ABSTRACT
The critical history of A Woman Never Vext is a history of short articles and entries in general surveys of English literature. G. Langbaine was the first to mention the play in his passage on the life of William Rowley in An Account of the English Dramatic Poets. His concerns were mainly biographical, however, and the first attempt to bring the work to critical notice was made by Charles Lamb, who in 1808 included three scenes from A Woman Never Vext in Specimens of the English Dramatic Poets. His praise for Rowley’s directness is implicit in his comments; this theme recurs through much of the criticism of the play. Lamb’s work was seminal in establishing Rowley as a writer worthy of remark, and ever since he has been included in the major surveys of literature. A Woman Never Vext’s most enthusiastic critic is surely Swinburne, who likes it not least because Lamb praised it.
