User:Jmckennaiii/sandbox

Reception and Legacy
During the 18th century, Hannah Cowley was widely commended for her writing. Letters to, and about her often compare her to Aphra Behn, and Susanna Centlivre. They also compare her to a nymph and speak of her beauty alongside her writing skills. Richard Fenton, a topographer and poet at the time wrote "Whilst smit with ev'ry kindred feature, Reflected from the pretty creature, Proud of his claim, the god of wit had gloried to have father'd it." Her plays were very successful, upon it's premier, The Belle's Stratagem ran for an impressive 28 consecutive nights. Her reception at the time was not totally favorable however. As often comes with success, she became the source of jealousy for some. She soon found herself under the scrutiny, and active malice of rival playwright Richard Sheridan. After purchasing a large share of Drury Lane, he refused to show any of Cowley's plays. To take this transgression further, he convinced the manager of Covent Garden to not show any play that Drury Lane refused. At one point, the manager of the Covent Garden Theater staged Hannah Moore's play Percy which undoubtedly sparked the letter war, and accusations of plagiarism between the two women. She was criticized alongside of Anne Inchbald by Anthony Pasquin. "But Cowley and Inchbald more mad than their neighbours, with God and the Devil besprinkle their labors; Sure the traits of the mind be oddly directed, When their baudry destroys what their morals effected."

As is the case with most early women writers, recently Cowley's works have fallen back into the light. This could be attributed to the third-wave of feminism which began in the early 1990's. Recent opinions of her praise the inversion of gender roles, unconventional views of the social hierarchy, and non traditional views of marriage. In addition to writing these into her original works, she also wrote an adaptation of Aphra Behn's The Lucky Chance which shared some of her early feminist ideas. A School for Greybeards displays the same issues as Behn's work, but in the more subtle satire that is associate with Cowley. Cowley's most popular work, The Belle's Stratagem, is a direct reworking of The Beaux's Stratagem by George Farquhar. Aside from the similar character names, the plot is almost identical save the gender inversions. This was unusual for the time, as a woman is actively pursuing a man and using manipulation to do so. A Bold Stroke for a Husband was of the same manner, as it was a rewriting of Centlivre's A Bold Stroke for a Wife. The gender roles were reversed once again, having the female protagonist drive the deception plot. Due to these unconventional ideas, the plays were faced by some opposition, but were mostly very popular among both actors and audiences.

While her works have returned under the microscope of literary scholars, they are rarely seen on stage. There are not many physical memories of Hannah Cowley. Aside from her published texts, the only memories of her lie in the town of Tiverton. There in the local museum are the broken pieces of her gravestone, and on her house a plaque which has a picture of her and a brief description.