Robert Montgomery Bird
Robert Montgomery Bird was an American playwright and novelist born in 1806, who initially pursued a career in medicine after earning his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1827. However, he soon transitioned to theater, achieving notable success with plays such as "The Gladiator" and "The Broker of Bogotá." "The Gladiator" explores themes of family love and personal honor, while "The Broker of Bogotá," a domestic tragedy, highlights Bird's interest in Latin American narratives. Despite his theatrical contributions, Bird struggled financially due to an unbalanced partnership with actor Edwin Forrest, which led him to focus on writing novels.
Bird's literary work included historical novels about Hernán Cortez and frontier stories, with his most significant novel being "Nick of the Woods." This work presents a controversial depiction of American Indians, contrasting with contemporary views of them as noble figures. In addition to his writing, Bird took on a professorial role at the Pennsylvania Medical College in 1841, while also remaining active in journalism and politics until his health declined. His career reflects a dynamic intersection of medicine, theater, and literature during the 19th century in America.
Subject Terms
Robert Montgomery Bird
Novelist
- Born: February 5, 1806
- Birthplace: New Castle, Delaware
- Died: January 23, 1854
- Place of death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
American playwright and novelist
Biography
Robert Montgomery Bird earned an M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1827 and practiced briefly before he was drawn to the theater. His first great stage success was The Gladiator, which he wrote for the celebrated actor Edwin Forrest. The story concerns a Thracian captive in Rome, and the play’s themes are family love and personal honor. Bird’s soundest play, and the most successful, was The Broker of Bogotá, which was first performed in New York in 1834; this is a domestic tragedy about a moneylender whose heart is broken by a faithless son. Like other early plays, it reflects Bird’s sustained interest in Latin America.
Throughout his career as a playwright, Bird had a working arrangement with Forrest that did not sufficiently protect his own interests. The actor made a fortune from the plays, but Bird earned very little. As a result, he broke with Forrest and turned to writing novels. Two early books dealt with the adventures of Hernán Cortez in Mexico. Then in 1835, with The Hawks of Hawk-Hollow, Bird began to use frontier materials. Two years later, he married Mary Mayer, whom he had known since 1830. That same year, he published his most enduring literary achievement, Nick of the Woods, the story of an outwardly peaceful Quaker who leads a secret double life roaming the Kentucky woods killing American Indians to avenge the massacre of his wife and child. In this novel, Bird portrayed American Indians as barbarians, rejecting the conception of them as noble savages that was being presented by such novelists of the frontier as James Fenimore Cooper.
In 1841, Bird became a professor at the new Pennsylvania Medical College, but he continued to be involved with journalism and politics until his health deteriorated.
Bibliography
Bird, Mary Mayer. Life of Robert Montgomery Bird. Edited by C. Seymour Thompson. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Library, 1945. An incomplete biography by Bird’s wife that ends two years before his death. The fragments of her manuscript have been pieced together and augmented by letters and documents. A straightforward, modest account.
Dahl, Curtis. Robert Montgomery Bird. New York: Twayne, 1963. Places Bird’s work in context. Dahl concludes that although Bird was successful in writing for the theater, he never produced any drama of lasting literary value. Includes a chronology, an annotated bibliography, and an index.
Foust, Clement E. The Life and Dramatic Works of Robert Montgomery Bird. New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1919. The standard biography. The majority of the book discusses Bird’s life and works after the dispute with Edwin Forrest that drove him from the theater. Includes a genealogy, a bibliography, and the complete texts of four major plays.
Hoppenstand, Gary. “Justified Bloodshed: Robert Montgomery Bird’s Nick of the Woods and the Origins of the Vigilante Hero in American Literature and Culture.” Journal of American Culture 15, no. 2 (1992). A provocative reading of Bird’s most enduring literary achievement.
Richards, Jeffrey H. Early American Drama. New York: Penguin Books, 1997. Richards presents and discusses eight pre-Civil War plays, including Bird’s The Gladiator.
Samuels, Shirley. Romances of the Republic: Women, the Family, and Violence in the Literature of the Early American Nation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. An examination of early American literature that examines Bird’s works as well as those of many others.
Stewart, Margaret E. “Nick of the Woods and Gone with the Wind: Racism, Literature, and the American Chivalric Myth.” Markham Review 12 (Fall, 1982). Another provocative reading.
Wert, Justin R. “Robert Montgomery Bird.” In Nineteenth Century American Fiction Writers, edited by Kent P. Ljungquist. Vol. 202 in Dictionary of Literary Biography. Detroit, Mich.: The Gale Group, 1999.
Wilson, Garff B. Three Hundred Years of American Drama. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973. Briefly recounts Bird’s life and the association of his plays with Edwin Forrest. Describes Bird’s five major plays, with primary consideration given to The Broker of Bogotá. Contains a photograph of Forrest portraying Febro.
Winston, Robert P. “Bird’s Bloody Romance: Nick of the Woods.” Southern Studies 23, no. 1 (1984). Provides another provocative reading.