Deborah

Deborah is a German play by Salomon Hermann Mosenthal ()[]

The original text

Based on a theme in Sir Walter Scott's famous novel Ivanhoe), Mosenthal's version was first performed in Vienna in 1849.

Translations and adaptations

Besides many other theatrical works based on Ivanhoe, there were a number of English versions of Mosenthal's play.

Leah, the Forsaken by Augustin Daly ()[] was the first English version. Originally performed in New York in 1862, followed by a run in the Adelphi Theatre, London during 1863-4, it became immensely popular. (Also found as Leah the Forsaken, or The Jewish Maiden's Wrongs or simply Leah).

Two other versions of the Mosenthal play opened in 1864: Deborah, or The Jewish Outcast, written by an unnamed author, opened at the Grecian Theatre, Hoxton, in February while Deborah, the Forsaken, or The Jewish Maiden's Wrong! by Charles Smith Cheltnam ()[], opened at the Royal Victoria Theatre in Waterloo in July.

Nadia Valman. 2007. The Jewess in Nineteenth-Century British Literary Culture, Cambridge University Press: p.34-39[1]