The Good-Natur'd Man

The Good-Natur'd Man is a 1768 comedy play written by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 29 January 1768.^[1] The original cast included Mary Bulkley as Miss Richland, Isabella Mattocks as Olivia, Ann Pitt as Mrs Croaker, Jane Green as Garnet, William Powell as Mr Honeywood, Edward Shuter as Croaker, Henry Woodward as Lofty, Matthew Clarke as Sir William Honeywood, Robert Bensley as Leontine, John Dunstall as Jarvis, John Cushing as Butler and John Quick as Potboy. The prologue was written by Samuel Johnson.

The Good-Natur'd Man
Mr Honeywell introduces the bailiffs to Miss Richland as his friends by William Powell Frith, 1850
Written by	Oliver Goldsmith
Date premiered	29 January 1768
Place premiered	Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, London
Original language	English
Genre	Comedy
Setting	London, present day

It was a middling success for Goldsmith, and the printed version of the play became popular with the reading public. It was released at the same time as Hugh Kelly's False Delicacy, staged at Drury Lane Theatre. The two plays went head to head, with Kelly's proving the more popular.^[2] Garrick rejected The Good-Natur'd Man, possibly because the story is an antidote of False Delicasy.^[3]

References

1. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Bulkley née Wilford; other married name Barresford, Mary, by John Levitt
2. Sherbune & Bond p.1041
3. Thomson p.139

Bibliography

• Sherburne, George and Bond, Donald F. A Literary History of England, Volume III: The Restoration and Eighteenth Century. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967.
• Thomson, Peter. The Cambridge Introduction to English Theatre, 1660-1900. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

External links

• The Good-Natured Man public domain audiobook at LibriVox
• the GOODNATURED MAN;A COMEDY, IN FIVE acts; By Dr.GOLDSMITH. AS PERFORMED AT THE THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT GARDEN. Script, with remarks by Elizabeth Inchbald. Printed some years after 1768.