By 1688, "his subject once again ends up in a novel by his colleague Aphra Behn,Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave was performed as a play and was a huge success". According to Kaufman, "At the age of sixty-seven Southerne offers one last play, Money The Mistress in 1726, it is a weak conclusion to an honorable career." He was honored as a playwright. On 26 May 1746, at the age of eighty-seven Southerne died. According to Kaufman, "He was a successful man of the theater, a working playwright for forty-four years." His best plays, The Wives' Excuse, The Fatal Marriage and Oroonoko, reveal a competent, indeed interesting, playwright.
