A Blot in the 'Scutcheon a Tragedy
This play was written in 1843 at the request of Macready, and very rapidly, in four or five days. A misunderstanding with Macready, fully related in Mrs. Orr's Life and Letters of Robert Browning, I. 168-184, and in Mr. Gosse's Personalia, led to a breach between the two friends.
The play was received with great applause, but circumstances prevented it from being kept on the boards. It has, however, been reproduced both in England and in America, near the close of Browning's life and after his death. Helen Faucit, afterward Lady Martin, took the part of Mildred. The play was printed shortly after it first appeared, as No. V. of Bells and Pomegranates.
PERSONS
Mildred Tresham.
Guendolen Tresham.
Thorold, Earl Tresham.
Austin Tresham.
Henry, Earl Mertoun.
Gerard, and other Retainers of Lord Tresham.
Time, 17—