The West Indian: a comedy, in five acts

by Richard Cumberland, Elizabeth Inchbald

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Genres: Plays

94 pages, Paperback

Published June 26, 2010

About the author

English dramatist whose plays were in tune with the sentimental spirit that became an important literary force during the latter half of the 18th century. He was a master of stagecraft, a good observer of men and manners.

See https://www.britannica.com/biography/...

Reviews

[armin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Puts the planters from the West Indies in perspective, not as were generally considered back in the day as uncivilized and brutish people who made a living through enslaved people but as those who lack the savviness and the capacities needed to live and survive in the metropole. It also portrays how the British aristocracy, despite their claims to the moral high ground, were deeply intertwined with the planters of the West Indies and were irredeemably invested in their well-being, although that's not the only jab it takes at the aristocracy. Putting the wealth of aristocrats next to that of the planters is also another moment of tension that the play beautifully portrays.

[Emma]

Read for uni- Comedy of Difference

[Julian Munds · Rating 2 out of 5]

As my journey in this anthology completes, I am left wanting. I now understand why so little of the theatrical works of the 18th century English theatre are remembered. They present little but humming and hawing to discuss. This play is largely uninteresting. What is neat is the chauvinism between the True English and the colonials. The epilogue by David Garrick is again a great example of the vacuousness of the theatre of this period. What he says about women being nothing but empty heads that dress the brains is startling to say the least. Although his explanation that the women of "queen bess's time" were somehow superior is both parodic of the medieval mindset and startling. This shows that most of this play was to be done in tongue in cheek and without that simple motivation it is difficult to understand.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfect exemplar of the City Comedy, this play has multiple interweaving plots, young lovers, fortunes, confused and mistaken identities, and all the rest without falling into the usual trap of becoming too complicated or utterly ridiculous. Even so, it is still a very silly play which feels overly contrived, and whose 'lessons learned' don't come off as all that important.

[Melanie Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good play - lots of fun!

[Eleni]

Comedy graduate course