Frances Boothby
English playwright
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Frances Boothby (fl. 1669–1670) was an English playwright and the first woman to have a play professionally produced in London.
Frances Boothby | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | playwright |
| Language | English |
| Years active | 1669–1670 |
| Notable work | Marcelia, or, The Treacherous Friend (1670) |
 Literature portal | |
Life
Little is known of Boothby's life but the dedications of her two extant works have led to speculation that she may have been the daughter of Walter Boothby, a "prosperous merchant" with aristocratic connections.[1]
Boothby is mainly remembered for her tragicomedy Marcelia, or, The Treacherous Friend (licensed 1669; published 1670). It was performed by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal, probably in August 1669.[2] The published play is dedicated to Lady Mary Yate, of Harvington Hall in Worcestershire, whom she addresses as her kinswoman.
Marcelia is "a conservative work."[1] The plot involves romantic difficulties and deceit in love precipitated by a king who abandons his lover to pursue the heroine. As order is reestablished by the end, full-blown tragedy is avoided.[3] Audiences likely perceived implicit criticism of King Charles II in the character of the lustful king;[4] such criticism of the monarch was "widespread, but as yet tactful."[1]
Boothby's only other known work is a poem, addressed to her cousin Anne Somerset (née Aston), which laments the failure of her play,[1] though one scholar writes that the play went off "with some success."[5] She also left a collection of recipes.[6]
Works
- Marcelia: or the Treacherous Friend. A Tragicomedy. As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal, by His Majesties Servants. Written by Mrs. F. Boothby. Licenc'd, October 9, 1669. Roger L'Estrange. London: Printed for Will. Cademan at the Popes-Head in the lower Walk of the New-Exchange, and Giles Widdowes at the Maiden-head in Aldersgate-street, 1670:[7] Etext, British Library