{{short description|1717 play}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox play | name = The Sultaness | image =File:The sultaness- a tragedy Fleuron N037127-4.png | image_size = | caption = Passage from the published version of the play | writer = Charles Johnson | setting = | date of premiere = 25 February 1717<ref>Burling p.64</ref> | original language = English | place = Drury Lane Theatre | series = | subject = | genre = Tragedy }} '''''The Sultaness''''' is a 1717 tragedy by the British writer Charles Johnson. It is a reworking of the 1672 French play ''Bajazet'' by Jean Racine set in the Ottoman Empire. In common with early eighteenth century plays it places much greater emphasis on the emotional anguish of its female characters than Racine's original.<ref>Orr p.66</ref>
Like other plays set in Ottoman courts there may have been subtle parallels with contemporary British politics, particularly the divisions between George I and his son George, Prince of Wales. More strongly the play references the ongoing Austro-Turkish War and the role of Prince Eugene of Savoy who later that year won a major victory at the Siege of Belgrade.<ref>Orr p.67</ref>
The original cast included Barton Booth as Bajazet, Mary Porter as Roxana, Anne Oldfield as Atalida, John Mills as Acomat and Lacy Ryan as Osmyn. Johnson used the preface of the play to attack the recent comedy ''Three Hours After Marriage'' by John Gay and Alexander Pope, provoking a long-standing rivalry. In 1720 it was followed at Drury Lane by another oriental-set drama ''The Siege of Damascus'' by John Hughes, which took a more original approach.<ref>Orr p.66</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== * Burling, William J. ''A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992. * Orr, Bridget. ''British Enlightenment Theatre: Dramatizing Difference''. Cambridge University Press, 2020.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sultaness}} Category:1717 plays Category:Plays by Charles Johnson Category:West End plays Category:British tragedy plays Category:Plays set in the Ottoman Empire Category:Plays set in the 17th century Category:Fiction set in 17th-century Ottoman Empire Category:Adaptations of works by Jean Racine
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