Thomas Middleton (baptized April 18, 1580, died 1627) was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. He attended school at Christ's Hospital and went on to study at The Queen's College, Oxford and was admitted to the practice of law. He was appointed City Chronologer of the City of London in 1620, a post that he held until his death. His successor in the post was Ben Jonson.

Middleton wrote in many genres, including tragedy, history and city comedy. His best-known plays are the tragedies The Changeling (written with William Rowley) and Women Beware Women, and the cynically satiric city comedy A Chaste Maid in Cheapside. It is also widely believed that he wrote The Revenger's Tragedy, previously attributed to Cyril Tourneur, and collaborated with Shakespeare on the scenes involving the Weird Sisters and Hecate in Macbeth.

Middleton's plays are characterized by their cynicism about the human race, a cynicism that is often very funny. True heroes are a rarity in Middleton; in his plays, almost every character is selfish, greedy and self-absorbed. This quality is best observed in the A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, a panoramic view of a London populated entirely by sinners, in which no social rank goes unsatirized. It can also be seen in the tragedies Women Beware Women and The Revenger's Tragedy, in which enjoyably amoral Italian courtiers endlessly plot against each other, resulting in a climactic bloodbath. When Middleton does portray good people, the characters have very small roles, and are flawless to perfection. Thanks to a theological pamphlet that he wrote, Middleton is known to have been a strong believer in Calvinism, the dominant theology of the time, which rigidly divides humanity into the damned and the elect. His drama seems to reflect that belief.

Middleton's Works

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Note: The Middleton canon is beset by complications involving collaboration and debated authorship. The following list is based on that provided by the Oxford Middleton Project, a team of scholars who are editing a new edition of Middleton's complete works. All dates of plays are dates of composition, not of publication.

Plays

• The Phoenix (1603-4)
• The Honest Whore, Part 1, a city comedy, co-written with Thomas Dekker (1604)
• Michaelmas Term, a city comedy, (1604)
• A Trick to Catch the Old One, a city comedy (1605)
• A Mad World, My Masters, a city comedy (1605)
• A Yorkshire Tragedy, a one-act tragedy (1605); attributed to Shakespeare on its title page, but stylistic analysis favours Middleton.
• Timon of Athens a tragedy (1605-1606); stylistic analysis indicates that Middleton may have written this play in collaboration with William Shakespeare.
• The Puritan (1606)
• The Revenger's Tragedy, a tragedy (1606); although sometimes attributed to Cyril Tourneur, stylistic analysis strongly indicates Middleton's authorship.
• Your Five Gallants, a city comedy (1607)
• The Bloody Banquet (1608-9); co-written with Thomas Dekker.
• The Roaring Girl, a city comedy depicting the exploits of Mary Frith (1611); co-written with Thomas Dekker.
• No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's, a tragicomedy (1611)
• The Second Maiden's Tragedy, a tragedy (1611); an anonymous manuscript; stylistic analysis indicates Middleton's authorship.
• A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, a city comedy (1613)
• Wit at Several Weapons, a city comedy (1613); printed as part of the Beaumont and Fletcher Folio, but stylistic analysis indicates comprehensive revision by Middleton and William Rowley.
• More Dissemblers Besides Women, a tragicomedy (1614)
• The Widow (1615-16)
• The Witch, a tragicomedy (1616)
• Macbeth, a tragedy. Various evidence indicates that the extant text of Shakespeare's Macbeth was partly adapted by Middleton in 1616, using passages from The Witch.
• A Fair Quarrel, a tragicomedy (1616). Co-written with William Rowley.
• The Old Law, a tragicomedy (1618-19). Co-written with William Rowleyand perhaps a third collaborator, who may have been Philip Massinger or Thomas Heywood.
• Hengist, King of Kent, or, The Mayor of Queenborough, a tragedy (1620)
• Women Beware Women, a tragedy (1621)
• Measure for Measure. Stylistic evidence indicates that the extant text of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure was partly adapted by Middleton in 1621.
• Anything for a Quiet Life, a city comedy (1621). Co-written with John Webster.
• The Changeling, a tragedy (1622). Co-written with William Rowley.
• The Nice Valour (1622). Printed as part of the Beaumont and Fletcher Folio, but stylistic analysis indicates comprehensive revision by Middleton.
• The Spanish Gypsy, a tragicomedy (1623). Believed to be a play by Middleton and William Rowley revised by Thomas Dekker and John Ford.
• A Game at Chess, a political satire (1624). Satirized the negotiations over the proposed marriage of Prince Charles son of James I of England with the Spanish princess. Was closed after nine performances.

Masques and entertainments

• The Whole Royal and Magnificent Entertainment Fiven to King James Throughn the City of London (1603-4). Co-written with Thomas Dekker, Stephen Harrison and Ben Jonson.
• The Manner of his Lordship's Entertainment
• The Triumphs of Truth
• Civitas Amor
• The Triumphs of Honour and Industry (1617)
• The Masque of Heroes, or, The Inner Temple Masque (1619)
• The Triumphs of Love and Antiquity (1619)
• The World Tossed at Tennis (1620). Co-written with William Rowley.
• Honourable Entertainments (1620-1)
• An Invention (1622)
• The Sun in Aries (1621)
• The Triumphs of Honour and Virtue (1622)
• The Triumphs of Integrity with The Triumphs of the Golden Fleece (1623)
• The Triumphs of Health and Prosperity (1626)

Poetry

• The Wisdom of Solomon Paraphrased (1597)
• The Ghost of Lucrece (1600)

Prose

• Six Snarling Satires (1599)
• The Penniless Parliament of Threadbare Poets (1601)
• ''News from Gravesend. Co-written with Thomas Dekker (1603)
• The Nightingale and the Ant (1604), also published under the title Father Hubbard's Tales
• The Meeting of Gallants at an Ordinary (1604). Co-written with Thomas Dekker.
• Plato's Cap Cast at the Year 1604 (1604)
• The Black Book (1604)
• Sir Robert Sherley his Entertainmnt in Cracovia (1609) (translation).
• The Two Gates of Salvation (1609), or The Marriage of the Old and New Testament.
• The Owl's Almanac (1618)
• The Peacemaker (1618)

References

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• J.R. Mulryne, Thomas Middleton ISBN 058201266X
• Kenneth Friedenreich, editor, "Accompaninge the players": Essays Celebrating Thomas Middleton, 1580-1980 ISBN 040462278X
• The Oxford Middleton Project
• The Plays of Thomas Middleton

External Links

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• Luminarium: Thomas Middleton Life, works, essays

1580 births | 1627 deaths | English poets | English Renaissance dramatists | English dramatists and playwrights | Former students of Queen's College, Oxford

Thomas Middleton