The Drunkard Play Analysis

During the 19th century, socioeconomic change was occurring rapidly. Industrialization was gaining speed, economic expansion was swiftly spreading, and urbanization was taking over. All of these changes also brought with it new social expectations. Alcohol, which used to be a major part of society and widely accepted, was now frowned upon and seen as a damper on employees. This all gave way to the Temperance movement. As part of trying to spread the movement, plays were used to install ideals into society, just as media does today. The Drunkard was the perfect play to do so. The Drunkard was so heavily influenced by the Temperance movement, this was evident in who wrote it, why it was written as a melodrama, where it was written, as well as

Smith, follows the character Edward Middleton. The play starts off by Edward being given ownership of a large estate where the Wilson family has been staying under the permission of the previous owner. When word comes that a new estate owner is on the way to the property, the Wilsons fret over whether they will be evicted from the property. Then enters the antagonist, Edward’s lawyer Cribbs. Cribbs expects that Edward, once seeing the Wilsons, would plan to kick them out and make the estate his own. Instead, when he makes his first appearance to the Wilsons, he falls in love with the Wilson’s daughter, Mary. Edward then ends up marrying Mary and having a daughter named Julia. At this point, Cribbs tries to ruin Edward by making him into a mad drunk. During this time, Edward is tricked into giving away his money to Cribbs and is essentially ruined. He then runs away to New York because he is tremendously ashamed of what he has done and what he has become. There, he lives on the streets, homeless and alone. His family tries to follow him, but end up living the same way. Mary and Julia are soon taken away from the poor conditions on the streets by a man named William Downton, who promises to help them find Edward. During this time, Edward is taken in by Mr. Renclaw, a recovered alcoholic, who helps him recover from alcoholism. With Renclaw’s help, Edward was able to beat his addiction, becoming sober and eventually being reunited with his family. Once

With these ideals in these cities, its no wonder a melodramatic Temperance movement supporting play was written. The Drunkard was written in New York which would have allowed the play to gain massive support because of the audience’s opinions as well as allowing the play to have a greater impact (Hanson). People who already despised or feared alcohol, fueling the Temperance movement, were going to be more likely to react to the play in the way it was intended by showing a strong emotional response. This reaction to the play, only further caused the play to gain popularity and to be considered