Editing Nathaniel Lee

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2015}}
{{short description|17th-century English dramatist}}
[[File:Nathaniel Lee.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Nathaniel Lee]]
'''Nathaniel Lee''' (c. 1653 – 6 May 1692) was an [[England|English]] [[dramatist]]. He was the son of Dr Richard Lee, a [[Presbyterian]] clergyman who was rector of Hatfield and held many preferments under the [[Commonwealth of England|Commonwealth]]; Dr Lee was chaplain to [[George Monck]], afterwards Duke of Albemarle, but after the [[English Restoration|Restoration]] he conformed to the [[Church of England]], and withdrew his approval for [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]'s execution.

Lee was educated at [[Westminster School]] (though some sources say [[Charterhouse School]]), and at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], taking his [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] degree in 1668.<ref>{{acad|id=LY665N|name=Lee, Nathaniel}}</ref> Coming to [[London]], perhaps under the patronage of [[George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham]], he tried to earn his living as an actor, but acute stage fright made this impossible. His earliest play, ''Nero, Emperor of Rome'', was acted in 1675 at [[Drury Lane]]. Two tragedies written in rhymed heroic couplets, in imitation of [[John Dryden]], followed in 1676: ''[[Sophonisba (Lee play)|Sophonisba, or Hannibal's Overthrow]]'' and ''[[Gloriana (play)|Gloriana, or the Court of Augustus Caesar]]''. Both are extravagant in design and treatment.

[[File:Charlotte Melmoth.jpg|thumb|[[Charlotte Melmoth]] as Roxana in Lee's ''The Rival Queens'' (Drury Lane Theatre, February 1777)]]
Lee's reputation was made in 1677 with a [[blank verse]] tragedy, ''[[The Rival Queens]], or the Death of Alexander the Great''. The play, which deals with the jealousy of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]'s first wife, [[Roxana]], for his second wife, [[Stateira II|Statira]], was a favourite on the English stage right up to the days of [[Edmund Kean]]. Lee followed this with ''[[Mithridates, King of Pontus]]'' (acted 1678); ''[[Theodosius (play)|Theodosius]], or the Force of Love'' (acted 1680); and ''[[Caesar Borgia (play)|Caesar Borgia]]'' (acted 1680), an imitation of the worst blood and thunder Elizabethan tragedies.  Lee was also named as a collaborator with Dryden in an adaptation of ''[[Oedipus (Dryden play)|Oedipus]]'' (1679). ''[[The Princess of Cleve]]'' (1681) is an adaptation of [[Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette|Madame de La Fayette]]'s 1678 novel of the [[La Princesse de Clèves|same name]]. ''[[The Massacre of Paris]]'' was written about this time but not published until 1690.

''[[Lucius Junius Brutus (play)|Lucius Junius Brutus]]'' (acted 1681) gave offence at court. The play was suppressed after its third representation for some lines on [[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus|Tarquin]]'s character that were taken to be a reflection on [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]]. He therefore joined Dryden in ''The Duke of Guise'' (1683), a play which directly advocated the [[Tory]] point of view. In it part of the [[St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre|Massacre of Paris]] was incorporated. Lee was now thirty, and had already achieved a considerable reputation. ''[[Constantine the Great (play)|Constantine the Great]]'' (acted 1683) followed.

He had lived in the dissipated society of [[John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester]], and his associates, and imitated their excesses. As he grew more disreputable, his patrons neglected him, and by 1684 his mind was allegedly completely unhinged. He spent five years in the notorious [[Bethlem Royal Hospital|Bedlam Hospital]]. He lamented his situation with the following missive: "They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me".<ref name="Meggitt">{{cite journal | last = Meggitt | first = J.J. | year = 2007 | title = The Madness of King Jesus: Why was Jesus Put to Death, but his Followers were not? | journal = Journal for the Study of the New Testament | volume = 29 | issue = 379 | pages = 379 | doi = 10.1177/0142064X07078990| s2cid = 171007891 | doi-access = free }}</ref> He recovered and was released.

Lee died in a drunken fit in 1692.  He was buried on 6 May in [[St. Clement Danes]], [[Strand, London|Strand]].

Lee's ''Dramatic Works'' were published in 1734. In spite of their extravagance, they contain many passages of great beauty. Copies of Lee's books remain sought after in bibliographic circles.

==Plays==
Dates are of first production.
* ''[[Nero (play)|The Tragedy of Nero, Emperour of Rome]]'' — 1674{{sfn|Stroup|Cooke|1954|p=21}}
* ''[[Sophonisba (Lee play)|Sophonisba, or Hannibal's Overthrow]]'' — 30 April 1675{{sfn|Stroup|Cooke|1954|p=75}}
* ''[[Gloriana (play)|Gloriana, or the Court of Augustus Caesar]]'' — January 1675/6{{sfn|Stroup|Cooke|1954|p=147}}
* ''[[The Rival Queens]], or the Death of Alexander the Great'' — March 1676/7{{sfn|Stroup|Cooke|1954|p=213}}
* ''[[Mithridates, King of Pontus|Mithridates, King of Pontus: A Tragedy]]'' — March 1677/8{{sfn|Stroup|Cooke|1954|p=287}}
* ''[[Oedipus (Dryden play)|Oedipus: A Tragedy]]'' (with John Dryden) — 1678 or 1679{{sfn|Stroup|Cooke|1954|p=369}}
* ''[[Caesar Borgia (play)|Caesar Borgia; Son of Pope Alexander the Sixth]]'' — 1679 or 1680 {{sfn|Stroup|Cooke|1955|p=67}}
* ''[[The Princess of Cleve]]'' — {{Circa|1680|sortable=yes}}{{sfn|Stroup|Cooke|1955|p=149}}
* ''[[Theodosius (play)|Theodosius: or, The Force of Love]]'' — {{Circa|1680|sortable=yes}}{{sfn|Stroup|Cooke|1955|p=231}}
* ''[[Lucius Junius Brutus; Father of his Country]]'' — December 1680{{sfn|Stroup|Cooke|1955|p=317}}
* ''[[The Duke of Guise (play)|The Duke of Guise. A Tragedy]]'' (with John Dryden) — 30 November 1682{{sfn|Stroup|Cooke|1955|p=389}}
* ''[[Constantine the Great (play)|Constantine the Great; A Tragedy]]'' — November 1683{{sfn|Stroup|Cooke|1955|p=479}}
* ''[[The Massacre of Paris]]'' — 7 November 1689 {{sfn|Stroup|Cooke|1955|p=3}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Lee, Nathaniel}}
* {{Cite book
 | author1-last=Stroup
 | author1-first=Thomas B.
 | author2-last=Cooke
 | author2-first=Arthur L.
 | title=The Works of Nathaniel Lee
 | volume=1
 | year=1954
 }}
* {{Cite book
 | author1-last=Stroup
 | author1-first=Thomas B.
 | author2-last=Cooke
 | author2-first=Arthur L.
 | title=The Works of Nathaniel Lee
 | volume=2
 | year=1955
 }}

==External links==
* {{wikiquote-inline}}
* [https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/authors/pers00343.shtml Nathaniel Lee] at the [https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/ Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)]
* {{Internet Archive|dramatickworksm00leegoog|Dramatic Works Vol 1/3}} (containing ''Oedipus'', ''Theodosius'', ''The Princess of Cleves'', and ''Lucius Junius Brutus'')
* {{Internet Archive|dramatickworksm01leegoog|Dramatic Works Vol 2/3}} (containing ''Mithridates'', ''Caesar Borgia'', ''Constantine the Great'', and ''The Duke of Guise'')
* {{Internet Archive|rivalqueensorde00calpgoog|''The Rival Queens''}}
* {{Internet Archive|sophonisbaorhann00leen|''Sophonisba''}}
* {{Internet Archive|neroemperorofrom00leen|''Nero''}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Nathaniel}}
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:1650s births]]
[[Category:1692 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Westminster School, London]]
[[Category:17th-century English dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:17th-century English male writers]]
[[Category:People educated at Charterhouse School]]
[[Category:English male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Alcohol-related deaths in England]]