Thomas
Otway
born March 3, 1652, Trotton, near
Midhurst, Sussex, Eng.
died April 14, 1685, London
English dramatist and poet, one of the
forerunners of sentimental drama through his
convincing presentation of human emotions in an
age of heroic but artificial tragedies. His
masterpiece, Venice Preserved, was one of the
greatest theatrical successes of his period.
Otway studied at Winchester College and at the
University of Oxford but left in 1671 without
taking a degree. He went to London, where he was
offered a part by Aphra Behn in one of her
plays. He was overcome by stage fright, and his
first performance was his last. His first play,
a rhyming tragedy called Alcibiades, was
produced at the Duke’s Theatre at Dorset Garden
in September 1675. The part of Draxilla in this
play was created by the well-known actress
Elizabeth Barry, and Otway fell violently in
love with her. Six unsigned love letters, said
to be addressed to Barry, were published in a
collection that appeared in 1697, 12 years after
Otway’s death. His second play, Don Carlos,
produced in June 1676, had an immense success on
the stage and is the best of his rhymed heroic
plays. Titus and Berenice, adapted from Molière,
and The Cheats of Scapin, adapted from Jean
Racine, were published together in 1677.
In 1678 Otway obtained a commission in an
English regiment serving in the Netherlands, and
he was abroad when his first comedy, Friendship
in Fashion, was staged. His next play, Caius
Marius, a curious mixture of a story from
Plutarch with an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet,
was staged in 1679. He published his powerful,
gloomy autobiographical poem, The Poet’s
Complaint of His Muse, in 1680.
Otway’s most memorable dramatic work was done
in the last years of his short life. In the
spring of 1680 his fine blank-verse domestic
tragedy The Orphan had great success on the
stage. On March 1 in the same year his best
comedy, The Souldier’s Fortune, probably drawn
from his military experience, was produced.
Venice Preserved, also written in blank verse,
was first performed at the Duke’s Theatre in
1682. Until the middle of the 19th century it
was probably revived more often than any poetic
play except those of Shakespeare. John Dryden,
who wrote the prologue, praised it highly.
Otway’s tragedies, particularly Venice
Preserved, are notable for their psychological
credibility and their clear and powerful
presentation of human passions.
