 Fielding 's thirteenth play , The Modern Husband , first ran on 14 February 1732 . The play ran for 13 nights at Drury Lane , rivalling the run of the Provok 'd Husband and Zara for production length . Although early @-@ 20th @-@ century critics believed that the play could not be popular , it did make money and even put on a benefit show on 2 March 1732 . The play was not revived later , possibly because the principal actors of the play died soon after and the plot of the play discouraged new actors from wanting to play the parts . The plot deals with a man selling his wife for money and the attempted abuse of the adultery laws . 
