the time of the Overthrow of the Roman monarchy.
Zara is a 1736 tragedy by the British writer Aaron Hill, based on the 1732 French play Zaïre by Voltaire.
