Publication Details | Synopsis | Secondary Commentary |Varieties & Dialects | Other
Publication details |
Author: Bickerstaff, Isaac
Author dates: 1733-1808 (?)
Title: The Hypocrite
First played: 1768
First published: 1769
C18th availability: Available from ECCO (1792):
http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/ECCO?dd=0&locID=utoronto_main&d1=0972000700&srchtp=b&c=1&SU=All&d2=2&docNum=CW3315451272&b0=the+hypocrite+cibber&h2=1&vrsn=1.0&b1=KE&d6=2&ste=10&dc=tiPG&stp=Author&d4=0.33&n=10&d5=d6
Modern availability: Available from LION (1997):
http://main.library.utoronto.ca/eir/EIRdetail.cfm?Resources__ID=109757
Genre / subgenre: Comedy
Trend(s): Contemporary Satire; Gender
Synopsis |
Sir John Lambert’s family exposes the hypocrisy, greed and lasciviousness of his protégé, the religious Doctor Cantwell.
Introduction:
Bickerstaff explains the history of the play’s composition: it was suggested by David Garrick that Bickerstaff rewrite Colley Cibber’s translation of Moliere’s Tartuffe. Bickerstaff claims no responsibility for any innovation in the plot or characterization, save for his own creation, Maw-Worm.
Act I.
Colonel Lambert pleads with his father, Sir John Lambert, to permit his sister’s acceptance of Mr. Darnley’s advances; Sir John believes that the latter is a “libertine” and is irreligious. Sir John accuses his son of atheism, which he denies, retorting that Sir John’s protégé, Doctor Cantwell, is betraying their family. When Colonel Lambert tells Charlotte that their father has prohibited Mr. Darnley’s courting, Charlotte replies that she is pleased, as this means that Mr. Darnley’s advances are untainted by an ambition to please her father. Colonel Lambert asks Charlotte if their father has proposed another man; she denies it, but is interested in the prospect. Darnley arrives; Charlotte flirts with him. Darnley is distressed to hear of Sir John’s plan to find Charlotte another suitor. Darnley and Colonel Lambert discuss Charlotte’s character, as Charlotte’s levity has upset the earnest Darnley. Colonel Lambert suggests that Lady Lambert, their father’s young wife, will be on their side and will use whatever influence she has; moreover, Doctor Cantwell may even be in love with her! Doctor Cantwell and Old Lady Lambert enter; Cantwell distresses the old lady by telling her that he may leave the family. They meet Darnley and Colonel Lambert, and accuse the two young men of sinful play-going. They argue; Cantwell leaves, and a sudden commotion ensues: he has tried to break into Charlotte’s chamber! Lambert and Darnley expel him, and Charlotte tells Darnley that he might “hope” for her reciprocal love. They speculate as to the identity of the other man. Sir John arrives and removes Charlotte from Darnley’s presence. Colonel Lambert and Darnley agree to try to catch out Cantwell in a moment of irreligiousness.
Act II.
Seyward learns that Cantwell plans to make his fortune by disinheriting Sir John’s children, unless Charlotte marries him. Because he loves Charlotte, Seyward will do all he can to derail the plot. Sir John announces that Charlotte will marry the forty-nine-year-old Cantwell, and that he will leave his fortune to him. Cantwell arrives, and Sir John goes to talk to him. Lady Lambert admits that Cantwell has been more ardent to her than is appropriate. Charlotte and the Colonel urge Lady Lambert to entice a confession of love from Cantwell in order to expose his two-facedness. Old Lady Lambert returns with muslin to cover Lady Lambert’s neck, which, the good doctor has commented, is overly distracting. Old Lady Lambert praises the doctor for having elevated her character to such an extent that she would not feel anything if her whole family died. Cantwell tells Sir John of Colonel Lambert’s rudeness; Sir John offers to disinherit his son. They agree to ask Lady Lambert to talk to Charlotte about Cantwell’s marriage proposal. Mr. Maw-worm arrives, and they discuss the benefits of his new friendship with Cantwell, including his wife’s sudden ability to become pregnant. Seyward tells Charlotte his personal history: after he was left an orphan at eight, Cantwell assumed the persona of his uncle. Seyward gives Charlotte the deed, which her father will sign that evening, giving Cantwell the rights to all his property.
Act III.
Darnley, distressed, comes to visit Charlotte, demanding to know her resolution towards Cantwell’s proposal. Seyward arrives to tell Charlotte that he has copied the deed. Charlotte and Seyward consult in the next room, to Darnley’s distress. Colonel Lambert arrives to find his unhappy friend; he agrees to help him win Charlotte. Lady Lambert arrives to announce that she will have a private meeting with Cantwell to prove his hypocrisy. The Colonel hides and listens to their conversation. Cantwell eventually confesses his love to Lady Lambert. The Colonel leaps out and exposes him. Sir John enters, and Cantwell claims that he was discussing his love for Charlotte with Lady Lambert, and that the Colonel misunderstood. Lady Lambert has left to perform an “after-game” with which to trap the doctor. A furious Sir John expels his son from the family, but the doctor intercedes in an act of “charity.” Sir John and Cantwell proceed to the signing of the deed.
Act IV.
Seyward reports that Sir John signed the false deed without reading it. Seyward admits he loves Charlotte; she does not reciprocate his love, but she says she will do him the honour of being sincere to him (unlike her behaviour to Darnley). She also says that her family will help Seyward become independent of Cantwell. To herself , Charlotte admits that sincerity is more powerful than coquettishness, and that she will try to make amends with Darnley. Lady Lambert warns Charlotte that the doctor will come to visit her. Cantwell coerces Charlotte into admitting that she hates him, and that she loves Darnley; he denies her permission to marry the latter. They agree to split the inheritance if he gives her permission, with the sole proviso that Cantwell must tell Sir John that he has given Charlotte this permission to marry Darnley. Colonel Lambert arrives to tell Charlotte that Seyward has given such a complete account of Cantwell’s bad conduct that a warrant has been issued for his arrest by the Chief Justice. Darnley takes Seward to the Attorney General to liberate him from Cantwell. Charlotte and Darnley are reconciled. On the verge of Darnley’s proposal, Colonel Lambert enters to announce that he will ensure they are married in a week.
Act V.
Sir John agrees to speak with Darnley. He admits that the doctor has suggested that Charlotte marry Darnley, but is unaware of the two-thousand-pound transaction behind the scenes. Sir John is confounded by the doctor’s motives. Lady Lambert offers to demonstrate to him the doctor’s illicit passion for her; Sir John agrees. Sir John eavesdrops on Lady Lambert and Cantwell’s conversation; Lady Lambert professes her love for the doctor. When Cantwell says that Sir John is weak, the latter emerges from his hiding-place and confronts the adulterer, ordering him from the house. Cantwell, however, is in possession of the signed deed that reveals that he is the sole owner of Sir John’s house. Old Lady Lambert and Maw-Worm enter. When Sir John says that he has caught the doctor seducing his wife, Maw-Worm protests: “It’s unpossible. He has been lock'd up with my wife for hours together, morning, noon, and night, and I never found her the worse for him.” Charlotte enters breathlessly to announce that a pistol fight has just taken place between Seyward, Darnley and the doctor. No one has been harmed, but Maw-worm and Old Lady Lambert accuse Seyward of attempted murder of the doctor, despite his story to the contrary. At this critical moment, Tipstaff, a police official, enters with the warrant for Cantwell’s arrest. The false deed is revealed: all the property has been given to Colonel Lambert, rather than to the doctor. Charlotte concludes that her father must take care of hypocrites, but recognize true devotion and piety.
Secondary commentary |
Secondary commentary
a) Rudolph, Valerie C.‘Isaac John Bickerstaff: September 26, 1733-1808’. Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 89: Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Dramatists, Third Series. Edited by Paula R. Backscheider, University of Rochester. The Gale Group, 1989. Literature Resource Center. 23 May 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&OP=contains&locID=utoronto_main&srchtp=athr&ca=3&c=1&ste=6&tab=1&tbst=arp&ai=U14382890&n=10&docNum=H1200002452&ST=bickerstaff+isaac&bConts=141>
Hypocrite, one of Bickerstaff's most popular adaptations of Molière, opened on 17 November 1768. Based on Molière's Tartuffe (1664), as adapted by Colley Cibber in The Non-Juror (1717), Bickerstaff's version enjoyed almost a century of popularity. Dr. Cantwell is the religious hypocrite--a villainous con artist with designs on the fortune and wife of Sir John Lambert. Sir John's piety leads him to disinherit his son, to sign over his estate to Cantwell, and to try to force his daughter to marry the hypocrite. Cantwell is finally exposed, and all ends well. Unlike in Molière's play, no king intervenes to bring about justice, though Cantwell is eventually turned over to the law. Bickerstaff's original contribution to the Molière-Cibber plot is the character of Mr. Maw-worm, a religious enthusiast, who continues to support Cantwell even after he is unmasked, attributing all the accusations against him to the work of the devil. Excess of anything, even of religion, needs to be subjected to reason and moderation--the point of the comedy.
Varieties & Dialects |
Overview of varieties / dialects
Overview of varieties / dialects
A few conjugation variations (Old Lady Lambert, Charlotte); religious diction (Doctor Cantwell); malapropisms and added ‘s’ to verbs (Maw-Worm)
Variety: Old Lady Lambert
a. Sample of dialect:
[Pages 14-5]
“---ugly / distempers are often catched there---
b.1 Orthography
b.2 Grammar: “catched”
b.3 Vocabulary
c. Nationality: English
d. Character profile: aged, high-class woman
e. Consistency of representation: only in this instance
Variety: Doctor Cantwell
a. Sample of dialect:
[Page 15]
Alas, Madam! I am not a good man; I am a guilty wicked sinner, full of iniquity; the greatest villain that ever breathed; every instant of my life is clouded with stains; it is one continued series of crimes and defilements; you do not know what I am capable of; you indeed take me for a good man; but the truth is, I am a worthless creature.
b.1 Orthography
b.2 Grammar
b.3 Vocabulary: religious diction: “wicked sinner”, “iniquity”
c. Nationality: English
d. Character profile: eponymous hypocrite
e. Consistency of representation: consistent to his religious persona; he even uses this diction in the seduction scenes
Variety: Charlotte Lambert
a. Sample of dialect
[Page 18]
[…] how durst you bolt with such authority into my chamber without giving me notice?
[Page 19]
I was sitting carelessly in my dressing-room---a---a fastening my garter
with
[Page 20 ]
my face just towards the door; and this impudent our, without the least notice, comes bounce in upon me---
[Page 20]
Charlotte.
Well---O lud! one looks so silly tho', when one is serious---O gad---in short, I cannot get it out.
Col. Lambert .
I warrant you; try again.
Charlotte.
O lud---well---if one must be teiz'd then---why, he must hope, I think
[Page 30]
But you may tell the Doctor from me, Madam, that he is an impudent coxcomb, a puppy, and deserves to have his bones broke.
[Page 40]
Charlotte.
Stay, let me see---O---ay---Zoe kai Psuche.
Seyward.
I hope you know the English of them, Madam.
b.1 Orthography: “our” (may be an error in transcription)
b.2 Grammar: “how durst you” (archaic); “a-a-fastening” (this may be hesitation); “comes bounce in” (participle); “deserves to have his bones broke”
b.3 Vocabulary: attempts to speak Greek (“Zoe kai Psuche”); “O lud” and “O gad” repeated (mild pejoratives)
c. Nationality: English
d. Character profile: young, well-bred woman
e. Consistency of representation: this instance only
Variety: Maw-worm
a. Sample of dialect:
[Page 35]
Maw-worm.
We deals in grocery, tea, small-beer, charcoal, butter, brick-dust, and the like.
Old Lady Lambert .
Well; you must consult with your friendly director here.
Maw-worm.
I wants to go a preaching.
[Page 36]
Maw-worm.
I told them so---says I, I does nothing clandecently; I stand here contagious to his Majesty's guards, and, I charges you upon your apparels, not to [50] mistist me.
Old Lady Lambert .
And it had no effect.
Maw-worm.
No more, than if I spoke to so many postesses; but if he advises me to go a preaching, and quit my shop, I'll make an excressance farther into the country.
[Page 37] “I conwicted”
b.1 Orthography: “conwicted” (Latinate)
b.2 Grammar: adds ‘s’ to verbs -- “I wants”
b.3 Vocabulary: malapropisms: “postesses” (posts), “excressance” (excursion), “clandecently” (clandestinely), “mistist” (resist? mistake?)
c. Nationality: English
d. Character profile: shopkeeper in cahoots with Cantwell
e. Consistency of representation: very consistent
Variety: Sir John Lambert
a. Sample of dialect:
[Page 58]
Here, thou curse of my life, if thou art not lost to conscience, and all sense of honour, repair the injury you have attempted, by confessing your rancour, and throwing yourself at his feet.
b.1 Orthography:
b.2 Grammar: variation between “thou” and “you”
b.3 Vocabulary:
c. Nationality: English
d. Character profile: aristocratic and misguided elderly man
e. Consistency of representation: inconsistent
Variety: Colonel Lambert
a. Sample of dialect:
“we go to church orderly”
b.1 Orthography
b.2 Grammar: flat adverb (“orderly”)
b.3 Vocabulary
c. Nationality: English
d. Character profile: young aristocrat
e. Consistency of representation: this instance only
Narrative comments on dialects and varieties:
Old Lady Lambert comments on Maw-Worms malapropisms:
[Page 36]
Old Lady Lambert .
He wants method, Doctor.
[Page 37 ]
Doctor Cantwell .
Yes, Madam, but there is matter; and I despise not the ignorant.
Other points of interest |
Other points of interest:
Satire on the sinfulness of playgoers:
[Page 16]
Darnley.
Why, I hope it is no sin, Madam; if I am not mistaken, I have seen your ladyship at a play.
Old Lady Lambert .
Me, Sir! see me at a play! you may have seen the prince of darkness, or some of his imps, in my likeness, perhaps---
Commentary on girls’ boarding schools:
[Page 25]
Sir John Lambert .
Frolicksome! Why you sensual ideot, what have frolicks to do with solid happiness? I am a sham'd of you.---Go, you talk worse than a girl at a boarding-school.
©2008 Arden Hegele