Edward Moore

Edward Moore 1712-57, English dramatist. He wrote two comedies in the sentimental tradition, The Foundling (1748) and Gil Blas (1751), but his reputation as a dramatist rests primarily on his prose tragedy The Gamester (1753).

Moore, Edward (1712–57), wrote poems and fables but is best remembered as a dramatist. His first comedy, The Foundling (1748), may owe something to Richardson's Pamela; Gil Blas (1751) is a lively comedy of intrigue, the plot of which is taken from Lesage's Gil Blas of Santillane (iv. iii. et seq.). His most successful play was a domestic prose tragedy, The Gamester (1753), an exposure of the vice of gambling, through which the weak creature Beverley is lured to ruin and death by the villain Stukeley. It was adapted by Diderot.

Moore, Edward (1712–57), English dramatist, author of the fashionably sentimental plays The Foundling (1747) and The Gamester (1753). The first bridges the gap between the works of Colley Cibber and Richard Steele and those of Cumberland and Mrs Inchbald. The second, partly written by Garrick who staged it at Drury Lane, is a domestic tragedy in the style of Lillo. Translated into French, it had a marked influence on the development of the tragédie bourgeoise.