Kitty Clive
First songster and star comedienne of British playhouse entertainment.
Catherine "Kitty" Clive was born around 1711, likely as Ellenor Raftor, to William Raftor, a dispossessed Jacobite Catholic landowner from Kilkenny, and Elizabeth Daniell, a leather-seller's daughter. The family moved to London, and though a baptismal record for an Ellenor Raftor exists from July 1711, that child was buried in early 1714. Clive herself later claimed a 15 November 1711 birth, but a 1731 marriage allegation suggests she may have been older. She married George Clive that year.
Clive's stage career began when Drury Lane manager Colley Cibber, seeking to rival the success of *The Beggar's Opera* and its star Lavinia Fenton, hired her after an audition arranged by his son Theophilus, prompter William Chetwood, and likely her singing master Henry Carey. She made her official debut on 2 January 1729 as Dorinda in *The Tempest*, singing a Purcellian air. Her early repertory centered on English airs in masques. Cibber's ballad opera *Love in Riddle*, featuring Clive in a comic subplot, nearly failed on its first night, saved only by her singing.
Her major breakthrough came on 6 August 1731, when she played Nell in *The Devil to Pay*, an adaptation of an old farce that originally endorsed wife-beating. The piece was "operatized" by Charles Coffey, who wrote polite tunes and spirited verses for Clive. Through her performance, she turned the abused cobbler's wife into a lively heroine. The afterpiece was later cut down to showcase her, with a climactic duet arranged from a Handel aria, and was exported to Paris and Leipzig, influencing opéra comique and Singspiel. A painting of Clive as Nell by Francis Hayman hung at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens.
Following her success, the Cibbers commissioned Henry Fielding to write Clive vehicles. Fielding's work broke from Carey's earlier style, replacing high-style airs with low, sexually suggestive tunes and giving Clive characters who lost their virtue and sanity. His *The Covent Garden Tragedy* (1732), in which Clive played a prostitute, was a failure. Fielding quickly mounted *The Mock Doctor*, a hit that established Clive's line of smart female protagonists in translated French comedies. Through adaptations of Molière and Regnard, Fielding cemented her ownership of precocious chambermaid roles. From 1733, her likeness was widely printed and traded.
Clive was a professionally trained musician who sang Handel's m
- born
- ca. 1711 (possibly 15 November 1711, though date and baptismal name are disputed)
- died
- 6 December 1785
- field
- Musical theatre, comedy, singing
- nationality
- British
- known_for
- First songster and star comedienne of British playhouse entertainment; creator of new forms of English musical theatre; champion of women's rights
Lore & Background
Clive was the daughter of William Raftor, a dispossessed Jacobite Catholic landowner from Kilkenny, Ireland, and Elizabeth Daniell. Her precise birth date and baptismal name are unclear: a baptismal record of 'Ellenor Raftor' on 15 July 1711 exists, but a burial record for Eleanor, daughter of William Rafter, on 30 January 1713/14 suggests the earlier child died. Clive herself wrote late in life that she was born on 15 November 1711. She may have been born one or two years earlier, as her 1731 marriage allegation stated she was 'aged upwards of twenty one years.' She married George Clive, a non-practicing barrister, on 30 March 1731, though the marriage was almost certainly a sham.
Clive's official debut was on 2 January 1729 as Dorinda in The Tempest. Her popular breakthrough came on 6 August 1731 when she played Nell in The Devil to Pay, transforming the role into a sprightly heroine. During the 1730s, Henry Fielding wrote several Clive vehicles, including The Mock Doctor (1732), which introduced her line of smart female protagonists. From 1733, engravers printed her actual likeness; previously the only available image had been a mezzotint of a half-naked nymph. In the spring of 1733 she clashed with theatre managers during a rebellion led by Theophilus Cibber, and was attacked in the press as 'Miss Prudely Crotchet.' She prevailed in a later conflict with Cibber in 1736 over roles, winning over a hostile audience with an extemporized stage speech.
An image crisis in the late 1740s forced Clive to quit serious song and lampoon herself on stage. This self-ridicule won back public favour, and she reigned as first comedienne until her retirement in 1769. However, the strategy's success caused her musical legacy to be slighted and forgotten. A definitive biography of Clive by Berta Joncus appeared in 2019.
Reader's Guide
Kitty Clive's significance lies in her dual role as a pioneering musical theatre performer and a champion of women's rights. She created new forms of English musical theatre, blending high-style Handel arias with low-style ballad opera, and her performances in works like The Devil to Pay were so influential that the afterpiece version was translated and exported to Paris and Leipzig, seeding the new genres of opéra comique and Singspiel. Her image was widely circulated in prints, marking an early instance of celebrity culture. Despite her success, an image crisis in the late 1740s forced her to adopt self-ridicule on stage, a strategy that restored her popularity but led to her musical legacy being overlooked. Her legacy is further complicated by the disputed details of her birth and the sham nature of her marriage. The 2019 biography by Berta Joncus has helped revive scholarly attention to her contributions.
Did You Know?
- Clive's marriage to George Clive in 1731 was almost certainly a sham, from her side to win a respectable name while shielding her earnings from any husband.
- Her performance as Nell in The Devil to Pay (1731) transformed the role from an abused cobbler's wife into a sprightly heroine, and the afterpiece version was later exported to Paris and Leipzig.
- During a 1736 conflict with Theophilus Cibber over roles, Clive won over a hostile Drury Lane audience with an extemporized stage speech.
- A definitive biography of Clive by Berta Joncus was published in 2019.
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