Anne Bracegirdle

Anne Bracegirdle (* 1673 in Northamptonshire , † September 12, 1748 in London ) was an English actress.

youth

Anne Bracegirdle was born in Northamptonshire to Justinian Bracegirdle and Martha Furniss and was baptized on November 15, 1671 in Northampton . The inscription on her tombstone, which shows an age of 85, but with which she would have been born around 1663, is a little contradicting this. She was probably raised by the actors and actresses Betterton ( Thomas and Mary ), and it is speculated that she was the "little girl" announced several times before 1688 on the Duke's Company theater posters , with Thomas Betterton one of the leading actors was. She is said to have stood on the stage of the Dorset Garden Theater for the first time in 1680 in the play The Orphan (by Thomas Otway ) . For this reason, the Garrick Club takes 1673 as her correct year of birth.

Career

Her name first appeared in Lord Chamberlain's records in 1688 , where she was performed as a member of the United Company theater company (the merger of Duke's Company and King's Company ), and some of her roles in the following years are in the form of preserved, handwritten cast lists handed down. Accordingly, she played Lucia in Thomas Shadwell's "Squire of Alsatia" in 1688 ; In 1689 the Indian princess Semernia fighting in men's clothing in Aphra Behn's The Widow Ranter - she took on trouser roles in other plays as well - and in 1690 Lady Anne in Shakespeare's Richard III. as well as the Desdemona in Othello . In 1693 she first took on a role in a comedy. She played the Araminta in "The Old Bachelor" (by William Congreve ). From then on she had to do with Congreve's works more often. In 1695 she left the United Company and formed a new ensemble under Betterton's direction and other renegades. At the opening of the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theater she played Angelica in the Congreve piece "Love for Love". This role and that of Belinda in "Provoked Wife" (by John Vanbrugh , 1697) and Almira in "The Mourning Bride" (by Congreve) were among her best performances. Other roles were the Hypolita , in "She Would and She Would Not" (by Colley Cibber, 1702) and Hillaria in "Tunbridge Walks" (by Thomas Baker , 1703). She played the heroines in some of Nicholas Rowe's tragedies and in the contemporary versions of Shakespeare plays. She soon became one of the most important members of the company and a favorite of the audience, recognizable by the number of prologues and epilogues she spoke.

In 1705 she followed Betterton to the Queen's Theater on Haymarket . In Anne Oldfield , she found a serious competitor for the audience there. It is said that the audience should decide which is the most popular actress and the theater had the play "Amorous Widow" (by Betterton) scheduled for two consecutive evenings. The two rivals each played the role of Mrs. Brittle . When it turned out that the audience preferred her rival, Anne Bracegirdle left the stage and only appeared once more in 1709 in Betterton's favor.

Private life has been the subject of much discussion. Colley Cibber noted that she was not unnoticed in her private life, while Macaulay did not hesitate to describe her as “a cold, vain and interested flirtatious woman” who “perfectly understood that the influence of her charm grew with the reputation of her aloofness, which it operated without any effort. ". She was assumed to be secretly married to Congreve, at least to be his lover. At least he was always her close friend and he also left her his legacy. She is also said to have appeared prominently as a benefactor of poor people in Clare Market and the Drury Lane area.

Cibber's records

In his autobiography, written in 1690, Colley Cibber described the Company's first visit to the Theater Royal Drury Lane and about Bracegirdle's performance:

She had no greater Claim to Beauty than what the most desirable Brunette might pretend to. But her Youth and lively Aspect threw out such a Glow of Health and Chearfulness, that on the Stage few Spectators that were not past it could behold her without Desire. It was even a Fashion among the Gay and Young to have a Taste or Tendre for Mrs. Bracegirdle… In all the chief Parts she acted, the Desirable was so predominant, that no Judge could be cold enough to consider from what other particular Excellence she became delightful.

She made no greater claim to beauty than that which the most desirable brunettes claim to have. But her youthful and vivacious appearance exuded such a glow of health and gaiety that when she appeared there were few onlookers who did not indulge in lust at the sight of her. It was a downright fashion among the happy and young to have a taste for Mrs. Bracegirdle ... In all the main roles in which she appeared, the desirable was so dominant that no critic could be cold enough to think about it, from what other particular excellence she became delightful.

Cibber was simply smitten. He describes his own and highest (never fulfilled) wish to become a new and inconspicuous employee of the company, only to “Mrs. Bracegirdles lover to play ”.

Deadly jealousy drama

In 1692, a widely publicized tragedy occurred in a battle for Bracegirdle's favor. The young officer, Captain Richard Hill , had fallen in love with Anne Bracegirdle. He was jealous of Bracegirdle's colleague, the (married) actor William Mountfort , whom he adopted as her lover. On December 9, 1692, he asked a friend, the aristocrat, but nonetheless notorious bully, Lord Mohun , to kidnap the actress after an appearance. When it came to that, she lost courage due to the resistance of accompanying people and they let the actress go. Disappointed by the failure, they had a drink in an adjoining tavern. Adjacent to the Howard Street ( beach ) resident and alerted of Bracegirdles servant Mount Fort was added. When Mountfort made a derogatory remark in the direction of the young officer Hill, the latter jumped up and attacked the actor. Allegedly, Mohun wanted to hold him back (according to eyewitness reports, he just watched). Hill killed Mountfort with a stab in the chest. According to Thomas Babington Macaulay , Bracegirdle was successfully kidnapped, so that Mountfort rushed to her screams and a long sword fight took place. After Mountfort's death the next day, Hill fled the country. Mohun was arrested on the spot and had to answer before the House of Lords. In a verdict that caused widespread outrage, however, Mohun was acquitted on February 6, 1693 with a voting ratio of 69-14.

Anne Bracegirdle died on September 12, 1748. Her wish was to be buried in Westminster Abbey , which was granted.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Anne was probably not baptized until she was a child, in St Giles, Northampton, on November 15, 1671, and was seventy-seven when she died, rather than eighty-five as indicated by her tombstone in Westmister Abbey." J. Milling, "Bracegirdle , Anne (bap. 1671, d. 1748) “, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, September 2010 [ http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/3156 , accessed August 11, 2019
2. ↑ ^{a b} s: en: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica / Bracegirdle, Anne
3. ↑ J. Milling, "Bracegirdle, Anne (bap. 1671, d. 1748)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept. 2010 online , accessed on August 12, 2019]
4. ↑ ^{a b} CollectionsOnline | Name ( s )
5. ↑ ^{a b} "a cold, vain and interested coquette, who perfectly understood how much the influence of her charms was increased by the fame of a severity which cost her nothing." Thomas Babington Macaulay, History of England, Vol IV. P. 386 , s: en: Page: History of England (Macaulay) Vol 4.djvu / 386
6. ^ Cibber, Colley (first edition 1740, ed. Robert Lowe, 1889). "An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber", Vol.1 online
7. ^ Theater Database
8. ↑ According to other sources, he received news elsewhere
9. ↑ s: en: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica / Mohun, Charles Mohun, 4th Baron
10. ↑ Murder of Moutnfort, the Player from "The Romance of London" by John Timbs, 1865

literature

• John Downes, "Roscius Anglicanus"
• Philip Highfill Jr., Kalman A. Burnim, and Edward Langhans (1973-93). Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 . 16 volumes. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press.
• Elizabeth Howe (1992). The First English Actresses: Women and Drama 1660-1700 . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.