Summary: A path not taken. Addendum to Theatricality.
Category: Het, slash, AU, fictional scholarship
Pairing: Archie/Kitty, Archie/Edrington/OFC and general implied sluttiness
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Warnings: none.
Notes
Disclaimer

Dear Madam,

I am responding to your query about the author of the notice devoted to Archibald Kennedy that appears in the most recent edition of Knowles´ Dictionary of Georgian Theatre, 1714-1830. As I´m sure you are aware, the eminent literary historian Professor Eustace Knowles died five years ago. At the time of his death, he was in the process of revising a new edition his dictionary of Georgian theatre for publication. The publishers, as one might expect, did not wish to simply abandon the project in light of the investment of time and energy that had already gone into its preparation.

After much consideration, they approached Dr. Meredith Reid, associate professor of English literature at Cornell University and an eminent scholar of Georgian theatre in her own right. You may recall that she wrote her dissertation on "Misogyny, Misanthropy and Transgendering: Theatrical conventions in the comedies of the late Georgian Age, 1780-1830." Also her recent book, Configuring Desire: The Construction and Portrayal of Socio-sexual mores in the plays of Richard Brinsley Sheridan was nominated for Book of the Year in the category of eighteenth century studies by the Modern Language Association in 2002.

Dr. Reid was reluctant to take up such a grueling and thankless project, but finally acquiesced on the condition that she be allowed to make full use of certain recent scholarship that Knowles had largely ignored. While she greatly admired Knowles´ research which she described as "thorough and rigorous," he did have a tendency, as she put it, "to ignore certain biographical aspects that challenged his somewhat old fashioned and largely heroic interpretations of major figures of the Georgian theatre."

Interestingly, the entry on Archibald Kennedy was one of those that Dr. Reid cited as "woefully and willfully devoid of certain points of biographical information that while of a personal nature remain germane to an understanding of the figure´s career and literary output." The relationship with Katherine Cobham, for example, was, in her estimation, grossly misrepresented. Knowles merely indicated that Mrs. Cobham acted as Kennedy´s mentor and aided him in finding patronage and that Kennedy, in return, wrote roles for her largely out of respect and gratitude. Knowles makes no reference to their romantic liaison that lasted for a number of years, despite the overwhelming evidence confirming its existence. Indeed, one of the most famous exchanges between Cobham and her bitter rival Sarah Siddons concerned Kennedy. At a soiree hosted by John Kemble, Siddons was overheard to remark that it was most unseemly for a woman of Mrs. Cobham´s "maturity" to be dallying with "the flower of English manhood still in the bud." (It should be noted that Kennedy´s play Primrose and Violet had recently opened at Drury Lane and that Kennedy played Mr. Richard Blossom, the romantic male lead who receives advice and encouragement from the Widow Merrybottom, played by Mrs. Cobham). Cobham´s reply was that she still had "more than a little blush left in her petals" and that at least she was not "withering on the vine" like some. Siddons is said to have cut her the next time they met and the two actresses remained on poor terms - or more accurately even poorer terms - for the rest of their careers.

The relationship between Kennedy and Edrington was another point on which Dr. Reid felt that Professor Knowles´ discretion bordered on misrepresentation. Knowles dismissed the rumors purporting a homosexual liaison between the two as being nothing more than part of a "vicious smear campaign carried out by a pro-Pitt cabal and certain of Kennedy´s own detractors who were jealous of his success." While that was no doubt their intent, it by no means precludes the veracity of such stories. There had been rumors regarding the Earl of Edrington´s sexual proclivities, not to mention his rather voracious appetites, long before the two men ever met. Kennedy, for his own part, was reputed to have been a young man of "high spirits if somewhat loose morals" during his early days on the stage, as one contemporary aptly described it. He was alleged to have indulged in dalliances with a number of fellow actors male and female, though none of them lasted very long, apart from his relationship with Mrs. Cobham. He even appeared at one of Benjamin Riley´s rather boisterous soirees in full drag and introduced himself to one and all as Miss Miranda Tickle, much to the delight of his fellow guests. Given the fairly permissive environment in theatrical circles of the time, in which cross dressing occurred both on and off stage and the thoroughly unconventional social code by which actors and actresses lived, homosexuality and bisexuality were fairly common and hardly noted by anyone intimate with that world.

The length and depth of the devotion shared between Kennedy and Edrington certainly was exceptional and seems to exceed the normal boundaries of friendship. Regrettably, the loss of Kennedy´s personal papers in the fire of 1840 at Stanwick Hall, does render it difficult to prove the existence of a sexual relationship between the two beyond any doubt. However, given the amount of circumstantial evidence drawn from contemporary accounts and the character of both men, Dr. Reid considered it ludicrous to dismiss the possibility out of hand as Knowles´ consistently did. It remains her fervent hope that someday documents might yet resurface that will answer this question definitively.

As to the rumors suggesting a sexual liaison between Kennedy, Edrington and his wife, those remain more speculative. It must be acknowledged, however, that the Countess of Edrington was a most attractive and free-spirited woman even by the standards of the day and was, by all accounts, quite devoted to Kennedy. Given the rather colorful sexual histories of both men as well as the countess´ own highly unconventional nature, the possibility of such a romantic triad is not nearly as improbable as one might otherwise suppose.

Knowles´ apparent discomfort with Kennedy´s sexuality inevitably had a detrimental effect upon his approach to the playwright´s work. The most glaring example of this, in Reid´s opinion, is his dismissal of Achilles and Patroclus as being nothing more than "a curious but largely failed experiment in style." Knowles does not even acknowledge the play´s subject matter nor take into account contemporary response to the play such as Riley´s observation that "Clayton [Kennedy´s pen name] has a deeper understanding of the delicate love between brother warriors than most [....] he carries this sensibility within his very breast and breathes it upon the page for all to see." Kennedy´s own words seem to support this personal interpretation, as in Act III when Patroclus proclaims, "Do not judge Agamemnon, nor chastise his excess. His passion burns too bright and too hot and does perchance lead to lecherous folly. He is for all a good man, brave and true." It should be remembered that the Earl of Edrington´s full name was Frederick Agamemnon Chelton, a fact that gives these words an additional resonance that could not have been accidental coming from a writer as sly and self-aware as Kennedy. And certainly the death scene in Act IV as the mortally wounded Patroclus lies dying in Achilles´ arms vibrates with a palpable sense of grief and longing. It is, arguably, one of the most moving scenes found in all of late Georgian theatre and the authenticity of emotion that runs through the entire scene makes it difficult to believe that Kennedy was not drawing upon personal experience. Dr. Reid considers it to be one of Kennedy´s master works on par with Entre-Nous and Our Scottish Acquaintance.

Dr. Reid will no doubt be gratified by your interest in her recent work on Kennedy. We will be happy to forward any correspondence on your behalf.

Sincerely,

Susan Greaves
Public relations
Phaeton Press, London/New York

Notes:  Dedicated to my fellow fictional Hornblower historians for their inspiration and encouragement. And because sjkasabi made me.