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The Widow Ranter and Royalist Culture in Colonial Virginia

The Widow Ranter and Royalist Culture in Colonial Virginia jenny hale pulsipher Brigham Young University The Widow Ranter andRoyalistCulture inColonial Virginia ‘‘None but those of the meanest quality and curruptest lives go [to Virginia],’’ wrote William Berkeley, governor of the colony, in 1663. When even Virginia’s governor, a man concerned with promoting the colony’s growth and welfare, admitted as much, it is no surprise that accounts of Virginia society on both sides of the Atlantic painted it as base, corrupt— the very inversion of proper order. One such depiction is found in Aphra Behn’s playTheWidowRanter, which recounted Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676. First performed in 1689 and published a year later, the play’s dedicatory let- ter assured Madame Welldon that she would find it a good comedy, ‘‘(tho’ low) by reason which many of the Characters are such only as our Newgate afforded, being Criminals Transported’’ (2). Indeed, the play boasts a rollicking cast of characters—most famously the Widow Ranter herself. She and others, including a former convict or two, are aptly described as ‘‘low.’’ These characters’ rise to positions of power and influence is crucial to the comedy of the play and has led some to think Behn intended it as an affirmation of creole society in the http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Early American Literature University of North Carolina Press

The Widow Ranter and Royalist Culture in Colonial Virginia

Pulsipher, Jenny Hale.
Early American Literature , Volume 39 (1) – Mar 19, 2004
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Publisher
University of North Carolina Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 The University of North Carolina Press.
ISSN
1534-147X

Abstract

jenny hale pulsipher Brigham Young University The Widow Ranter andRoyalistCulture inColonial Virginia ‘‘None but those of the meanest quality and curruptest lives go [to Virginia],’’ wrote William Berkeley, governor of the colony, in 1663. When even Virginia’s governor, a man concerned with promoting the colony’s growth and welfare, admitted as much, it is no surprise that accounts of Virginia society on both sides of the Atlantic painted it as base, corrupt— the very inversion of proper order. One such depiction is found in Aphra Behn’s playTheWidowRanter, which recounted Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676. First performed in 1689 and published a year later, the play’s dedicatory let- ter assured Madame Welldon that she would find it a good comedy, ‘‘(tho’ low) by reason which many of the Characters are such only as our Newgate afforded, being Criminals Transported’’ (2). Indeed, the play boasts a rollicking cast of characters—most famously the Widow Ranter herself. She and others, including a former convict or two, are aptly described as ‘‘low.’’ These characters’ rise to positions of power and influence is crucial to the comedy of the play and has led some to think Behn intended it as an affirmation of creole society in the

Journal

Early American Literature – University of North Carolina Press

Published: Mar 19, 2004

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