Showing results by author "Thomas Dekker Thomas Middleton" in All Categories

The Roaring Girl is a rip-roaring Jacobean comedy co-written by Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker and first published in 1611. The play is a fictionalized dramatization of the life of Mary Frith, known as "Moll Cutpurse", a woman who had gained a reputation as a virago in the early 17th century. (The term "roaring girl" was adapted from the slang term "roaring boy", which was applied to a young man who caroused publicly, brawled, and committed petty crimes.) The play combines the exploits of the cross-dressed Moll with the amorous adventures of a trio of merchants' wives, and the forbidden ...

Step into the world of Family of Love, an intriguing early Jacobean city comedy that first graced the stage in 1608. Although originally published anonymously, this play has historically been linked to notable playwrights Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker, but recent scholarship points to Lording Barry as its likely sole author. The play cleverly satirizes the salacious reputation of the Familists, a religious sect founded by Henry Nicholis in the 16th century. Maria finds herself in love with Gerardine, but her uncle Glister, a physician, stands in the way of their happiness. In an elaborate...