The Mock Doctor

The Mock Doctor: or The Dumb Lady Cur'd is a play by Henry Fielding and first ran on 23 June 1732 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It served as a replacement for The Covent-Garden Tragedy and became the companion play to The Old Debauchees. It tells the exploits of a man who pretends to be a doctor at his wife's requests.

The play is an adaptation of Molière's Le Médecin malgré lui, though it has an emphasis on theatrics over a faithful translation. It is a pure comedy and, unlike other plays by Fielding, has no serious moral lesson or purpose. The play was far more successful than The Covent-Garden Tragedy. Contemporary critics disagreed over whether the play was inferior to the original, but modern critics believed Fielding's version was equally impressive.

The Mock Doctor: or The Dumb Lady Cur'd was the replacement for The Covent-Garden Tragedy as the companion play to The Old Debauchees. The play is an Anglicised adaptation of Molière's Le Medecin malgre Lui and is contemporary to the translation by John Watts in the Select Comedies of Molière, even though there is no direct connection between Fielding and the translation. The play was first advertised in the 16 June 1732 Daily Post as being in rehearsal and first ran on 23 June 1732.

It was later revised by 16 November 1732, and both versions were successful. The play ran for a total of twenty-four nights that year and was revived even until the nineteenth century. The revised version was shown on 16 November 1732 as an author's benefit and shown on 30 November at the request of the king. It was published by John Watts on 11 July 1732 with a second edition published on 30 November 1732.

The basis of the plot is the story of Gregory's pretending to be a doctor. Gregory starts off as a simple woodcutter by trade, but his wife forces him to take on the role of doctor. He disguises himself as Dr Ragou, a Frenchman, and goes to treat Sir Jasper's daughter, Charlotte, who pretends to be unable to speak. Charlotte pretends to be mute because she feels that it is the only way for her to avoid marrying who her father wants her to marry. Instead, she wants to marry a man named Leander. While treating Charlotte, Gregory's disguise is able to fool his wife and he begins to pursue her as the Frenchman. However, Dorcas is able to figure it out that it is her husband in the disguise.

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Wikipedia