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Boker, George Henry
Boker, George Henry (1823–90), Philadelphia playwright, showed his romantic leanings by the medieval Spanish setting of his first blank‐verse tragedy, Calaynos (1849). He tried romantic comedy in The Betrothal (1850), social satire in The World a Mask (1851), and blank‐verse comedy in The Widow's Marriage (1852, unproduced), but his forte was romantic tragedy. Leonor de Guzman (1853) demonstrated his power in this form, contrasting the character of Leonor, the mistress of Alfonso XII, with that of his wife, Queen Maria. Boker's greatest achievement was Francesca da Rimini (1855), a verse tragedy of high literary quality as well as good theater, based on the story of Paolo and Francesca. It was successfully revived (1885–86), and this encouraged the author to write two similar plays, Nydia and Glaucus, suggested by Bulwer‐Lytton's Last Days of Pompeii, but these were never produced. Some narrative and shorter poems were issued in Plays and Poems (1856). Nydia and Sonnets were issued in 1929. He was minister to Turkey (1871–75) and to Russia (1875–79).
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Cite this article
James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Boker, George Henry." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Boker, George Henry." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-BokerGeorgeHenry.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Boker, George Henry." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-BokerGeorgeHenry.html |
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Boker, George Henry
Boker, George Henry (1823–90), American dramatist and a poet of some standing, one of the few successful writers in modern times of poetic tragedy. His romantic dramas based on historical incidents included Calaynos (1849) and Leonor di Guzman (1853), both with Spanish settings. The most popular was Francesca da Rimini, first produced for only eight performances in New York in 1855, but revived in 1883 by Lawrence Barrett with himself as Lanciotto, Francesca's husband, who in Boker's version is the chief character. It remained in Barrett's repertory for many years. Boker also wrote two comedies in verse, The Betrothal (1850) and The Widow's Marriage (1852), and one in prose, The World a Mask (1851), a melodrama The Bankrupt (1855), and several unproduced plays. He was American envoy to Turkey, 1871–5, and to Russia, 1875–8.
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Cite this article
PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Boker, George Henry." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Boker, George Henry." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-BokerGeorgeHenry.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Boker, George Henry." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-BokerGeorgeHenry.html |
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George Henry Boker
George Henry Boker , 1823–90, American poet and playwright, b. Philadelphia, grad. Princeton, 1842. He is best remembered for his romantic and heroic tragedies, written in the manner of Elizabethan drama. The best of these were Leonor de Guzman (1853) and Francesca da Rimini (1855), based on the story of Francesca and Paolo. He also wrote a series of love sonnets.
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Cite this article
"George Henry Boker." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "George Henry Boker." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Boker-Ge.html "George Henry Boker." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Boker-Ge.html |
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