The Man of Mode
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| - | A '''rake''' is defined as a man habituated to [[immoral]] conduct. Rakes are frequently [[stock character]]s in novels. Often a rake is a man who wastes his (usually [[inheritance|inherited]]) fortune on [[wine, women and song]], incurring lavish [[debt]]s in the process. The rake is also frequently a [[cad]]: a man who [[seduction|seduces]] a young woman and impregnates her before leaving, often to her social or financial ruin. To call the character a ''rake'' calls attention to his [[promiscuity]] and wild spending of money; to call the character a ''cad'' implies a callous seducer who [[cold]]ly breaks his victim's heart. | ||
| - | During the [[English Restoration]] period (1660-1688), the word was used in a glamorous sense: the '''Restoration rake''' is a carefree, witty, sexually irresistible aristocrat typified by [[Charles II of England|Charles II]]'s courtiers, the [[John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester|Earl of Rochester]] and the [[Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset|Earl of Dorset]], who combined riotous living with intellectual pursuits and patronage of the arts. The Restoration rake is celebrated in the [[Restoration comedy]] of the 1660s and 1670s. After the reign of Charles II, and especially after the [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688, the cultural perception of the rake took a dive into squalor. The rake became the butt of moralistic tales in which his typical fate was [[debtor's prison]], [[venereal disease]], or, in the case of [[William Hogarth]]'s ''[[A Rake's Progress]]'', [[insanity]] in [[Bethlem Royal Hospital|Bedlam]]. | + | '''''The Man of Mode, or, Sir Fopling Flutter''''' is a [[Restoration comedy]] by [[George Etherege]], written in 1676 and first performed March 2 of the same year. Gibbons argues that the play "offers the [[comedy of manners]] in its most concentrated form". Despite the subtitle, the [[fop]] Sir Fopling is only a marginal character; the [[Rake (character)|rake]] Dorimant is the [[protagonist]]. |
| - | The rake is often portrayed as a heavy drinker or gambler. An earlier form of the word was ''rake-hell'', a form reshaped by [[folk etymology]] to mean someone who stokes the fires of [[Hell]], making them hotter. The actual [[etymology]] of the word is from the [[Old Norse language|Old Norse]] ''reikall'', meaning "vagrant" or "wanderer"; this was borrowed into [[Middle English]] as ''rakel''. | + | The character of Dorimant may have been based on [[John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester]], though there is no concrete evidence of this. The part was first played by [[Thomas Betterton]]. Sir Fopling, the flamboyant flop of the hour, by William Smith. Freshly returned from being "cultured" in Paris, Fopling attempts to emulate the love 'em and leave 'em style of Dorimant. Meanwhile Dorimant has plans to use Fopling in a scheme to lose his current lover Miss Loveit in order to seek out a new conquest. |
| - | == Well known fictional rakes and cads include == | + | |
| - | * Dorimant, the hero of ''[[The Man of Mode]]'' by [[George Etherege]], based upon the historical Earl of Rochester mentioned below | + | |
| - | * Compeyson, the man who jilted [[Miss Havisham]] in ''[[Great Expectations]]'' by [[Charles Dickens]] | + | |
| - | * Alec d'Urberville, Tess's seducer in ''[[Tess of the d'Urbervilles]]'' by [[Thomas Hardy]] | + | |
| - | * [[Rodolphe Boulanger]], [[Madame Bovary]]'s principal lover. | + | |
| - | * [[Harry Paget Flashman]], chief character of a series of novels by [[George MacDonald Fraser]] | + | |
| - | * [[Don Juan]] | + | |
| - | * Tom Rakewell, the protagonist of [[William Hogarth]]'s series of paintings, ''[[A Rake's Progress]]''. | + | |
| - | * The [[Prodigal Son]], one of [[Jesus]]' [[parable]]s. | + | |
| - | == Historical figures who have informed the stock character include: == | + | In 2007, the National Theatre produced a [[modern dress]] production of the play, starring [[Tom Hardy]] as Dorimant. [[Rory Kinnear]] received a [[Laurence Olivier Award]] for his performance as Fopling. |
| - | * [[Cagliostro]] | + | |
| - | * [[Lord Byron]] | + | |
| - | * [[John Mytton]] | + | |
| - | * [[Giacomo Casanova]] | + | |
| - | * [[Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset]] | + | |
| - | * [[John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester]] | + | |
| - | * [[Charles Sedley|Sir Charles Sedley]] | + | |
| - | * [[John Wilkes]] | + | |
| - | * [[Colonel Francis Charteris]] | + | |
| - | * [[Hellfire Club]] | + | |
| - | * [[Marquis de Sade]] | + | |
| - | * [[Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer|Francis Dashwood]] | + | |
| - | The stock character of the rake can be contrasted with some others. The ''[[town drunk]]'' is frequently intoxicated, and impoverished by heavy drinking, but here the focus is on the character's [[alcoholism|alcoholic]] state rather than on sexual excess; the town drunk is typically older than the rake. The ''[[fop]]'' and the ''[[dandy]]'' spend too much money on clothes and fancy living, but the [[stereotype]] would have them less sexually effective than the rake. | ||
| - | |||
| - | == See also == | ||
| - | |||
| - | * ''[[Playboy]]'' | ||
| - | *[[Womanizer]] | ||
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Revision as of 09:33, 5 March 2010
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The Man of Mode, or, Sir Fopling Flutter is a Restoration comedy by George Etherege, written in 1676 and first performed March 2 of the same year. Gibbons argues that the play "offers the comedy of manners in its most concentrated form". Despite the subtitle, the fop Sir Fopling is only a marginal character; the rake Dorimant is the protagonist.
The character of Dorimant may have been based on John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, though there is no concrete evidence of this. The part was first played by Thomas Betterton. Sir Fopling, the flamboyant flop of the hour, by William Smith. Freshly returned from being "cultured" in Paris, Fopling attempts to emulate the love 'em and leave 'em style of Dorimant. Meanwhile Dorimant has plans to use Fopling in a scheme to lose his current lover Miss Loveit in order to seek out a new conquest.
In 2007, the National Theatre produced a modern dress production of the play, starring Tom Hardy as Dorimant. Rory Kinnear received a Laurence Olivier Award for his performance as Fopling.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "The Man of Mode" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
