Quotes from work
The Orphan

The Orphan or The Unhappy Marriage is a domestic tragedy, written by Thomas Otway in 1680. It was first produced at the Dorset Garden Theatre, and starred Elizabeth Barry as Monimia, Thomas Betterton as Castalio and Jo. Williams as Polydore. It precedes Venice Preserv'd and is therefore the first of Otway's two famous tragedies. Written in blank verse, it is the play that made Otway famous. The Orphan remained a stock piece on the stage until the 19th century. Thomas Otway was purported to have been deeply in love with Mrs. Barry, and it has been suggested that this play was inspired by this unrequited love.


Thomas Otway photo

“What mighty ills have not been done by woman!
Who was ’t betrayed the Capitol?—A woman!
Who lost Mark Antony the world?—A woman!
Who was the cause of a long ten years’ war,
And laid at last old Troy in ashes?—Woman!
Destructive, damnable, deceitful woman!”

The Orphan (1680), Act iii. Sc. 1. Compare: "O woman, woman! when to ill thy mind/ Is bent, all hell contains no fouler fiend", Alexander Pope, Homer’s Odyssey, book xi., line 531.

Thomas Otway photo

“Let us embrace, and from this very moment vow an eternal misery together.”

The Orphan (1680), Act iv. Sc. 2. Compare: "Let us swear an eternal friendship", John Hookham Frere, The Rovers, act i. sc. 1.

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