George Farquhar--The Beaux' Stratagem (1707)

After a series of fairly long novels prior to the medium-length Beau Geste, there is now an interlude of four plays, which break down into a couple of pairs in which each set of two could be said to be related in terms of time and place. Farquhar is a name that, through whatever fortunate cause, has survived to some extent even down to our day. The Beaux' Stratagem as literature I would consider on its own an entertaining, but not a great play, though having read at least a dozen plays over the years from this family of literature (Restoration and 18th century English theater) the importance and centrality of this genre in the history of English literature has been strongly impressed on me. And of course as with all plays, seeing a good performance would doubtless enhance the experience of having read the book considerably.

The IWE intro reports that "This was the last play Farquhar wrote; he was sick and in the utmost poverty when he wrote it--for money to pay his creditors--and he died on the night of its third performance." He was around 30 years old at the time of his death. In the 1933 Introduction to the Modern Library edition of Twelve Famous Plays of Restoration and Eighteenth Century--a very useful book to own, as I have had occasion to read nine of the twelve plays in it for the "A" list over the years and at least seven of the entries come up on the IWE list as well--Professor Cecil A. Moore of the University of Minnesota sees Farquhar as a transitional figure between the wits of the Restoration and the broader, more whimsical humor of the 18th century. His final two plays, says the professor, this one and The Recruiting Officer, performed first in 1706, "reveal dramatic genius of a high order." He adds that in Farquhar, "the Muse has now deserted the drawing-room for the country, and that many charmingly fresh types of character have been brought in to replace the endless parade of fops and coquettes." The setting of the play in a provincial inn (in Lichfield) frequented by travelers and coaches and highwaymen does hearken back to Shakespeare a little in bringing the English Midlands back on the stage, though the glories of the countryside and its floral life are absent from Farquhar.

I only took 4 notes on this. I should have written more commentary about my feelings and thoughts as I read it. Perhaps I didn't have any, but that isn't really fair, because the play has a certain charm about it, in part due to its, at this point, real remoteness in time, though the era of Queen Anne was a lively one in English literature, full of vigorous and proud characters, for which I have a more than usual fondness because I think this very interesting period tends to be overlooked now even by people who like Shakespeare or the Romantics or the Victorians.

Act III, Scene III, sample of play's humor:

"Sullen: You're impertinent. Mrs. Sullen: I was ever so, since I became one Flesh with you. Sullen: One Flesh! rather two Carcasses join'd unnaturally together."

Act IV, Scene I The servant Scrub to an impertinent French priest:

"Sir, I won't be sav'd your way--I hate a Priest, I abhor the French, and I defie the Devil--Sir, I'm a bold Briton, and will spill the last drop of my Blood to keep out Popery and Slavery."

In the same scene, Archer critiquing a portrait of the attractive Mrs. Sullen:

"Your Breasts too, presumptuous Man! what! paint Heaven! Apropo, Madam, in the very next picture is Salmoneus, that was struck dead with Lightning, for offering to imitate Jove's Thunder; I hope you serv'd the Painter so, Madam?"

Part of the resolution of the plot comes when the well-born but somewhat broke Aimwell's older brother, who is a Lord,  dies unexpectedly, and the surviving sibling inherits the fortune. While undoubtedly a stroke of good luck for the character, his rather unabashed delight at it comes off as rather strange, given that there was no indication of the dead brother's having been a villain or otherwise bad guy that I can recall.

Here is a link to an old and unfinished post in which I recall a night I spent in the George Hotel in Lichfield which claims to be the same where The Beaux' Stratagem took place, and tell a Farquhar story.  



The Challenge

1. Marcus Zusak--The Book Thief.......................................................................................17,971

2. Dean Koontz--Forever Odd.................................................................................................949

3. The Complete Rhyming Dictionary (ed. Clement Wood)....................................................204

4. Sarah Smarsh--Heartland.....................................................................................................109

5. Shana Norris--The Boyfriend Thief........................................................................................86

6. Real Housewives of New York (season 10--TV show)...........................................................58

7. Daniel Henderson--The Prayer God Loves to Answer...........................................................37

8. Anthony Trollope--Rachel Ray..............................................................................................19

9. Caitlin Kiernan/Kathleen Tierney--Cherry Bomb..................................................................15

10. Dan Hall--Highgate Mums: Overheard Wisdom From the Ladies Who Brunch.................12

11. Laxdaela Saga (trans. Press)..................................................................................................6

12. Dawn French--Me. You. A Diary...........................................................................................6

13. Andrew Sanders--The Short Oxford History of English Literature.......................................4

14. William Harrison Ainsworth--Jack Sheppard.......................................................................3

15. Rev. E. Cobham Brewer--Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction & the Drama, Vol. 1...1

16. The Greek Romances of Helodorus, Longes & Achilles Tatius.............................................0

17. Mary Elizabeth Braddon--Willard's Weird............................................................................0

18. Rev. E. Cobham Brewer--Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction & the Drama, Vol. II...0

19. George Brandes--William Shakespeare: A Critical Study......................................................0

Qualifying Round

#14 Ainsworth over #19 Brandes

I have actually read what is regarded as Ainsworth's best novel, The Tower of London. I don't remember much of it now, but I know I found it readable and even amusing in places at the time.

#15 Brewer over #18 Brewer

This was a tight match, as you can imagine.

#16 Greek Romances over #17 Braddon

I can't find any corroborating evidence that the Braddon book actually exists.

Round of 16

#1 Zusak over #16 Greek Romances

The Greek book is both rare and the three authors make it seem cumbersome. Zusak's qualifying score is one of the highest ever in the history of the Challenge. I even have a copy of this book at my house because my one of my children had to read it in school instead of David Copperfield or whatever early high schoolers used to read. I thought it deserved to escape the 1st round.

#15 Brewer over #2 Koontz

I want no part of Dean Koontz.

#3 Rhyming Dictionary over #14 Ainsworth

Huge score for this dictionary, impressive.

#13 Sanders over #4 Smarsh

#5 Norris over #12 French

#11 Laxdaela over #6 RHONY

#10 Hall over #7 Henderson

#8 Trollope over #9 Kiernan/Tierney

Trollope, whom we have seen so recently, the only IWE author in the field this time.

Elite Eight

#15 Brewer over #1 Zusak

Brewer sitting there with that upset to drop.

#3 Rhyming Dictionary over #13 Sanders

A scrap, but I was swayed by the huge disparity in the qualifying scores.

#5 Norris over #11 Laxdaela

A minor upset.

#10 Hall over #8 Trollope

Trollope a victim of the upset here.

Final Four

#3 Rhyming Dictionary over #15 Brewer

#5 Norris over #10 Hall

Another battle, but Norris escapes again.

Championship

#3 Rhyming Dictionary over #5 Norris

I have no idea whether I will actually try reading this book or not, but I will at least look at it.

February 2019

A List: Jean-Jacques Rousseau--Confessions...........................................9683
B List: George Farquhar--The Beaux' Stratagem.......................................58/73
C List: Will Self--Shark..............................................................................91/464


We read some Rousseau at school, The Social Contract certainly, and some people read Emile. I don't remember whether we read any excerpts of the Confessions or not, though we certainly didn't read the whole thing. When the book back in the mail I was surprised by how big it was, I was imagining it to be about half as long. However, though I have just started it it seems like it is going to be an amiable read, and it's been a while since I've read anything from the genre of 18th-century philosophy, which in its English and French incarnations at least I generally enjoy.


After a series of relatively long novels, Farquhar is the first of 4 consecutive plays coming up the B list. Expect a report of some length soon. Indeed I should have finished this several days ago already but you know...busy with nonsense.


This brings us to the Will Self book. Born in London in 1961, Will Self is the author of 24 books, including 19 works of fiction. He is undeniably a highly intelligent and skilled writer, and I have to admire this to an extent. At the same time I find myself dragging my feet quite a bit when it is time for me to take up his book. For starters, the entire 464 pages appear to be a single paragraph, which seems unnecessarily taxing on the reader to me. There is a Joycean stream of consciousness element to the composition in which the various threads of the story come and go and as my concentration is not that great I frequently get lost for a page or more during these transitions. One of the storylines involves the famous catastrophe/ordeal of the U.S.S. Indianapolis in World War II, and that part is very good. There is a part set in a mental hospital in London that holds my attention somewhat, there is a part involving a sex worker and her young children and Vietnam war protests in 1970-era London that I can just barely follow, and, well, you get the idea. I did genuinely love Ulysses, or many of its various parts and qualities anyway, when I went though it as a 25-year old accompanied by an entire volume of annotations, recollections of the conversations of friends who had recently taken a class on it, and so forth. Perhaps I would not feel the same about it if I took up now without all of these specific associations, though I might, because it still has other associations with a time and an idea of literary culture that I probably would hold in romantic regard anyway. This Will Self book has passages that are like that, that evoke those kinds of feelings, but the structure of it doesn't allow me to leave off and get back in to the story at the point I was before. Every time I take it up it is as if I am starting the whole thing anew, the characters have no solidity for me, certainly no established charm or interest that I wish to explore or draw from. I do feel that I should stick with the book a little longer though.


I need a haircut. I try to go about every six weeks, that is why hair begins to grow overlong on the top and sides.


What accounts for my extreme busyness? Getting an inspection sticker for both of my old cars in January (in my state your birthday dictates when your car registration and inspection are due, and both my wife and I are January babies--January is the worst possible month in this part of the world especially to have to do this) was a complicated and expensive ordeal, though both run well enough that it is worth the expense if I can make it through another year without having to buy a new car, or two of them. Dealing with insurance issues. Various appointments for kids/teenager stuff. I've got one kid doing school online that I have to help a lot. My oldest son got his driver's license. All of these things. And this time of year, the dead of winter, I get very tired, I took a forty-five minute nap today, I never need to do this from April through the Christmas season my energy is pretty good. But this is just late night scribbling for the sake of scribbling... 

Will Self considers the novel to be "absolutely doomed". I would not argue that he is wrong.