Otway, Thomas. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001 and an adaptation of Moli�re, called The Cheats of Scapin. (1676). His two greatest plays are the blank-verse tragedies The Orphan (1680) and Venice Preserved (1682). Otway brought a sentimental pathos and romantic beauty to the formal manner of the Restoration heroic tragedy. He died in poverty at age 33