Sir John Burgoyne

Lois Potter
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Most of John Burgoyne's literary works show a strong French influence, the result of his having lived for seven years in France in his youth. His first staged work was

The Maid of the Oaks

(1774), capitalising on the success of a fête champêtre he had organised for the wedding of his friend, the Earl of Derby. Shortly after its Drury Lane premiere (directed by David Garrick) Burgoyne sailed to the American colonies as part of the forces blockading Boston. He organised amateur theatricals for members of the British army stationed there, and wrote a prologue for their production of

Zara

(Aaron Hill's translation of Voltaire's

Zaïre

), but there is no evidence for a story that still appears from time to time in popular histories of the American War of Independence that he wrote a play…

489 words

Citation: Potter, Lois. "Sir John Burgoyne". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 July 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=646, accessed 19 March 2024.]

646 Sir John Burgoyne 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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