The Adventures of Roderick Random

Reading Melopoyn’s Tragedy and Admiring His Genius

After breakfast, the narrator reads Melopoyn’s tragedy with great pleasure and admiration. He finds the fable well chosen and naturally conducted, the incidents interesting, and the characters beautifully contrasted and well supported. The diction strikes him as poetical, spirited, and correct, with the unities of drama maintained with scrupulous exactness. The opening engages gradually, the peripeteia proves surprising, and the catastrophe affects the reader. The narrator judges the work by Aristotle and Horace’s standards and can find nothing exceptionable except perhaps slight over-embellishment in places, which Melopoyn justifies through a quotation from Aristotle’s Poetics.

Gifting Melopoyn Clothing and Inviting Him to Dinner

The narrator’s friend, moved by Melopoyn’s gentlemanly distress and Christian condition, agrees to clothe him from their superfluities. The narrator sends Melopoyn a bundle of clothes with his compliments and invites him to dinner. Melopoyn accepts both the gift and invitation, appearing within half an hour in a decent dress that greatly improves his appearance. His countenance reveals a heart overflowing with gratitude, and when the narrator prevents his acknowledgments, Melopoyn bows to the ground with tears in his eyes. The conversation shifts to complimenting his performance. At dinner, the narrator requests that Strap be allowed to sit at table with the company, explaining Strap’s importance to him, and the group dines together in harmony.

Melopoyn Recounts His Early Life and Poetic Upbringing

At the narrator’s request, Melopoyn begins recounting his life story. His father was a country curate who, unable to afford university education, took responsibility for his son’s instruction himself. The father carefully observed Melopoyn’s natural inclinations and discovered an early aptitude for poetry. He guided his son through intensive study of the classics, assisting with paternal zeal and uncommon erudition. After sufficient mastery of the ancients, the father directed studies toward the best modern authors in French, Italian, and English, with particular emphasis on mastering the mother tongue. At eighteen, Melopoyn began planning his tragedy with his father’s approval, but before completing four acts, his father died, leaving him and his mother in poverty. A kinsman took them in, and Melopoyn finished his play before his mother also passed away. Afterward, he resolved to travel to London and offer his tragedy to the stage, confident of achieving fame and fortune.

Melopoyn Travels to London to Submit His Tragedy

Melopoyn secures passage to London, where he rents a garret apartment to live as frugally as possible. Although confident of a good reception, he seeks to apply promptly to the theatre manager. His landlord, a tallow chandler, cautions him against expecting easy access and explains that delivering his work without proper recommendation would likely go unheeded. The landlord proposes introducing Melopoyn to Father O’Varnish, a Catholic priest who confesses one of the patentee managers named Mr. Supple. The friar approves the tragedy, particularly praising Melopoyn for avoiding religious reflections, and promises to use his influence with his son Supple. He arranges for Melopoyn to visit the manager the next morning using his name for immediate admittance.

Repeated Failed Meetings with the Theatre Manager

Melopoyn presents himself at Mr. Supple’s house and mentions Father O’Varnish’s name, but the servant reports the master is busy and cannot be seen. When Father O’Varnish accompanies Melopoyn the next time, they gain immediate entry, and the manager receives Melopoyn civilly, promising to read the play soon. Melopoyn returns in a fortnight as appointed but learns the manager is out. A week later, Supple claims illness; another fortnight passes with assurances that fatigue has prevented finishing the reading. When Melopoyn appears again, he discovers Supple confined with gout, who delivers devastating news: his eldest son found the manuscript on the dining-room table, brought it to the kitchen, and the cook-maid mistook it for waste paper, using it to baste fowls on the spit. When Melopoyn protests he has no other copy, Supple is relieved to hear he can rewrite it from memory. Melopoyn completes the recreation in three weeks, but the season has passed, and Supple explains the play would interfere with players’ benefit nights if ready by March. Melopoyn must wait until the next season.