Edward Ravenscroft's «Mamamouchi, or The Citizen Turned Gentleman» (1672)

Mamamouchi, or The Citizen Turned Gentleman (1672) was Edward Ravenscroft’s playwriting debut. Its rambunctious comedy and star-studded ensemble earned him spectacular success with the London audiences, quickly turning him into one of the most relevant authors of his time. His unorthodox use of the source material, however, also garnered him the criticism of the literary elites, who accused him of plagiarism because of his adaptation of Molière. In this first-ever critical edition, a fully annotated and modernized version of the text is offered, together with an introduction that examines the social and cultural context in which the play came to exist. This edition looks at how Ravenscroft’s adaptative procedure navigates an environment in which key concepts such as nation-building or copyright law are starting to crystallize, and how this work contributed to further their development.