Mistress Peachum's Pleasure: A Biography of Lavinia, Duchess of Bolton (Hardback)

This wonderful biography opens in 1711 with the first night of John Gay's 'Beggar's Opera', in which 20-year-old Lavinia Fenton will give her most celebrated performance as Polly Peachum, becoming an overnight sensation. The adopted daughter of a Charing Cross coffee house owner, Lavinia had appeared when she was 18, but it was her performance as Polly Peachum which launched her to celebrity status. After a mere 67 performances she was removed from the play by the Duke of Bolton, who settled GBP400 per annum on her and retained her as his mistress for 32 years until the death of this first wife allowed him to make her the Duchess. She gave the Duke three sons and died in Aix-en-Provence in 1760. The progress of Lavinia's life will be described along with that of the play. Lavinia was at the nexus of cultural politics in Augustan England. As writers the caliber of Gay, Swift, Pope and Arbuthnot - the Scriblerus Club - launched their first attacks on the Whig hegemony. Lavinia in her role as Polly, could be seen as the literal embodiment of their debates. How did Lavinia, the first lower-class heroine of the English stage, whose literary ancestor is probably Moll Flanders, become a Duchess?