Later Career
With the Hannah More controversy behind her, Cowley wrote her most popular and enduring comedy, The Belle’s Stratagem, which was produced at Covent Garden in 1780. It was performed 28 nights in its first season and 118 times in London before 1800, a respectable success that solidified her family’s financial position.
Her next play, The World as It Goes; or, a Party at Montpelier (later titled Second Thoughts Are Best) was a flop, but she continued to write until 1794, seeing seven more plays; Which is the Man?; A Bold Stroke for a Husband; More Ways Than One; A School for Greybeards, or, The Mourning Bride; The Fate of Sparta, or, The Rival Kings; A Day in Turkey, or, The Russian Slaves and The Town Before You; into production. None of these would match the success of her earlier plays.
In 1783, Thomas Cowley accepted a job with the British East India Company. He moved to India and left Hannah in London to raise their children; Thomas died there in 1797, never having returned to England.
Read more about this topic: Hannah Cowley
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