La provinciale

(The Provincial Lady)

(pub. 1761) - Pierre Carlet de Marivaux

Comedy about a rich provincial who is saved by her cousin from seduction and theft at the hands of a gang of Parisian rogues. It has been attributed to Marivaux on the ground that he had written a play, never published or produced, called The Provincial Inn (L'auberge provinciale, 1750-1760). Since The Provincial Lady is so inferior to and unlike his other work, the attribution seems extremely doubtful.