Sentence:  Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the <WSD>hapless</WSD> heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophises all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Very unlucky; ill-fated.