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THE COXCOMB

A synopsis of the play by Beaumont and Fletcher

The following article is reprinted from A Dictionary of the Drama. W. Davenport Adams. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1904.

The Coxcomb, a comedy by Beaumont and Fletcher, was revived at the Theatre Royal, "seemingly before the Union" (Genest), performed at Court about 1613, and acted at the King's Playhouse in 1669. "Antonio, who gives the name to it, is so conceited and foolish that though his friend, Mercury, tells him he is in love with his wife, yet he insists on his not leaving her, and lays plans to facilitate their intimacy. The main plot concerns Ricardo. He is in love with Viola, and persuades her to elope with him. When he comes to the place of appointment, he is so drunk that he does not know her. She runs off to avoid him.... Ricardo, on recovering his senses, is truly penitent. He at last finds Viola, and they are reconciled." The comedy was revived by the Elizabethan Stage Society in the Inner Temple Hall, London, on February 10, 1898.

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