15 Facts About George Lillo

George Lillo was an English playwright and tragedian.

George Lillo produced his first stage work, Silvia, or The Country Burial, in 1730, and a year later his most famous play, The London Merchant.

George Lillo wrote at least six more plays before his death in 1739, including The Christian Hero, Fatal Curiosity and Marina.

George Lillo was born in Moorfields, or Moorgate, in the City of London.

George Lillo became a partner in his father's goldsmith's and jewellery business.

George Lillo's seduction is simply a ruse to exploit his naivete, so her reputation is never actually in danger.

George Lillo redefined the subject of dramatic tragedy and demonstrated that middle and lower class citizens were worthy of tragic downfalls.

George Lillo dedicates the play to Sir John Eyles, a prominent member of the merchant class in London, in a letter before the text and plot begins.

George Lillo revived the genre of play referred to as domestic tragedy.

George Lillo was concerned that plays be morally correct and in keeping with Christian values.

Later in the decade, George Lillo wrote Fatal Curiosity and Marina.

George Lillo based Marina on the play Pericles by William Shakespeare.

George Lillo adapted the anonymous Elizabethan play Arden of Feversham, which was posthumously performed, first in 1759.

All of George Lillo's plays were produced in London, and only three of them produced any profit.

George Lillo died at age 48, in 1739, in Rotherhithe, London.