The Wonder: A Woman Keeps a Secret

by Susanna Centlivre, John O'Brien

"Susanna Centlivre's play The Wonder (1714) was one of the most popular works on the eighteenth-century English stage. Set in Lisbon, the plot interweaves two romantic intrigues around one "secret": the heroine Violante is hiding her best friend, Isabella (who is the sister of her own lover, Don Felix), from Isabella's father who wishes to marry her off to a rich but decrepit old merchant. Because she is sworn to secrecy, Violante cannot reveal Isabella's whereabouts, nor can she explain to Felix why Isabella's new lover, a dashing British soldier, happens to be about the house, prompting Felix's intense jealousy. Centlivre's critique on the tyrannical patriarchs in the world of the play is at the same time a veiled critique of similar conditions in Augustan-era Britain." This Broadview edition includes contemporary responses (by Richard Steele and Arthur Bedford), biographical accounts, selections of Centlivre's poetry, and early nineteenth-century criticism (by Elizabeth Inchbald and William Hazlitt).

Genres: Plays, Classics, Fiction, 18th Century, Drama

147 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1793

About the author

Susanna Centlivre (c. 1667–1670 – 1 December 1723), born Susanna Freeman and also known professionally as Susanna Carroll, was an English poet, actress, and "the most successful female playwright of the eighteenth century".[1] Centlivre's "pieces continued to be acted after the theatre managers had forgotten most of her contemporaries." [2] During a long career at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, she became known as the second woman of the English stage, after Aphra Behn. (Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another that my drama group read for the Quarantine Years of No Productions.

We really enjoyed it. Felix was definitely beginning to drive me nuts by the end, not gonna lie, and I (who was reading Violente) would NOT have married him. Otherwise I really liked it. It was bawdy, but not as bad as lots of Shakespeare stuff, and it used lots of similar comedy tropes as his comedies. It was in no way subtle about poking at patriarchal norms of the day, and placing it in Lisbon so the characters could moan "Oh it's TOO BAD we don't live in ENGLAND where women are TREATED BETTER and have FREEDOM because they wouldn't want to build a BAD SOCIETY like US" was heavy handed enough to be hilarious.

Super fun.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm rereading this after doing a performance of it this fall. Fun 18th century comedy - lots of miscommunication, misunderstanding, and confused identity. And a ridiculous Scot with impossible to read dialogue!

[Fnaught · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Interesting thing is this specific reference to 'darts' of beauty being fired by the appearance of Donna Violante at this male Colonel character (1). The name literally means Violent Woman. The darts go back to the Bow of Cupid. Female charm is treated as the exact equivalent of male violence." -message I sent to gf explaining this play having half read it.

Having finished it, also of interest are Violante's use of chains and empire as metaphors for her seduction of Felix (and other men), and the tacit idea of the female sovereign presented. Whereas the male sovereign accomplishes his position using mastery of physical power, the female sovereign skips this dynamic entirely to enslave the heart of the male sovereign with her beauty and sensibility. If she rules at all, she rules from the shadows. Historically, this obviously makes sense in many different cultures and societies. See St. Augustine's mother Marcia, Nero's mother Agrippina the Younger, Mrs. The Great (or Cathy), etc.

Apart from that, this play is extraordinarily boring and if Austen didn't play one of the characters in it when she was a girl -[I will find out which one (2)]- I would not have read it. Thesislop.

Footnotes
(1) This later turns out to be Isabella, though he, Colonel Britton, believes it to be Violante.
(2) Perhaps worth checking out as well is what exactly the pamphlet alluded to in the epilogue is 'Affirming we've [women] no Souls, and can't be sav'd'.

[Phoebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty standard early 18th century comedy that's set apart only by its proto-feminist leanings. Other than that, it's your typical comedy of errors; mistaken identity! Cross dressing! A Southern European setting deemed exciting and romantic by English theatergoers at the time! Servants mercilessly subjected to slapstick comedy! A double wedding! If someone unfamiliar with the sub-genre asked me to show them a representative example, I'd definitely choose The Wonder.

[Christopher Good · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven out of ten.

Centlivre's plot - or rather, her plots within plots, designs within designs, and rooms within rooms - rescue this play from being too profound a romantic cliche. Interesting intersections with other eighteenth-century drama, the questions of female authorship and of women's place in society more generally, and so on.

Recommend for scholars of eighteenth-century literature and drama.

[Natalia Stornello · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not the best play I’ve read. Even though this was written after Shakespeare, it feels so OLD. I liked the characters, but the language made the story hard to follow at times. I got frustrated and bored very quickly.

[Mary Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

18th century, NYU

[Dazaiesque · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply hilarious!
I LOVED this play and I'm not really a fan of comedy

[T.J. Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

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