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The genius of ROWE seemed to consist in rich|ness of fancy, purity of language, justness of images, and harmony of numbers; but was undoubtedly too poetical for the drama, of which every piece he wrote, as well as this, is an evident proof; indeed, the absurd manner of theatrical speaking in his time might lead him to monotony in composition, and jingling rhimes at the end of acts; the only Calista's desperation at his fall, and the irresista|ble proof of her own guilt, is a natural effect of strong passions; Altamont's immediate confession of forgiveness, shews him to have at least as much weakness as humanity; the voice of Sciolto heard from without, strikes his daughter with a fresh de|gree of confusion; upon the old man's entrance, the traces of blood alarm suspicion in him, which being confirmed by what Altamont replies, his fu|ry The title of this tragedy has by many critics been deemed a misnomer; for, say they, the lady's be|haviour in no shape entitles her to the character of a Penitent; this charge we cannot wholly admit, though we must in general; in several places she speaks of contrition, and very feelingly too, not|withstanding The Tragedy of Lady Jane Grey followed in 1715, and as this play was not successful, it was his last foray into the medium. [2]In making his adaptation, Rowe eliminated characters and simplified the action "to create a more focused play than the original." He pursued "neoclassical simplicity" but in the process sacrificed the "underlying moral principles" of the original. Rowe shifted the setting from Dijon to Genoa, and changed the main characters' names. The Fair Penitent is Nicholas Rowe's stage adaptation of the tragedy - or- -The Fatal Dowry, the Philip Massinger and Nathananiel Field collaboration first published in 1632. So, Sciolto, a nobleman of Genoa promises daughter Calista to Altamont. Sciolto was fryiends with Altamont's parents. They died. Ward, Adolphus William (1875). A History of English Dramatic Literature to the Death of Queen Anne. Vol.2. London: Macmillan and Co. p.560.

Nicholas Rowe was born in Little Barford, Bedfordshire, England, son of John Rowe (d. 1692), barrister and sergeant-at-law, and Elizabeth, daughter of Jasper Edwards, on 20 June 1674. [2] [3] His family possessed a considerable estate at Lamerton in Devonshire. His father practised law and published Benlow's and Dallison's Reports during the reign of King James II. [4] Mr. BARRY was never more mistaken than in this character, which in his representation wanted as much as a fine figure and a pleansig voice would admit; he could not be disagreeable, but was—what must he be now?—most egregiously faint and in|sipid.Daniel Lysons and Samuel Lysons, " General history: Families removed since 1620". In Magna Britannia: Volume 6, Devonshire (London, 1822), pp. clxxiii–ccxxv. long, very long, will the parental parts in tragedy labour under the material deficiency of his untimely loss. The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: a b c "People Buried or Commemorated – Nicholas Rowe". Westminster Abbey. Archived from the original on 25 June 2006 . Retrieved 4 December 2018.

Returning to the pleasure her infant years gave him, and his forgiveness of her, are circumstances thoroughly pathetic; his parting carries the climax of tenderness as high as it can well go; the succeed|ing scene between Altamont and Calista is extreme|ly languid, and seems to have little else in view, than giving a fresh instance of that amorous weak|ness which so entirely rules the injured husband. On his father's death, when he was nineteen, he became the master of an independent fortune. [2] He was left to his own direction, and from that time ignored law to try his hand first at poetry, and then later at writing plays. [4] THIS dramatic composition was wrote at a time when genius received nourishment from the beams of royal favour, ere the muses of this isle were germanized into stone; and stands to this day in estimation at least equal to any except those of Shakespeare. It opens with Horatio and Alta|mont, two persons of rank in Genoa, from whom we learn, that it is the latter's bridal day; there appears to be strong links of friendship between these two characters, and that Sciolto, a nobleman, father to Altamont's bride, has shewn particular marks of favour to Horatio, on account of being Altamont's brother-in-law and friend; his attach|ment to Altamont arose from a peculiar mark of filial duty shewn by him to a dead father, in yield|ing himself to prison, that his father's corpse, which had been arrested by rigid creditors, might obtain the usual rites of burial. Lavinia is a mere make-shift to eke out the piece; amiable; and what she says is pretty enough; we don't remember to have ever seen her rendered more agreeable than by Mrs. STEPHENS; who, in this, as well as all other medium parts, marks the author's meaning with very just and agreeable sensibility. Ball, F. Elrington (1926). The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921. Vol.2. London: John Murray. p.42. ISBN 9781584774280.Jane Shore, professedly an imitation of Shakespeare's style, was played at Drury Lane with Anne Oldfield in the title role in 1714. It ran for nineteen nights, and kept the stage longer than any other of Rowe's works. [2] In the play, which consists chiefly of domestic scenes and private distress, the wife is forgiven because she repents, and the husband is honoured because he forgives. [4] Rowe's adaptation, premiered onstage in 1702 and first published in 1703, was a great popular success through much of the 18th century, and was praised by critics as demanding as Samuel Johnson ("There is scarcely any work of any poet so interesting by the fable and so delightful in the language").