Thomas Southerne
Thomas Southerne was an influential Irish playwright born on February 12, 1660, in Oxmantown, Ireland. He initially pursued law at Trinity College in Dublin but was drawn to the theater, producing his first play, *The Loyal Brother: Or, The Persian Prince*, in 1682. A key figure in the theatrical scene, Southerne's work evolved from political allegory to comedy, as seen in his 1690 adaptation of Alphra Behn's *The Lucky Mistake*, titled *Sir Anthony Love: Or, The Rambling Lady*. This play featured a groundbreaking character who navigated romantic relationships with both genders, reflecting the complexities of gender and sexuality.
Southerne's writings often showcased strong and intelligent female characters, challenging societal norms and highlighting the plight of women in oppressive marriages. He criticized male predators while depicting women as complex individuals with sexual agency. His approach to female characters was notably progressive for his time, as he recognized their capacity for desire and independence. Throughout his life, he maintained friendships with literary figures such as Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift, and he was known for his affable nature. Southerne passed away on May 26, 1746, at the age of eighty-seven, leaving a legacy as a playwright who contributed significantly to the evolution of female representation in theater.
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Thomas Southerne
Playwright
- Born: February 12, 1660
- Birthplace: Oxmantown, Ireland
- Died: May 26, 1746
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Thomas Southerne was born in Oxmantown, Ireland, on February 12, 1660, the son of Francis, a Dublin brewer, and Margaret. He attended Trinity College in Dublin, then moved to London in 1680 to study law. The lure of the theater was greater than his interest in legal pursuits, however, so he began writing. He produced his first play, The Loyal Brother: Or, The Persian Prince, in February, 1682. His friend and mentor, poet laureateJohn Dryden, wrote both the prologue and epilogue.
After a three-year stint with the Princess Anne Regiment of the Duke of Berwick’s Foot, first as an ensign, then as commander, he returned to writing, shifting from political allegory to comedy in his 1690 adaptation of popular novelist Alphra Behn’s The Lucky Mistake titled Sir Anthony Love: Or, The Rambling Lady. Though using the well- established device of a woman dressing as a man, he added a twist that attracted attention: The main character, Sir Anthony, played by leading actress of the day, Mrs. Susanna Mountfort, courts both genders, getting females ready for real men and leaving the “drudgery” of sex to others. When she wins the man, she opts to be a mistress since most marriages fail. Commenting on his choice for the lead, Southerne said that the audience would “hear with Patience a dull scene, to see/ The Female Mountfort bare above the knee.”
The play was warmly received, though one scene disconcerted theater-goers. In it, a conversation among servants at a large party exposes fashionable London society for what it is: superficial, conniving, foolish, heartless, backstabbing, cynical, outwardly privileged but weak of soul and ethics. Audiences sensed that the satire was too reflective of actuality.
Following the conventions of the day, Southerne wrote pathetic tragedies with heroines in sore distress, unable to fight the dictates of society, but he added a new dimension. He was critical of male predators and sympathetic to women trapped in loveless marriages. He created female characters who were strong- willed and intelligent. They sometimes bucked the norm in questionable ways, by becoming prostitutes or being as licentious and reckless as their male counterparts. More surprisingly, given the nature of Renaissance theater, while some of his female characters used their bodies for economic gain, others did so for sheer pleasure. His occasional cross-dressing women didn’t don male garb to hide, but to enjoy the attendant freedom to act aggressively and energetically. He portrayed women as sexual beings, not just objects of sexual desire, thus showing he recognized the capacity of the female audience members to wonder and fantasize about sexuality.
In about 1696, Southerne married a mother of two children, who then bore him a daughter. In his long lifetime, he befriended such notables as Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift, as well as John Dryden. He was always affable, kind, and thoughtful, a man who, when asked if had heard hissing at the end of his last play, said: “No, Sir, I am very deaf.” He died on May 26, 1746 at eighty-seven.