Das Kind der Liebe

(Literally "The child of love") A German play in five acts by August von Kotzebue.

The original text

Possibly one of his earliest plays, written in 1780. Made quite famous through an English translation by Elizabeth Inchbald, which features in Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park.

Translations and adaptations

At least four English adaptations of the play were published between 1798 and 1800, under various titles: Lovers' Vows by Elizabeth Inchbald (1798); The Natural Son by Anne Plumptre (1798); Lovers’ Vows; or, The Natural Son by Benjamin Thompson (1800); Lovers’ Vows, or The Child of Love by Stephen Porter (1798). Only Elizabeth Inchbald's version appears to have been performed in that time (Covent Garden, 1798), and it caused some controversy (See for example recent articles by Bode, 2005, and Ford, 2006.)

Performances in South Africa

Inchbald's version also seems to have been the only verions of Von Kotzebue's play performed in South Africa during the 19th century.

See Lovers' Vows for details on these productions

Sources

Lovers'_Vows in Wikipedia[1]).