Hi readers! I hope you are enjoying a lovely week! I am very excited to welcome back author Riana Everly to Austenesque Reviews today. As you may already know, Riana Everly is the author many Austenesque books, including a brilliant mash-up of Pride and Prejudice and Pygmalion – titled Teaching Eliza. And I’m so excited to see that Riana Everly’s newest novel is also a mash-up, this time Jane Austen is crossing paths with Shakespeare! 

Riana is here to share the history behind a play that is featured in her new novel Much Ado in Meryton! 🎭 We hope you enjoy! 😊

The Rivals by Sheridan

In my new novel, Much Ado in Meryton, Jane Bennet suffers an injury and is forced to spend much longer at Netherfield than in Austen’s original novel. To keep her entertained, Mr. Bingley arranges a house party, and one of the activities he plans is the reading of a play.

Several years ago, I saw a wonderful production of The Rivals in New York City, and have longed for some way to include it in one of my novels. This, I thought, was a perfect place. The play was popular at the time the novel takes place and had been around for long enough that copies might well be among the offerings in Netherfield’s library. There were also some fun echoes between the characters in the play and those in my story.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816), its author, was born in Dublin to a theatrical family. His mother was a playwright and author, and his father an actor and author. The family moved to England when he was seven. When he was 21, he married the beautiful singer Elizabeth Ann Linley after having fought two duels to protect her name and honour. He was quite the romantic, it seems.

The couple had no income other than Elizabeth’s dwindling dowry and they lived far beyond their means. At last, in a desperate attempt to find some income, Richard turned to the only craft he had that would hopefully get him the funds he needed – writing a play.

This play was The Rivals.

It premiered on January 17, 1775, but received a terrible reception. The role of Sir Lucius O’Trigger, in particular, was poorly acted and the character was so meanly written that audiences were outraged. Sheridan withdrew the play immediately and began to rewrite it. He also apologized for any impression that the character was intended as an insult to Ireland; he, himself, was Irish-born after all. The play reopened eleven days later, this time to significant acclaim, and soon became a favourite of the royal family. It was also, apparently, a favourite of George Washington.

The plot revolves around the wealthy and very young Lydia Languish, who has great Romantic notions of marrying a poor army officer, Ensign Beverley. Unbeknownst to her, Beverley is really Jack Absolute, whose father has arranged a marriage between him and Lydia. Lydia refuses to consider this arrangement, as she is so enthralled by the notion of an elopement. And when Jack is introduced to her, he tells her that he is only pretending to be the baronet’s son so as not to lose her affection. Confused yet? It gets even more complicated with two other suitors, clandestine notes, more deceptions, and some requisite duels. There is, ultimately, a happy ending for almost everyone.

Other characters in the play include Mrs. Malaprop, whose penchant for using the wrong word gave rise to the expression malapropism, and another young couple. Jack has a friend, Faulkland, who is in love with Lydia’s cousin Julia. Faulkland, however, is of a jealous disposition and is constantly fretting about Julia’s faithfulness. They quarrel and make a great many high-flown speeches about love. Do these sound like good matches for Bingley and Jane? Or would these roles be better suited to Lizzy and Darcy? Let me know what you think!

Here is an excerpt from Much Ado in Meryton. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

On the second day, Mr. Bingley had yet another plan for their combined amusement. He had been through all the shelves in the library at Netherfield and had discovered some plays which he proposed the company read aloud. “Look, here are some copies of Sheridan’s The Rivals,” he announced, holding a pile of pamphlets containing the lines of the play. “Let us each take a part. Here, I shall be Jack, unless another wishes to take that role. And Miss Bennet, are you inclined to act a part? Perhaps, as the guest of honour at this little party, you would wish to read Lydia.”

“What? Jane be Lydia?” the youngest Bennet daughter cried out. “That cannot be, for I am Lydia, and only Lydia should read Lydia!”

“Perhaps you should read Lydia, Lizzy,” Jane offered. “You have often confessed to me that only the deepest love would tempt you into marriage, and here is a character who, if I recall the play, desires a deeply romantic affair de coeur.”

Lydia Bennet flounced off in a huff at being denied and went to sit by a small cluster of visiting officers. Elizabeth kept her sigh internal; her sister would one day come to no good if she kept on this way.

But all thoughts of her sister were cast aside when, beside her, she saw Mr. Darcy blink at Jane’s words about her desire for true love. Was he surprised at this? She had thought, after their few days of entente, that he knew her rather well. She wondered if this piece of news would increase the ardency of his devotions to her. For now, she must respond to Jane.

“But what of you, Jane? What shall you read?”

Her sister demurred. “I am no great actress. Let me take a lesser part. Perhaps Julia, who has some very sweet lines. Perhaps I can read her.”

“Then you, Bingley,” Richard joked, “ought to read Faulkland. He makes some very high-flown speeches, which will sit well with you.”

Mr. Bingley clearly did not know the play, for he seemed pleased with this suggestion, and at length the parts were divided up and the pamphlets distributed to all those wishing to participate.

“How unlike Faulkland Mr. Bingley is,” Elizabeth confessed to Darcy when they had a moment to talk together. “Mr. Bingley is so open and happy to be pleased, whilst Faulkland is of a very jealous nature, always believing his lover to be false.”

Darcy laughed. “Indeed, it is so. But whilst Bingley is not a jealous man by nature, he is easily led. In that way, he is not so different from his character.”

This play sounds fascinating! I would love to see it performed live, how wonderful that you had that opportunity, Riana! Thank you so much for including it in your story, I can’t wait to see how these home theatricals play out! 

~ Connect with Riana ~

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~ Author Riana ~

Riana Everly was born in South Africa, but has called Canada home since she was eight years old. She has a Master’s degree in Medieval Studies and is trained as a classical musician, specialising in Baroque and early Classical music. She first encountered Jane Austen when her father handed her a copy of Emma at age 11, and has never looked back.

Riana now lives in Toronto with her family. When she is not writing, she can often be found playing string quartets with friends, biking around the beautiful province of Ontario with her husband, trying to improve her photography, thinking about what to make for dinner, and, of course, reading!

Riana’s novels have received several awards and citations as favourite reads of the year, including two Jane Austen Awards and a Discovering Diamonds review.

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GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

In conjunction with her blog tour for Much Ado in Meryton, Riana Everly is generously giving away 5️⃣  ebooks of Much Ado in Meryton to  5️⃣  lucky winners!

Commenting on this post and entering through the rafflecopter widget on this blog enters you in a chance to win!*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

• This giveaway is open worldwide.  Thank you, Riana!
• This giveaway ends January 30th!

 

*For anybody who cannot use the link, please email me your name and preferred email address and I will add you manually to the list for the draw. My email is riana.everly@gmail.com. Good luck!

 

My gratitude to Riana Everly for paying us this lovely visit and putting together this interesting post!