{{Short description|1723 play by Hildebrand Jacob}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox play | name = The Fatal Constancy | image = | image_size = | caption = | writer = Hildebrand Jacob | setting = Ancient Greece | date of premiere = 22 April 1723<ref>Burling p.101</ref> | original language = English | place = Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London | series = | subject = | genre = Tragedy }} '''''The Fatal Constancy''''' is a 1723 tragedy by the British writer Hildebrand Jacob.<ref>Black p.77</ref> The original cast included Barton Booth as Omphales, John Mills as Zimon, Colley Cibber as Tryphon, Charles Williams as Ammon and Mary Porter as Hesione.
The play ran for five nights at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Biographia_Dramatica_Or_A_Companion_to_t/ywJnoAAvCYkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+fatal+constancy&pg=PA224&printsec=frontcover |title=Biographia Dramatica, Or, A Companion to the Playhouse: Containing Historical and Critical Memoirs, and Original Anecdotes, of British and Irish Dramatic Writers, from the Commencement of Our Theatrical Exhibitions; Among Whom are Some of the Most Celebrated Actors: ... Originally Compiled, to the Year 1764, by David Erskine Baker. Continued Thence to 1782, by Isaac Reed, F. A. S. and Brought Down to the End of November 1811, with Very Considerable Additions and Improvements Throughout, by Stephen Jones. In Three Volumes: 2 |date=1812 |language=en}}</ref>
== Plot == In ancient Greece, a man, Ammon, is upset that his adopted sister, Hesione, whom he is in love with, is going to marry a soldier, Omphales. Ammon decides to blackmail a priest, Zimon, who is officiating the wedding of Omphales and Hesione, into delivering a bad omen that will prevent the two from marrying one another. Tryphon, Hesione's father, believes Zimon's falsehood, and refuses to let his daughter wed Omphales. Omphales leaves the city and conjures up an army of soldiers to overtake Tryphon, but is, along with his allies, defeated and killed. As a result, Hesione, who has been in a state of madness since Omphales's departure, dies. A guilty Ammon bemoans his actions.
== Influences == The prologue to the play states that ''The Fatal Constancy'' resembles ancient Greek drama in its structure. This rings true, as the play takes place over a 24 hour period, and all the deaths take place offstage.
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== * Black, Jeremy. ''Culture in Eighteenth-Century England: A Subject for Taste''. A&C Black, 2007. {{ISBN|978-1-85285-534-5}}. * Burling, William J. ''A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992. {{ISBN|978-0-8386-3451-6}}. * Hildebrand, Jacob. ''The Fatal Constancy.'' Printed for J. Tonson at Shakespear's Head over against Katherine Street, 1723.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatal Constancy}} Category:1723 plays Category:West End plays Category:British tragedy plays Category:Plays set in ancient Greece Category:Plays by Hildebrand Jacob Category:Love stories