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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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The Beaux' Stratagem
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(1707) Comedy by George *Farquhar about two impoverished beaux, Aimwell and Archer, who pretend to be Lord Aimwell and his servant. Their prospects improve when Dorinda, daughter of the rich Lady Bountiful, falls in love with Aimwell. Her affection survives his admission of the fraud, but he then turns out to be Lord Aimwell after all; news comes of the death of his elder brother and his inheritance of the family title. The play ends with double happiness. Archer too has fallen in love – with Mrs Sullen, Lady Bountiful's daughter-in-law, whose drunken husband is persuaded to dissolve the marriage. More from the appropriateness of the name than from Farquhar's original character, the term Lady Bountiful was later applied, often satirically, to any woman dispensing charitable largesse in a country district.
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