Colley cibber autobiography vs biography

Alexander Pope thought he was dullness incarnate; Henry Fielding accused him of murdering the English Language; Aaron Hill compared his acting to ‘the heavings of a disjointed caterpillar’.

Even one of his editors accused him of ‘inordinate vanity’. Actor, playwright, theatre manager and Poet Laureate, Colley Cibber (pronounced Sibber) is the fall guy of English Literature, a man better known for the mockery he incurred than for his real achievements.

We shouldn’t be surprised. Cibber lived in (and for) the public eye. He acted about 150 roles and wrote 26 plays and other entertainments; he spent almost 25 years co-managing the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and 27 as Poet Laureate.

Between 1700 and 1800, his work was performed more often than any other playwright’s except Shakespeare.

Colley cibber autobiography vs biography definition

Predictably, dramatists whose work he rejected loathed him. Poets disqualified by religion or politics from the Laureateship despised him. Others simply resented the success of a man