The London Merchant

Rating:
Summary: "I now am-- what I've made myself."
Review: 'The London Merchant' is one of the best-known works in the genre of domestic tragedy. Basically it's a play about "just plain folk" and their downfall. This particular example is the story of a young man who is brought to his ruin by a scheming she-devil. I like it because it hasn't aged well. The emphasis is on virtue, hard work, and God's mercy on sinners, and boy does the author ever hit us over the head with it! Much of the dialogue is unintentionally funny. Take this bit, where our virtuous young hero is being seduced by the villainess: "My pulse beats high-- my senses all are in a hurry, and I am on the rack of wild desire. Yet, for a moments guilty pleasure, shall I lose my innocence, my peace of mind, and hopes of solid happiness?" Yes, you shall, you poor naive pup.

Millwood, though she's the living embodiment of evil, is a pretty cool lady. Her attitude is so magnificently ruthless! Oh, and Barnwell is totally lusting after his best friend Trueman. The scenes in Act 5 between those two are beautifully homoerotic, sure to cause the reader to shed a tear or two.

Rating:
Summary: Three stars for a nauseous sermon
Review: The London Merchant has disappeared from the stage with little loss to modern audiences. As an example of Restoration drama, it is occasionally assigned reading for English majors. The critic Charles Lamb described it as a nauseous sermon.

Nonetheless, George Lillo's play was a resounding success in London in the summer of 1731 and was apparently performed 179 times by 1776. Its repetitious moral lessons and its laudatory attitude toward commercial trade seemingly resonated with eighteenth century audiences.

The London Merchant is based on a popular ballad that recalled a notorious criminal event from the previous century. The honest, young merchant apprentice George Barnwell was captivated by the charms of a calculating, amoral, woman of pleasure, Mrs. Millwood, and was persuaded to embezzle money from his employer. Murder follows.

Why should a nauseous sermon rate three stars? The moralistic tone of The London Merchant clearly dates Lillo's work and would make it difficult to perform today. And yet, possibly this play remains fascinating to read simply because it is so foreign and so different.

In talking about love of women, Barnwell says, "My youth and circumstances make such thoughts improper in me yet." Was such naivete credible? In facing execution, he calmly reasons: "Thus justice, in compassion to mankind, cuts off a wretch like me, by one such example to secure thousands from future ruin." We readers are intrigued with this insight into eighteenth century moralistic philosophy.

The fifth act is unlike any that I have encountered. It prolongs the story to once again reiterate the moral lessons. The final eleven scenes include a lengthy sermon between Barnwell and his former master Thorowgood, a tearful good-bye between Barnwell and his close friend and fellow apprentice Trueman, a revelation that Maria had long loved him (if only he had only remain honest and moral), and a final visit with the unrepentant Millwood.

The introduction and editing by William H. McBurney in the Regents Restoration Drama Series was quite good. The appendix includes an epilogue, a final scene (the execution), The Ballad of George Barnwell, and a chronology of the Restoration period.