Tragedy of Jane Shore Pathetic Heroine in Distress by Nicholas Rowe

As Elizabeth Howe notes, by the mid-1680s "women's suffering had become the whole subject of tragedy" (1992: 122). The model of female suffering as dramatic spectacle established in the plays of Otway and Banks was to continue until the end of the century and the early eighteenth century. After a shortage of tragedy in the late 1680s and early 1690s, there was a revival of serious drama in the mid-1690s, aided by the fine acting of tragedy writers such as Elizabeth Barry and Thomas Betterton. The renewed interest in tragedy was also the result of London once again having two theaters. In 1695, Thomas Betterton, Elizabeth Barry, Anne Bracegirdle and some other leading actors left Drury Lane to form a new company. The existence of two theater companies meant more new plays and more new tragedies, especially since the new company's talents were particularly strong in serious drama. Playwrights responded to the increased demand with a series of new plays, many of which capitalized on the existing popularity of female tragedy. This paper will examine Nicholas Rowe's Jane Shore within the framework of pathetic tragedy, and will also highlight the fact that Restoration-era drama was not only a comedy of manners, but also a period in which she-tragedies and pathetic tragedies were at the forefront.