Henry Fielding, The Author's Farce

Pat Rogers (University of South Florida)

Ed. by Nicholas Seager, University of Keele
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1730

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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Written at the age of twenty-two,

The Author’s Farce

was Fielding’s third play to be performed. It was seen on 30 March 1730 at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket, a kind of off-Drury Lane venue best known for informal and undemanding shows, by comparison with the more conventional fare of the two officially licensed playhouses in London. The work was published by James Roberts on the following day under the title

The Author’s Farce; and The Pleasures of the Town. As acted at the Theatre in the Hay-Market. Written by Scriblerus Secundus.

The dual title reflects a double structure: after two acts of normal dramatic representation, the third act takes the form of a puppet show, introduced by a director more or less identifiable with the struggling writer Luckless, who has played a…

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1462 words

Citation: Rogers, Pat. "The Author's Farce". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 April 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1548, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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Henry Fielding, The Author's Farce

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