Davenant

Am I correct that the evening included a rousing soliloquy by Lady Davenant from the marvelous play "Or," performed by one of the gentlemen in attendance?

Eleventh Night deliasherman 2010

The truth is that in an age of huge political upheaval, those who lived long enough to welcome the restoration of the monarchy, such as the disfigured William Davenant or Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, did at least have one thing in common: They were survivors rather than reprobates.

Pens at the Ready Mark Archer 2011

Dryden had in truth done little but translate the play from the French, and the language felt patchy at best his new post of Poet Laureate—he took over when Will Davenant died—has made him neglectful of his playhouse duties.

Exit the Actress Priya Parmar 2011

Hart was much engaged with the serious Sir Will Davenant who wears an inky black kerchief to cover the hole where his nose should be—gruesome.

Exit the Actress Priya Parmar 2011

Suckling, Davenant and the poet Edmund Waller were all involved in conspiracies—Davenant and Suckling did their best to stir up an "army plot," at one point bringing in a senior military man to meet the king, but nothing came of it.

Pens at the Ready Mark Archer 2011

According to Davenant, in 1639 Suckling spent the colossal sum of £12,000 on equipping "100 very handsome proper young men, whom he clad in white doublets and scarlett breeches, and scarlet coates, hatts, and . . . feathers" to lend military support to the king's ill-fated advance against the first Scottish rebellion, one episode in the long period of conflict.

Pens at the Ready Mark Archer 2011

Davenant's face was disfigured—his nose had been eaten away—by the mercury vapor he inhaled as a treatment for a case of syphilis.

Pens at the Ready Mark Archer 2011

William Davenant was a godson of Shakespeare, and he and several of his fellow wits were "Sons of Ben"—drinking associates of Ben Jonson, Shakespeare's friend and fellow playwright.

Pens at the Ready Mark Archer 2011

Davenant and Waller were briefly imprisoned before buying their way out, Davenant protesting that his threats were "but loose Arguments, debated at Table perhaps, with too much fancy and heat."

Pens at the Ready Mark Archer 2011

The king and his queen were enthusiastic participants in masques, or courtly entertainments, which were commissioned from Davenant, Carew and others to flatter the monarch and, only with some daring, to advise him.

Pens at the Ready Mark Archer 2011