The Adulateur

Adulateur, The (1773), a satire by Mercy Otis Warren. Published in 1773 but apparently never acted, it was described on its title page as “a Tragedy, As it is now acted in Upper Servia.” It ridiculed the hypocrisies of Governor Thomas Hutchinson of Massachusetts, who pretended to favor the colonists while actually working against them. In the play, Hutchinson was personified as Rapatio, and his sycophantic brother, Foster, as Meagre. Rapatio attempts to undermine the plans for the freedom of Brutus, Cassius, Junius, and Portius (read James Otis [Mrs. Warren's brother], John Adams, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock). In his last soliloquy, Rapatio recognizes the baseness and hollowness of his actions and wails, “I dare not meet my naked heart alone.” Despite its never being acted, the play was widely circulated and read by an appreciative audience.