James Shirley

The Dramatic Works and Poems of James Shirley

Containing The Grateful Servant. The Traitor. Love's Cruelty. Love In A Maze. The Bird In A Cage. Hyde Park

“The” Dramatic Works And Poems Of James Shirley, Now First Collected; With Notes By The Late William Gifford, Esq. And Additional Notes, And Some Account Of Shirley And His Writings, By The Rev. Alexander Dyce ; In Six Volumes

James Shirley was born in London in September 1596. His education was through a collection of England's finest establishments: Merchant Taylors' School, London, St John's College, Oxford, and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he took his B.A. degree in approximately 1618. He first published in 1618, a poem entitled Echo, or the Unfortunate Lovers. As with many artists of this period full details of his life and career are not recorded. Sources say that after graduating he became "a minister of God's word in or near St Albans." A conversion to the Catholic faith enabled him to become master of St Albans School from 1623-25. He wrote his first play, Love Tricks, or the School of Complement, which was licensed on February 10th, 1625. From the given date it would seem he wrote this whilst at St Albans but, after its production, he moved to London and to live in Gray's Inn. For the next two decades, he would write prolifically and with great quality, across a spectrum of thirty plays; through tragedies and comedies to tragicomedies as well as several books of poetry. Unfortunately, his talents were left to wither when Parliament passed the Puritan edict in 1642, forbidding all stage plays and closing the theatres. Most of his early plays were performed by Queen Henrietta's Men, the acting company for which Shirley was engaged as house dramatist. Shirley's sympathies lay with the King in battles with Parliament and he received marks of special favor from the Queen. He made a bitter attack on William Prynne, who had attacked the stage in Histriomastix, and, when in 1634 a special masque was presented at Whitehall by the gentlemen of the Inns of Court as a practical reply to Prynne, Shirley wrote the text-The Triumph of Peace. Shirley spent the years 1636 to 1640 in Ireland, under the patronage of the Earl of Kildare. Several of his plays were produced by his friend John Ogilby in Dublin in the first ever constructed Irish theatre; The Werburgh Street Theatre. During his years in Dublin he wrote The Doubtful Heir, The Royal Master, The Constant Maid, and St. Patrick for Ireland. In his absence from London, Queen Henrietta's Men sold off a dozen of his plays to the stationers, who naturally, enough published them. When Shirley returned to London in 1640, he finished with the Queen Henrietta's company and his final plays in London were acted by the King's Men. On the outbreak of the English Civil War Shirley served with the Earl of Newcastle. However when the King's fortunes began to decline he returned to London. There his friend Thomas Stanley gave him help and thereafter Shirley supported himself in the main by teaching and publishing some educational works under the Commonwealth. In addition to these he published during the period of dramatic eclipse four small volumes of poems and plays, in 1646, 1653, 1655, and 1659. It is said that he was "a drudge" for John Ogilby in his translations of Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey, and survived into the reign of Charles II, but, though some of his comedies were revived, his days as a playwright were over. His death, at age seventy, along with that of his wife, in 1666, is described as one of fright and exposure due to the Great Fire of London which had raged through parts of London from September 2nd to the 5th. He was buried at St Giles in the Fields, in London, on October 29th, 1666.

James Shirley - The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses for the Armour of Achilles

The court secret

The ball. The young admiral. The gamester. The example. The opportunity. The coronation

Containing The Gentleman Of Venice. The Politician. The Imposture. The Cardinal. The Sisters. The Court Secret

Now First Colledted : in 6 Volumes. ¬The gentleman of Venice [u.a.]

The Dramatic Works and Poems

The Dramatic Works and Poems of James Shirley, Now First Collected: The gentleman of Venice. The politician. The imposture. The cardinal. The sisters. The court secret

William Rufus Chetwood

St. Patrick for Ireland, a tragi-comedy .... 1

A Select Collection of Old Plays ...

Containing The Lady Of Pleasure. The Royal Master. The Duke's Master. The Duke's Mistress. The Doubtful Heir. St. Patrick For Ireland. The Constant Maid. The Humorous Courtier

Dramatic Works and Poems

The humorous courtier

The Cardinal

Containing The Ball. The Young Admiral. The Gamester. The Example. The Opportunity. The Coronation

Hyde park

A Critical Edition of James Shirley's St. Patrick for Ireland

The grateful servant. The traitor. Love's cruelty. Love in a maze. The bird in a cage. Hyde Park

James Shirley

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