A Court Duel as Performed by Wilkie Collins, with an Analysis of the Manuscript, Playbill, and Advertisement

Wilkie Collins, along with his brother, a cousin, four friends, and professional actresses Jane Mordaunt, Mrs. Tayleure, and Mrs. H. Hughes, appeared in one amateur performance of A Court Duel, from the French Un Duel sous le Cardinal de Richelieu by Lockroy and Badon, on 26 February 1850. The venue...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Dickens studies annual 2016-01, Vol.47, p.223-288
Main Author: Robert C. Hanna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dueling
Emigration
Love
Mothers
Palaces
Pardons
Playbills
Queens
Swords
Theater
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Summary:Wilkie Collins, along with his brother, a cousin, four friends, and professional actresses Jane Mordaunt, Mrs. Tayleure, and Mrs. H. Hughes, appeared in one amateur performance of A Court Duel, from the French Un Duel sous le Cardinal de Richelieu by Lockroy and Badon, on 26 February 1850. The venue was London's Soho Theatre, previously Miss Kelly's Theatre, in support of the Fund for Promoting Female Emigration to Australia, specifically seamstresses living in poverty. This article examines the performance's advertisement and playbill, including the venue and charity; identifies the amateur and professional performers; summarizes the play's intricate plot; lists major differences between the original play and its English translation; analyzes the manuscript (Act III of which is in Collins's handwriting); considers why Collins might have selected this play for a charitable performance; and reviews themes and plot events in the play subsequently explored by Collins in his own literature from 1850 through 1860. The article then presents the full text of A Court Duel.
ISSN:0084-9812
2167-8510