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The Provoked Wife (1697) is the second originalcomedy written byJohn Vanbrugh. It made its first appearance inLincoln's Inn Fields in May, 1697. The premise of the plot, of a wife trapped in an abusive marriage might consider either leaving it or taking a lover, outraged some sections ofRestoration society. A later unfinished play by Vanbrugh was completed byColley Cibber and staged under the titleThe Provoked Husband in 1728.
The hitherto virtuous Lady Brute is provoked to infidelity by her sour husband Sir John Brute. Married in haste – she for money, he for sex – the Brutes are shackled by wedlock but looking for diversions. He goes off for a drunken night on the town and ends up before a magistrate, disguised in his wife's frock.
Meanwhile, Lady Brute and her niece Belinda dress as Shepherd Market doxies for a secret tryst with their suitors Heartfree and Constant and are spied on by the envious Lady Fanciful, who wants Heartfree for herself. Belinda, despite interference from Lady Fanciful, wins her man and marries for love. It ends sadly for the boozy Brute who attempts to rape his wife, discovers two gallants lurking in his wardrobe and finally ends up accepting certain situations rather than becoming a human pincushion, i.e., fighting a duel to satisfy his honor.
Writer and Professor of English Frank McCormick raises doubt on the often-repeated claim that Vanbrugh wrote part of his comedyThe Provoked Wife in theBastille being based on allusions in a couple of much later memoirs. It is different in tone from his first play, the largely farcical 1696comedyThe Relapse, and adapted to the greater acting skills of the new company of actors chosen for its premiere, who walked out not long before in a dispute with management.
The actors' cooperative boasted the established star performers of the age, and Vanbrugh tailoredThe Provoked Wife to their specialties. WhileThe Relapse had been robustly phrased to be suitable for amateurs and minor acting talents, he could count on versatile professionals likeThomas Betterton,Elizabeth Barry, and the rising young starAnne Bracegirdle to do justice to characters of depth and nuance.
The Provoked Wife is a comedy, but Elizabeth Barry who played the abused wife was especially famous as a tragic actress, and for her power of "moving the passions", i.e., moving an audience to pity and tears. Barry and the younger Bracegirdle had often worked together as atragicomic heroine pair to bring audiences the typically tragicomic rollercoaster experience ofRestoration plays. Vanbrugh takes advantage of this schema and these actresses to deepen audience sympathy for the unhappily married Lady Brute, even as she fires off her witty ripostes. In the intimate conversational dialogue between Lady Brute and her niece Belinda (Bracegirdle), and especially in the star part of Sir John Brute the brutish husband (Betterton), which was hailed as one of the peaks of Thomas Betterton's remarkable career,The Provoked Wife is something as unusual as a Restorationproblem play.
One of the first radio adaptations was broadcast on theBBC Third Programme on 15 June 1948.[1] The production was adapted by Ronald Simpson, and the cast includedNorman Shelley as Sir John Brute,Lydia Sherwood as Lady Brute,Ellen Pollock as Lady Fanciful.
In 1963, Prospect Productions (Oxford Playhouse) presented at Century Theatre, Binsey. They presented in Oxford as well. Toby Robertson, producer, June Brown, Trevor Martin (Sir John Brute),John Bonney, Tim Seely as gallants and A Bell as Bellinda, Eileen Atkins as Lady Brute. Josephine Woodford as the maid, Robert Arnold her suitor and Edward Hardwicke as the J.P. Alan Barrett provided sets and it featured the "clever pastiche" ofMadeleine Dring. It was repeated at Georgian Theatre, Richmond, Yorkshire.[2] This show was brought to London to the Vaudeville.[3]
Trevor Peacock played Sir John Brute,Prunella Scales Lady Brute andZoe Wanamaker Belinda in a production at theWatford Palace Theatre 21 February – 10 March 1973.
In 1991, the play was presented in the short-lived open-air theatre at theWeald and Downland Museum nearChichester. It starredSam Kelly as Sir John Brute andPhilippa Urquhart as Lady Fanciful.
In December 2004,BBC Radio 3 broadcast an adaptation byJim Poyser directed by Pauline Harris.[4] The cast includedJulian Rhind-Tutt as Heartfree,Tom Mannion as Constant, Dave Hill as Sir John Brute,Saskia Reeves as Lady Brute,Sarah Smart as Belinda, Josie Lawrence as Lady Fanciful, Tonia Chauvet as Claudette, David Crellin as Colonel Bully and Alexander Delamere as Lord Rake. The production was re-broadcast on 19 July 2015.[5]
In March 2010, the Generation Theatre of San Francisco, CA presentedProvoquée, a play by Roland David Valayre (who also directed the production) based onThe Provoked Wife and performed entirely in French, at the Off Market Theater, San Francisco.[6] The cast included Cécile Lejeune, Françoise Lejeune, Benoît Levet, Michel Gasquy, Pierre-Yves Gouret, Marion Lovinger, Vincent Madiot, Thierry Rosset and Mireille Sagne. Generation Theatre later produced the actual Vanbrugh play 17 April – 4 May 2014.[7]
In June 2014,Michael Cordner directed the play at the Department of Theatre, Film and Television, University of York.[8]
In 2019, the play was performed as part of the summer season at theRoyal Shakespeare Company, directed by Phillip Breen.[9]
