Nicholas Rowe
 Born on June 20, 1674 in Little Barford, Bedfordshire,
England.
 Died on December 6, 1718
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Rowe Cont.
 Educated at Westminster School
 1688- Became a Kings Scholar
 Inherited his father’s fortune at the age of nineteen
 Had two children: John and Charlotte
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Rowe Cont.
 1709- edited Shakespeare’s plays
 Rowe’s plays include:
 “Ambitious Stepmother,” (1700)
 “Tamerlane” (1701)
 “Fair Penitent” (1703)
 “Biter” (1705)
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She-Tragedy Definition
 “A drama or literary work in which the main character,
a woman, is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow,
especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral
weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable
circumstances.”
She-Tragedy
 Popular during the late 17th and early 18th century
 These plays focused on innocent and virtuous women
who were treated unfairly and suffered because of this.
 Nicholas Rowe coined the term.
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The Fair Penitent
 Male Characters in the play:
 Sciolto
 Altamont
 Horatio
 Lothario- A man who
seduces a woman. Term stemmed from
this play.
 Rossano
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The Fair Penitent cont.
 Female characters in the play:
 Calista
 Lavinia
 Lucillia
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Relationships
 Lavinia and Horatio: represent the ideal marriage.
(Page 659).
 Calista and Altamont: represent issues with arranged
marriages. (Page 645).
 Calista and Lothario: represent dysfunction and
immorality. (Page 641).
 Lucilla: represents fear of men and relationships. (Page
642).
Death
Death enables a comic relief throughout the play.
Most characters in the play experience death towards
the end of the text.
The characters depict death as ideal and favorable.
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Discussion
 1) This is the first play we have seen that contains a
prologue at the beginning of the play. Why do you
think this is and is it beneficial?
 2) Unlike the other plays we have viewed, Nicholas
Rowe sympathizes with women and illustrates their
hardships. It is interesting that a male playwright of
this particular time period would do this. Does he
accurately portray women and how they may feel in
these situations?
Discussion Cont.
 3) Calista and Sciolto have an interesting fatherdaughter relationship. At times it appears that Sciolto’s
relationship with Altamont is stronger than the
relationship he has with his own daughter. What are
your thoughts/opinions on this?
 4) This play contains many different elements that we
have not seen in previous plays. What are some of
these differences?
Works Cited

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2010). The Fair Penitent. Retrieved October 29, 2010
from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1670993/The-FairPenitent.
Wikipedia. (2010). Nicholas Rowe. Retrieved October 26, 2010 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Rowe_(writer).

Wikisource. (2009). The Fair Penitent. Retrieved October 26, 2010 from
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Fair_Penitent.

Soylent Communications. (2010). Nicholas Rowe. Retrieved October 27, 2010
from http://www.nndb.com/people/169/000095881/.

Encyclopedia.com. (2010). Rowe, Nicholas. Retrieved October 27, 2010 from
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-RoweNicholas.html.

Dictionary.com. (2010). She-Tragedy. Retrieved October 27, 2010 from
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/she-tragedy.