An apology for the life of george anne bellamy: "a mingled yarn."
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Abstract
An Apology for the Life of George Anne Bellamy was
chosen for this study because it is representative both of
a group of eighteenth-century theatrical lives and of minor
autobiography generally in the peak years of biographical
writing and because it has been brought sharply to the
fore as a work of intrinsic merit by a favorable appraisal
in Donald A. Stauffer's Art of Biography in Eighteenth Century
England (1941).
The epistolary Apology, which recounts the adventures
of Mrs. Bellamy through her years of success at
Covent-Garden Theatre and through her decline into poverty
and neglect, was published in 1785, gained immediate popularity,
and appeared in four editions by 1786. Critics
praised it highly, but its fame was short. It dropped
into semi-obscurity and for a century and a half was considered
interesting principally as a work of theatrical
history. The assertion of Stauffer that the Apology is
an important biography of its century has directed attention
to it once more, challenging us to a re-evaluation of
the work, both as theatrical history and as literary art.
This paper aims to gather and relate information concerning
the Apology's accomplishments in both these fields and
to estimate its permanent value and significance.
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Description
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University.
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