He was some time a member of the Middle Temple; but, looking on the dry
study of the law as greatly beneath the attention of a man of genius,
quitted it. He was an arrant plagiary. Dryden attacked one of his plays,
_The Citizen turned Gentleman_, an imitation of Moliere's
_Bourgeois-Gentilhomme_, in the Prologue to _The Assignation_.
Ravenscroft wrote "_The Wrangling Lovers, or the Invisible
Mistress_. Acted at the Duke's Theatre, 1677. London, Printed for
William Crook, at the sign of the _Green Dragon_, without
_Temple-Bar_, 1677." Though the plot was partly taken from a
Spanish novel, the author has been inspired by Moliere's _Depit
amoureux_. The scene is in Toledo: Eraste is called Don Diego de
Stuniga, Valere Don Gusman de Haro, "a well-bred cavaliere," Lucile is
Octavia de Pimentell, and Ascanio is Elvira; Gros-Rene's name is Sanco,
"vallet to Gusman, a simple pleasant fellow," and Mascarille is Ordgano,
"a cunning knave;" Marinette is called Beatrice and Frosine Isabella.
The English play is rather too long. Don Gusman courts Elvira veiled,
whilst in the French play Ascanio, her counterpart, is believed to be a
young man. There is also a brother of Donna Elvira, Don Ruis de Moncade,
who is a rival of Don Diego, whilst in _le Depit-amoureux_.
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