The fortunate mistress, or, Roxana vs The Tragedy of Jane Shore: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Mistresses, History
The fortunate mistress, or, Roxana
"Roxana", Defoe's last and darkest novel, is the autobiography of a woman who has traded her virtue, at first for survival, and then for fame and fortune. Its narrator tells the story of her own "wicked" life as the…
vs
The Tragedy of Jane Shore
This tragedy in five acts was originally performed in the early eighteenth century. The play focuses on one of King Henry IV’s most notorious mistresses, Jane Shore.
The verdict
- Readers rate The Tragedy of Jane Shore highest: The Tragedy of Jane Shore 3.7 · The fortunate mistress, or, Roxana 3.4.
- The Tragedy of Jane Shore is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 7 for The fortunate mistress, or, Roxana.
- The fortunate mistress, or, Roxana has the widest readership — 5841 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The fortunate mistress, or, Roxana | The Tragedy of Jane Shore | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.4 (5841) | — |
| Hardcover | — | 1.0 (1) |
Reception
| The fortunate mistress, or, Roxana | The Tragedy of Jane Shore | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 5841 | 1 |
| Editions | 93 | 81 |
| Citations | 1 | — |
| Film adaptations | — | 1 |
| Wikipedia attention | — | 99 |
| Pages | 429 | 60 |