George Farquhar: a migrant life reversed

George Farquhar (1677-1707) is one of the most successful and enduringly popular Restoration playwrights.

His two masterpieces, 'The Recruiting Officer' and 'The Beaux' Stratagem,' are still regularly performed today.

Yet aspects of Farquhar's biography, and in particular his Irish roots and family life, have remained obscure.

This is the first study to treat Farquhar's works as documents of migration and the fragmented identity that resulted.

Told in reverse chronological order, beginning with Farquhar's last and best-known works, it reveals previously undiscovered material about his life and connections.