List of works with the subtitle "Virtue Rewarded"

List of works with the subtitle "Virtue Rewarded" is a chronological compilation of works with the subtitle Virtue Rewarded.

In books and other works, a subtitle is an explanatory or alternate title that usually offers a generalization or moral drawn from the work's plot. Subtitles were a common feature of English literary works of the 17th and 18th centuries, especially plays. In the early 17th century, this convention was at times made light of, as in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, or, What You Will; while in the 18th century, subtitles would often make a more serious moral point, even in case of comic works.

The "Virtue Rewarded" subtitle has been used by a variety of books as a reminder or boast to the reader that the neoclassical principle of poetic justice will be upheld by the plot. With changing cultural perceptions in the 20th-century, the use of this subtitle diminished as a serious form. In academic discourse in the 20th century, subtitles began to be full explanations of the subject of a work, while the title itself was a gnomic or cryptically poetic phrase. This reliance upon the subtitle is part of the comic density of literary reference brought into play in the Anatomy of Melancholy by Cook et al., implying that dissertation-writing is governed both by the poetic justice principle—virtue rewarded—and by the depressive symptoms described in Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy (1622).

This list is a compilation of works whose full subtitle is "Virtue Rewarded". Thus The Crafty Chambermaid, or, Beauty and Virtue Rewarded (London, 1800) does not qualify, nor does Virtue Rewarded, or, The Faithful Lady (London, 1795).

See also

• List of works with the subtitle "Constancy Rewarded"

References

• Samuel French Inc. description in book catalogue of Temptation Sordid, or, Virtue Rewarded, at www.samuelfrench.com. Retrieved 12 September 2005.
• New York Public Library catalogue description of Barrett, "Sebastian, or, Virtue Rewarded". Retrieved 11 October 2005.
• "Shadwell, Charles", in Highfill et al. (1973–93), Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800. 16 volumes. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press.
• Shadwell, Charles, Irish Hospitality, or, Virtue Rewarded is available, through subscription only, in the Chadwyck-Healey English Drama collection. Retrieved 11 October 2005.
• Watt, Ian (1957). The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding. London: Chatto & Windus. Contains a classic sociological study of Pamela.