Otway, Thomas

Japanese: オトウェー（英語表記）Otway， Thomas

Born: 3 March 1652, Trotton, Sussex
[Died] April 14, 1685, London. English playwright. Born into a clergyman's family, he dropped out of Oxford University to become an actor. Failing that, he turned to playwriting. After publishing the tragedies Alcibiades (1675) and Don Carlos (76), he became disillusioned with life in London and joined the army in 1678, traveling to the Netherlands. Returning the following year, he resumed his playwriting. His well-received The Orphan (80) is a tragic tale of twin brothers who fall in love with an orphaned girl, and all three of them commit suicide in the end. His best-known work Venice Preserved (82) is about a man who takes part in a conspiracy to overthrow the Venetian government, but is torn between his love for his wife, the daughter of an influential man, and his loyalty to his friends, leading to his downfall. These works were all tragedies in verse, and were described as reminiscent of Elizabethan tragedies, but the author himself died in poverty at the young age of 33. His other works include the comedy The Soldier's Fortune (81), and adaptations of plays by Molière and Racine.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

[生]1652.3.3. サセックス，トロットン
[没]1685.4.14. ロンドン
イギリスの劇作家。牧師の家に生れ，オックスフォード大学を中退，俳優を志望。失敗して劇作に転じた。悲劇『アルシバイアディーズ』 Alcibiades (1675) ，『ドン・カルロス』 Don Carlos (76) などを発表したのち，ロンドンの生活に失望して，1678年軍隊に入り，オランダに渡る。翌年帰国，再び劇作に従事する。『みなしご』 The Orphan (80) は，双子の兄弟がみなしごの娘を愛し，最後には3人とも自殺するという悲劇で，好評を博した。代表作『ベニスは安泰』 Venice Preserved (82) は，ベニス政府転覆の陰謀に加担した男が，有力者の娘である妻への愛情と仲間への信義との板ばさみに悩み，破滅にいたるという内容。これらはいずれも韻文悲劇で，エリザベス朝悲劇を思わせるものと評されたが，作者自身は 33歳の若さで貧窮のうちに死んだ。ほかに喜劇『兵士の運命』 The Soldier's Fortune (81) ，モリエールやラシーヌの戯曲の改作がある。

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