THOMAS

See also:

• THOMAS SOUTHERNE (166o-1746)

SOUTHERNE (166o-1746)  , English dramatist, was born at Oxmantown, near Dublin, in 1660, and entered Trinity College in 1676 . Two years later he was entered at the Middle Temple, London . His first play, The Persian Prince, or the Loyal Brother (1682), was based on a contemporary novel . The real interest of the play lay not in the plot, but in the political significance of the personages . Tachmas, the " loyal brother," is obviously a flattering portrait of James II., and the villain Ismael is generally taken to represent Shaftesbury . The poet received an ensign's commission in Princess Anne's regiment, and rapidly rose to the rank of captain, but his military career came to an end at the Revolution . He then gave himself up entirely to dramatic writing . In 1692 he revised and completed Cleomenes fcr Dryden; and two years later he scored a great success in the sentimental drama of The Fatal Marriage, or the Innocent Adultery (1694) . The piece is based on Mrs Aphra Behn's The Nun, with the addition of a comic underplot . It was frequently revived, and in 1757 was altered by David Garrick and produced at Drury Lane . It was known later as Isabella, or The Fatal Marriage . The general spirit oI his comedies is well exemplified by a line from Sir Anthony Love (1691)—" every day a new mistress and a new quarrel." This comedy, in which the part of the heroine, disguised as Sir Anthony Love, was excellently played by Mrs Mountfort, was his best .

He scored another conspicuous success in Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave (1696) . For the plot of this he was again indebted to the novel by Mrs Behn . In his later pieces " Honest Tom

Southerne " did not secure any great successes, but he contrived to gain better returns from his plays than Dryden did, and he remained a favourite with his con-temporaries and with the next literary generation . He died on the 22nd of May 1746 . His other plays are: The Disappointment, or the Mother in Fashion (1684), founded in part on the Curioso Impertinente in Don Quixote; The Wives' Excuse, or Cuckolds make themselves (1692); The Maid's Last Prayer; or Any, rather than fail (1692); The Fate of Capua (1700); The Spartan Dame (1719), taken from Plutarch's Life of Aegis; and Money the Mistress (1729) . See Plays written by Thomas Southerne, with an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author (1774) .