The Fair Penitent Lane and Covent Garden; the former production starred Mrs. Siddons as Calista. The 1703 first edition was dedicated to the Duchess of Ormond—but did not credit the original authors of "The Fatal Dowry," leading to later critics' accusations of plagiarism against Rowe, as in William Gifford's edition of Massinger's works. The eponym "Lothario," meaning "a man who seduces women," stems from the character in this play. The origin of Lothario as a name indicating a seducer though predates the play. The latter is thought to be written in 1619. The character of Lothario as a seducer, albeit in different circumstances,
Restoration literature pathetic tragedy. Elizabeth Howe has argued that the most important explanation for the shift in taste was the emergence of tragic actresses whose popularity made it unavoidable for dramatists to create major roles for them. With the conjunction of the playwright "master of pathos" Thomas Otway and the great tragedienne Elizabeth Barry in "The Orphan", the focus shifted from hero to heroine. Prominent she-tragedies include John Banks's "Virtue Betrayed, or, Anna Bullen" (1682) (about the execution of Anne Boleyn), Thomas Southerne's "The Fatal Marriage" (1694), and Nicholas Rowe's "The Fair Penitent" (1703) and "Lady Jane Grey", 1715. While she-tragedies were