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John Vanbrugh Quotes

Sir John Vanbrugh was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restoration comedies, The Relapse and The Provoked Wife , which have become enduring stage favourites but originally occasioned much controversy. He was knighted in 1714.Vanbrugh was in many senses a radical throughout his life. As a young man and a committed Whig, he was part of the scheme to overthrow James II and put William III on the throne. He was imprisoned by the French as a political prisoner. In his career as a playwright, he offended many sections of Restoration and 18th century society, not only by the sexual explicitness of his plays, but also by their messages in defence of women's rights in marriage. He was attacked on both counts, and was one of the prime targets of Jeremy Collier's Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage. In his architectural career, he created what came to be known as English Baroque. His architectural work was as bold and daring as his early political activism and marriage-themed plays, and jarred conservative opinions on the subject. Wikipedia  

✵ 24. January 1664 – 26. March 1726   •   Other names John Sir Vanbrugh
John Vanbrugh photo

Works

The Relapse
The Relapse
John Vanbrugh
The Provoked Wife
The Provoked Wife
John Vanbrugh
John Vanbrugh: 9   quotes 0   likes

Famous John Vanbrugh Quotes

“No man worth having is true to his wife, or can be true to his wife, or ever was, or ever will be so.”

John Vanbrugh The Relapse

The Relapse, Act III, sc. ii (1697)

“Thinking is to me the greatest fatigue in the world.”

John Vanbrugh The Relapse

The Relapse, Act II, sc. 1 http://books.google.com/books?id=lIQUAAAAQAAJ&q=%22Thinking+is+to+me+the+greatest+fatigue+in+the+world%22&pg=PA27#v=onepage (1697)

“He laughs best who laughs last.”

John Vanbrugh

The Country House, Act II, sc. v (1706)

“When debtors once have borrowed all we have to lend, they are very apt to grow shy of their creditors' company.”

John Vanbrugh The Provoked Wife

The Provoked Wife (1698)

“The want of a thing is perplexing enough, but the possession of it is intolerable.”

John Vanbrugh

The Confederacy, Act I, sc ii.

“Once a woman has given you her heart you can never get rid of the rest of her.”

John Vanbrugh The Relapse

The Relapse, Act II, sc. i (1697)

“Belinda: Ay, but you know we must return good for evil.
Lady Brute: That may be a mistake in the translation.”

John Vanbrugh The Provoked Wife

The Provoked Wife, Act I, sc. i (1698)

“As if a woman of education bought things because she wanted 'em.”

John Vanbrugh

The Confederacy, Act II, sc. i.

“Much of a muchness.”

John Vanbrugh

The Provoked Husband. Act I, sc. i (1728)
Completed by Colley Cibber

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