[1] The original Covent Garden cast included David Ross as Silfroy, Luke Sparks as Glanville, Isaac Ridout as Beaufort senior and George Anne Bellamy as Cleone.

[2] The plot concerns a woman named Cleone, whose brother in law, Granville, attempts to convince her husband that she is unfaithful.

Despite the attempts of her father, brother, and husband to rehabilitate her, an aggrieved Cleone dies of madness.

Dodsley writes in the preface to Cleone that he has loosely based his play on the legend of Saint Genevieve- although Dodsley may have confused the saint with Genevieve of Brabant; there are no legends indicating that Saint Genevieve was married or accused of adultery, while according to The Golden Legend, the innocent Genevieve of Brabant was framed for adultery.

Dodsley indicates that Alexander Pope encouraged him to write a play adapted from this story.