Mascarille's schemes. Marplot's funniest blunder, in the "monkey" scene,
is entirely original as far as I know (IV, iv). But her greatest change
is in the character of Marplot, who in her hands becomes not so much
stupid as human and irresistibly ludicrous. Mrs. Centlivre's style is
of course inferior to that of Molière. In the preface to _Love's
Contrivance_ (1703), in speaking of borrowings from Molière, she said
that borrowers "must take care to touch the Colors with an English
Pencil, and form the Piece according to our Manners." Of course her
touching the "Colors with an English Pencil" meant changing the style
of Molière to suit the less delicate taste of the middle-class English
audience.

A third source for _The Busie Body_ is Dryden's _Sir Martin Mar-all_
(1667). Since Dryden followed Molière with considerable exactness, it
would be difficult to prove beyond doubt that Mrs. Centlivre borrowed
from Molière rather than from Dryden. Yet I believe, after a careful
analysis of the plays, that she borrowed from Molière. She made of _The
Busie Body_ a comedy of intrigue based on the theme and plot used by
both Molière and Dryden, but she omitted the scandalous Restoration
third plot which Dryden had added to Molière. Her characters are English
in speech and action, but they lack the coarseness apparent in Dryden's
_Sir Martin Mar-all_. Though it is impossible to prove the exact sources
of Mrs. Centlivre's borrowings, there is no doubt that she has improved
what she borrowed.

Whatever the truth may be about Mrs. Centlivre's use of her sources, her
play remained in the repertory of acting plays long after _L'Etourdi_
and _Sir Martin Mar-all_ had disappeared. _The Busie Body_ opened at the
Drury Lane Theater on May 12, 1709. Steele, who listed the play in _The
Tatler_ for May 14, 1709, does not mention the length of the run. Thomas