Thomas Middleton

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Thomas Middleton

Thomas Middleton (b 18 April 1580 – 1627) was an English

England

English Renaissance theatre

English Renaissance Theatre is English drama written between the English Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. It may also be called early modern English Theatre....
and poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
. Middleton stands with John Fletcher

John Fletcher (playwright)

John Fletcher was a Jacobean era playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men , he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivaled Shakespeare's....
and Ben Jonson

Ben Jonson

Benjamin Jonson was an England English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satire plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist , and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his Lyric poetry poems....
as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean

Jacobean

Jacobean indicates the period of History of England that coincides with the reign of James I of England :*Jacobean era*Jacobean architecture...
period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in comedy

Comedy

Comedy as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western culture origins are found in Ancient Greece....
and tragedy

Tragedy

Tragedy is a form of The arts based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific Poetic tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western culture....
. Also a prolific writer of masque

Masque

The masque was a form of festive Noble court entertainment which flourished in sixteenth and early seventeenth century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio....
s and pageant

Pageant

A Medieval pageant is a form of procession traditionally associated with both secular and religious rituals, often with a narrative structure. Pageants were an important aspect of Medieval European seasonal festivals, in particular around the celebration of Corpus Christi , which began after the 13th century....
s, he remains one of the most noteworthy and distinctive of Jacobean

Jacobean

Jacobean indicates the period of History of England that coincides with the reign of James I of England :*Jacobean era*Jacobean architecture...
dramatists.
leton was born in London

London

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Encyclopedia

Thomas Middleton (b 18 April 1580 – 1627) was an English

England

English Renaissance theatre

English Renaissance Theatre is English drama written between the English Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. It may also be called early modern English Theatre....
and poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
. Middleton stands with John Fletcher

John Fletcher (playwright)

Ben Jonson

Jacobean

Comedy

Tragedy

Masque

Pageant

Jacobean

Jacobean indicates the period of History of England that coincides with the reign of James I of England :*Jacobean era*Jacobean architecture...
dramatists.

Life

Middleton was born in London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
and baptized on April 18 1580. He was the son of a bricklayer who had raised himself to the status of a gentleman and who, interestingly, owned property adjoining the Curtain

Curtain Theatre

The Curtain Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Curtain Close, Shoreditch , just outside the City of London. It opened in 1577, and continued staging plays until 1622....
theatre in Shoreditch. Middleton was just five when his father died and his mother's subsequent remarriage dissolved into a fifteen year battle over the inheritance of Thomas and his younger sister: an experience which must surely have informed and perhaps even incited his repeated satirizing of the legal profession.

Middleton attended Queen’s College, Oxford, matriculating in 1598, although he did not graduate. Before he left Oxford (sometime in 1600 or 1601), he wrote and published three long poems in popular Elizabethan styles; none appears to have been especially successful, and one, his book of satires, ran afoul of the Anglican Church's ban on verse satire and was burned. Nevertheless, his literary career was launched.

In the early 1600s, Middleton made a living writing topical pamphlets, including one—Penniless Parliament of Threadbare Poets—that enjoyed many reprintings as well as becoming the subject of a Parliamentary inquiry. At the same time, records in the diary of Philip Henslowe

Philip Henslowe

Philip Henslowe was an Elizabethan era theatrical entrepreneur and impresario. Henslowe's modern reputation rests on the survival of his "Diary", a primary source for information about the theatrical world of Renaissance London....
show that Middleton was writing for the Admiral's Men

Admiral's Men

The Admiral's Men was a playing company or troupe of actors in the Elizabethan era and House of Stuart eras . It is generally considered the second most important acting troupe of English Renaissance theatre ....
. Unlike Shakespeare, Middleton remained a free agent, able to write for whichever company hired him. His early dramatic career was marked by controversy. His friendship with Thomas Dekker brought him into conflict with Ben Jonson

Ben Jonson

George Chapman

George Chapman was an England dramatist, translator, and poet. He was a classical scholar, and his work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman has been identified as the Rival Poet of Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Minto, and as an anticipator of the Metaphysical Poets....
in the War of the Theatres

War of the Theatres

The War of the Theatres is the name commonly applied to a controversy from the later Elizabethan theatre; Thomas Dekker termed it the Poetomachia....
. The grudge with Jonson continued as late as 1626, when Jonson's play The Staple of News indulges a slur on Middleton's great success, A Game at Chess. It has been argued that Middleton's Inner Temple Masque (1619) sneers at Jonson (then absent in Scotland

Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
) as a "silenced bricklayer."

In 1603, Middleton married. The same year, an outbreak of plague

Bubonic plague

Plague is a deadly infectious disease caused by the Enterobacteriaceae Yersinia pestis . Plague is a zoonotic, primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas....
forced the closing of the theaters in London, and James I

James I of England

James VI and I was List of monarchs of Scotland as James VI, and List of English monarchs and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Kingdom of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old, succeeding his mother Mary I of Scotland....
assumed the English throne. These events marked the beginning of Middleton's greatest period as a playwright. Having passed the time during the plague composing prose pamphlets (including a continuation of Thomas Nashe

Thomas Nashe

Thomas Nashe was an England Elizabethan pamphleteer, poet and satirist. He was the son of the minister of religion William Nashe and his wife Margaret ....
's Pierce Penniless), he returned to drama with great energy, producing close to a score of plays for several companies and in several genres, most notably city comedy

City comedy

City comedy, also called Citizen Comedy, is a common genre of Elizabethan theatre. It is a vague term that different scholars use to mean slightly different things....
and revenge tragedy. He continued his collaborations with Dekker, and the two produced The Roaring Girl, a biography of contemporary thief Mary Frith

Mary Frith

Mary Frith or Moll Cutpurse was a notorious pickpocket and Fence of the England underworld....
.

In the 1610s, Middleton began his fruitful collaboration with the actor William Rowley

William Rowley

William Rowley was an England Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c....
, producing Wit at Several Weapons
Wit at Several Weapons

Wit at Several Weapons is a seventeenth-century comedy of problematic date and authorship....
and A Fair Quarrel
A Fair Quarrel

A Fair Quarrel is a Literature in English#Jacobean literature tragicomedy, a collaboration between Thomas Middleton and William Rowley that was first published in 1617 in literature....
; working alone he produced his comic masterpiece, A Chaste Maid in Cheapside
A Chaste Maid in Cheapside

A Chaste Maid in Cheapside is a city comedy written c. 1613 by England English Renaissance playwright Thomas Middleton. Unpublished until 1630 in literature and long-neglected afterwards, it is now considered among the best and most characteristic Jacobean comedies....
, in 1613. His own plays from this decade reveal a somewhat mellowed temper; certainly there is no comedy among them with the satiric depth of Michaelmas Term
Michaelmas Term (play)

Michaelmas Term is a Literature_in_English#Jacobean_literature comedy by Thomas Middleton. It was first performed in 1604 in literature by the Children of Paul's, and was entered into the Stationers' Register on May 15, 1607 in literature, and published in book size later that year by Arthur Johnson....
and no tragedy as bloodthirsty as The Revenger's Tragedy
The Revenger's Tragedy

The Revenger's Tragedy is an English language Literature in English#Jacobean literature revenge tragedy, in the past attributed to Cyril Tourneur but now usually recognized as the work of Thomas Middleton....
. Middleton was also branching out into other dramatic endeavors; he was apparently called on to help revise Macbeth
Macbeth

Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest Shakespearean tragedy and is believed to have been written some time between 1603 and 1606, with 1607 being the very latest possible date....
and Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure is a Play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was originally classified as a comedy, but is now also classified as one of Shakespeare's Problem plays s....
, and at the same time he was increasingly involved with civic pageants. This last connection was made official when, in 1620, he was appointed City Chronologer of the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a geographically small city status in the United Kingdom within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which, along with Westminster, the modern conurbation grew....
. He held this post until his death in 1627, at which time it was passed to Jonson

Jonson

Jonson is a surname, and may refer to:* Ben Jonson , English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor* Gail Jonson , former medley and butterfly swimmer...
.

Middleton's official duties did not interrupt his dramatic writings; the 1620s saw the production of his and Rowley's tragedy The Changeling
The Changeling (play)

The Changeling is a Literature in English#Jacobean literature tragedy written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley. Widely regarded as "among the best" tragedies of the English Renaissance, the play has accumulated a significant body of critical commentary....
, and several tragicomedies. In 1624, he reached a pinnacle of notoriety when his dramatic allegory

Allegory

Allegory is generally treated as a figure of rhetoric, but an allegory does not have to be expressed in language: it may be addressed to the eye, and is often found in realistic painting, sculpture or some other form of Mimesis, or representative art....
A Game at Chess
A Game at Chess

A Game at Chess is a comedy satirical Play by Thomas Middleton, first staged in August 1624 by the King's Men at the Globe Theatre, notable for its political content....
was staged by the King's Men

King's Men (playing company)

The King's Men was the company of actors to which William Shakespeare belonged through most of his career. Formerly known as The Lord Chamberlain's Men during the reign of Elizabeth I of England, it became The King's Men in 1603 when James I of England ascended the throne and became the company's patron....
. The play used the conceit

Conceit

Aside from its common usage, signifying "excessive pride", in literature terms, a conceit is an extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs an entire poem or poetic passage....
of a chess game to present and satirize the recent intrigues surrounding the Spanish Match

Spanish Match

The Spanish Match describes the policy and diplomatic negotiations towards a proposed marriage between Charles I of England, the son of James I of England of England, and Maria Anna of Spain, the daughter of Philip III of Spain....
. Though Middleton's approach was strongly patriotic, the Privy Council

Privy council

A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation on how to exercise their Executive , typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchy....
shut down the play after nine performances on the complaint of the Spanish ambassador. Middleton faced an unknown, but likely frightening, degree of punishment. Since no play later than A Game at Chess is recorded, it has been hypothesized that his punishment included a ban on writing for the stage.

Middleton died at his home in Newington Butts

Newington Butts

Newington Butts is a short road in London Borough of Southwark, London, England, leading south-west from the Elephant and Castle. The road forks into Kennington Park Road leading to Kennington and Kennington Lane leading to Vauxhall Bridge....
in 1627.

Works

Middleton wrote in many genres, including tragedy

Tragedy

City comedy

City comedy, also called Citizen Comedy, is a common genre of Elizabethan theatre. It is a vague term that different scholars use to mean slightly different things....
. His best-known plays are the tragedies The Changeling
The Changeling (play)

The Changeling is a Literature in English#Jacobean literature tragedy written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley. Widely regarded as "among the best" tragedies of the English Renaissance, the play has accumulated a significant body of critical commentary....
(written with William Rowley

William Rowley

William Rowley was an England Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c....
) and Women Beware Women
Women Beware Women

Women Beware Women is a Literature_in_English#Jacobean_literature tragedy written by Thomas Middleton, and first published in 1657 in literature....
, and the cynically satirical city comedy A Chaste Maid in Cheapside
A Chaste Maid in Cheapside

A Chaste Maid in Cheapside is a city comedy written c. 1613 by England English Renaissance playwright Thomas Middleton. Unpublished until 1630 in literature and long-neglected afterwards, it is now considered among the best and most characteristic Jacobean comedies....
. Although earlier editions of The Revenger's Tragedy
The Revenger's Tragedy

The Revenger's Tragedy is an English language Literature in English#Jacobean literature revenge tragedy, in the past attributed to Cyril Tourneur but now usually recognized as the work of Thomas Middleton....
attribute the play to Cyril Tourneur

Cyril Tourneur

Cyril Tourneur was an English dramatist who enjoyed his greatest success during the reign of King James I of England. His best-known work is The Revenger's Tragedy , a play which has alternatively been attributed to Thomas Middleton....
, or refused to arbitrate between Middleton and Tourneur, since the massive and widely acclaimed statistical studies by David Lake and MacDonald P. Jackson, Middleton's authorship has not been seriously contested, and no scholar has mounted a new defense of the discredited Tourneur attribution. The Oxford Middleton and its companion piece, Thomas Middleton and Early Modern Textual Culture offer the most extensive and decisive evidence to date not only for Middleton's authorship of The Revenger's Tragedy
The Revenger's Tragedy

The Revenger's Tragedy is an English language Literature in English#Jacobean literature revenge tragedy, in the past attributed to Cyril Tourneur but now usually recognized as the work of Thomas Middleton....
, but also for his collaboration with Shakespeare on Timon of Athens
Timon of Athens

The Life of Timon of Athens is a play by William Shakespeare about the legendary Athens misanthropy Timon of Athens , generally regarded as one of his most obscure and difficult works....
and his adaptation and revision of Shakespeare's Macbeth
Macbeth

Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest Shakespearean tragedy and is believed to have been written some time between 1603 and 1606, with 1607 being the very latest possible date....
and Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure is a Play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was originally classified as a comedy, but is now also classified as one of Shakespeare's Problem plays s....
.

Middleton's work is diverse even by the standards of his age. He did not have the kind of official relationship with a particular company that Shakespeare or Fletcher had; instead, he appears to have written on a freelance basis for any number of companies. Particularly in the early years of his career, this freedom led to a great diversity in his output, which ranges from the "snarling" satire of Michaelmas Term (performed by the Children of Paul's

Children of Paul's

The Children of Paul's was the name of a troupe of boy player in Elizabethan era and Jacobean era London. Along with the Children of the Chapel, the Children of Paul's were the most important of the companies of boy players that constituted a distinctive feature of English Renaissance theatre....
) to the bleak intrigues of The Revenger's Tragedy (performed by the King's Men

King's Men

The King's Men may refer to:*The King's Men , William Shakespeare's playing company, led by Richard Burbage.*The King's Men from J....
), assuming he is the author of the latter. Also contributing to the variety of the works is the scope of Middleton's career. If his early work was informed by the flourishing of satire in the late-Elizabethan period,

His maturity was influenced by the ascendancy of Fletcherian tragicomedy

Tragicomedy

Tragicomedy is fictional work that blends aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. In English literature, from Shakespeare's time to the nineteenth century, tragicomedy referred to a serious Play with a happy ending....
. If many of these plays have been judged less compelling than his earlier work, his later work, in which satiric fury is tempered and broadened, also includes three of his acknowledged masterpieces. A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, produced by the Lady Elizabeth's Men

Lady Elizabeth's Men

The Lady Elizabeth's Men, or Princess Elizabeth's Men, was a Playing company in Jacobean era London, formed under the patronage of King James I of England daughter Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia....
, skillfully combines Middleton's typically cutting presentation of London life with an expansive view of the power of love to effect reconciliation. The Changeling, a late tragedy, returns Middleton to an Italianate setting like that in The Revenger's Tragedy; here, however, the central characters are more fully drawn and more compelling as individuals, again, assuming he wrote The Revenger's Tragedy
The Revenger's Tragedy

The Revenger's Tragedy is an English language Literature in English#Jacobean literature revenge tragedy, in the past attributed to Cyril Tourneur but now usually recognized as the work of Thomas Middleton....
. Similar changes may be seen in Women Beware Women.

Middleton's plays are characterized by their cynicism

Cynicism

Cynicism originally comprised the various philosophy of a group of ancient Greeks called the Cynics, founded by Antisthenes in about the 4th century BC....
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 attributed to him, Middleton is thought by some to have been a strong believer in Calvinism

Calvinism

Calvinism is a theology system and an approach to the Christian life that emphasizes the rule of God over all things. It was developed by several theologians, but it bears the name of the French Protestant Reformation John Calvin because of his prominent influence on it and because of his role in the confessional and ecclesiastical debates t...
, among the dominant strains in the theology

Theology

Theology is the study of the existence or attributes of a deity or gods, or more generally the study of religion or spirituality. It is sometimes contrasted with religious studies: theology is understood as the study of religion from an internal perspective , and religious studies as the study of religion from an external perspective....
of the English church of his time, which rigidly divides humanity into the damned and the elect, which focuses on human sinfulness

Original sin

Original sin is, according to a doctrine in Christian theology, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. While the Old Testament and the New Testament, which frequently speak of the sinfulness of humans, do not contain the terms "original sin" or "ancestral sin", the doctrine expressed by these terms is claimed to be based on t...
and inadequacy

Total depravity

Total depravity is a theology doctrine that derives from the Augustine of Hippo concepts of original sin. It is also advocated to various degrees by many Protestant confessions of faith and catechisms, including those of Lutheranism, and Methodism, Arminianism, and Calvinism....
more than in the other denominations

List of Christian denominations

List of Christian denominations ordered by historical and doctrinal relationships. .Some groups are large , while others are just a few small churches, and in most cases the relative size is not evident in this list....
of Christianity.

Reputation

Middleton's work has long been praised by literary critics, among them Algernon Charles Swinburne

Algernon Charles Swinburne

Algernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, controversial in his own day....
and T. S. Eliot

T. S. Eliot

'Thomas Stearns Eliot', Order of Merit , was a poet, dramatist, and literary critic. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Among his most famous writings are the poems The Love Song of J....
. The latter thought Middleton was second only to Shakespeare. In his own time, he was thought talented enough to revise Shakespeare's Macbeth
Macbeth

Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest Shakespearean tragedy and is believed to have been written some time between 1603 and 1606, with 1607 being the very latest possible date....
and Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure is a Play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was originally classified as a comedy, but is now also classified as one of Shakespeare's Problem plays s....
.

Middleton's plays have been staged throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, each decade offering more productions than the last. Even less familiar works have been staged: A Fair Quarrel
A Fair Quarrel

A Fair Quarrel is a Literature in English#Jacobean literature tragicomedy, a collaboration between Thomas Middleton and William Rowley that was first published in 1617 in literature....
was performed at the National Theatre

Royal National Theatre

The Royal National Theatre, London, England, is generally known as the National Theatre and commonly as The National. It is located on the The South Bank in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, immediately east of the southern end of Waterloo Bridge....
, and The Old Law
The Old Law

The Old Law, or A New Way to Please You is a seventeenth-century tragicomedy written by Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, and Philip Massinger....
has been performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company

Royal Shakespeare Company

The Royal Shakespeare Company is a British theatre company. Located primarily at Stratford-upon-Avon, with bases also in London and Theatre Royal, Newcastle, it is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly-funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal National Theatre....
. The Changeling has been adapted for film several times, and the tragedy Women Beware Women
Women Beware Women

Women Beware Women is a Literature_in_English#Jacobean_literature tragedy written by Thomas Middleton, and first published in 1657 in literature....
remains a stage favorite. The Revenger's Tragedy was adapted into Alex Cox

Alex Cox

Alexander Cox is a United Kingdom film director and sometime actor, notable for his idiosyncratic style and approach to scripts. Cox has previously cited Luis Bu?uel and Akira Kurosawa as influences....
's film Revengers Tragedy
Revengers Tragedy

Revengers Tragedy is a film adaptation of the 1606 play The Revenger's Tragedy . It was directed by Alex Cox and adapted for the screen by Cox's fellow Liverpudlian, Frank Cottrell Boyce....
, the opening credits of which attribute the play's authorship to Middleton.

Middleton's Canon

Note: The Middleton canon is beset by complications involving collaboration and debated authorship. The most recent and authoritative Middleton canon has been established by the editors of the (2007). All dates of plays are dates of composition, not of publication.

Plays

The Phoenix
The Phoenix (play)

The Phoenix is a Literature_in_English#Jacobean_literature play, a city comedy written by Thomas Middleton c. 1603-4, and performed by the Children of Paul's....
(1603-4)
The Honest Whore, Part 1, a city comedy (1604), co-written with Thomas Dekker
Michaelmas Term
Michaelmas Term (play)

Michaelmas Term is a Literature_in_English#Jacobean_literature comedy by Thomas Middleton. It was first performed in 1604 in literature by the Children of Paul's, and was entered into the Stationers' Register on May 15, 1607 in literature, and published in book size later that year by Arthur Johnson....
, a city comedy, (1604)
A Trick to Catch the Old One
A Trick to Catch the Old One

A Trick to Catch the Old One is a Literature_in_English#Jacobean_literature comedy written by Thomas Middleton, first published in 1608 in literature....
, a city comedy (1605)
A Mad World, My Masters
A Mad World, My Masters

A Mad World, My Masters is a Literature in English#Jacobean literature stage play written by Thomas Middleton, a comedy first performed around 1605 in literature and first published in 1608 in literature....
, a city comedy (1605)
A Yorkshire Tragedy
A Yorkshire Tragedy

A Yorkshire Tragedy is an early Literature in English#Jacobean literature era stage play, a domestic tragedy printed in 1608. The play was originally assigned to William Shakespeare, though the modern critical consensus rejects this attribution, favoring Thomas Middleton....
, a one-act tragedy (1605); attributed to Shakespeare
William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English people poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist....
on its title page, but stylistic analysis favours Middleton.
Timon of Athens
Timon of Athens

The Life of Timon of Athens is a play by William Shakespeare about the legendary Athens misanthropy Timon of Athens , generally regarded as one of his most obscure and difficult works....
a tragedy (1605-1606); stylistic analysis indicates that Middleton may have written this play in collaboration with William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English people poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist....
.
The Puritan (1606)
The Revenger's Tragedy
The Revenger's Tragedy

The Revenger's Tragedy is an English language Literature in English#Jacobean literature revenge tragedy, in the past attributed to Cyril Tourneur but now usually recognized as the work of Thomas Middleton....
(1606). Co-written with Cyril Tourneur
Cyril Tourneur

Cyril Tourneur was an English dramatist who enjoyed his greatest success during the reign of King James I of England. His best-known work is The Revenger's Tragedy , a play which has alternatively been attributed to Thomas Middleton....
.
Your Five Gallants
Your Five Gallants

Your Five Gallants is a Literature_in_English#Jacobean_literature comedy by Thomas Middleton. It falls into the sub-genre of city comedy. Allusions in the play point to a date of authorship of 1607 in literature....
, a city comedy (1607)
The Bloody Banquet
The Bloody Banquet

The Bloody Banquet is an early 17th-century play, a revenge tragedy of uncertain date and authorship, attributed on its title page only to "T.D." It has attracted a substantial body of critical and scholarly commentary, chiefly for the challenging authorship problem it presents....
(1608-9); co-written with Thomas Dekker.
The Roaring Girl
The Roaring Girl

The Roaring Girl is a Literature in English#Jacobean literature stage play, a comedy written by Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker ca. 1607-10....
, a city comedy depicting the exploits of Mary Frith
Mary Frith

Mary Frith or Moll Cutpurse was a notorious pickpocket and Fence of the England underworld....
(1611); co-written with Thomas Dekker.
No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's
No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's

No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's is a Literature in English#Jacobean literature era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Thomas Middleton....
, a tragicomedy (1611)
The Second Maiden's Tragedy
The Second Maiden's Tragedy

The Second Maiden's Tragedy is a Jacobean play that survives only in manuscript. It was written in 1611, and performed in the same year by the King's Men ....
, a tragedy (1611); an anonymous manuscript; stylistic analysis indicates Middleton's authorship.
A Chaste Maid in Cheapside
A Chaste Maid in Cheapside

A Chaste Maid in Cheapside is a city comedy written c. 1613 by England English Renaissance playwright Thomas Middleton. Unpublished until 1630 in literature and long-neglected afterwards, it is now considered among the best and most characteristic Jacobean comedies....
, a city comedy (1613)
Wit at Several Weapons
Wit at Several Weapons

Wit at Several Weapons is a seventeenth-century comedy of problematic date and authorship....
, a city comedy (1613); printed as part of the Beaumont
Francis Beaumont

Francis Beaumont was a dramatist in the English Renaissance theatre, most famous for his collaborations with John Fletcher .Beaumont was the son of Sir Francis Beaumont of Grace-Dieu, Leicestershire, a justice of the Court of Common Pleas ....
and Fletcher
John Fletcher (playwright)

John Fletcher was a Jacobean era playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men , he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivaled Shakespeare's....
Folio, but stylistic analysis indicates comprehensive revision by Middleton and William Rowley
William Rowley

William Rowley was an England Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c....
.
More Dissemblers Besides Women
More Dissemblers Besides Women

More Dissemblers Besides Women is a Literature_in_English#Jacobean_literature stage play, a tragicomedy written by Thomas Middleton, and first published in 1657 in literature....
, a tragicomedy (1614)
The Widow
The Widow (play)

The Widow is a Literature_in_English#Jacobean_literature stage play first published in 1652 in literature, but written decades earlier.The play was entered into the Stationers' Register on April 12, 1652, and published later that year in book size by the bookseller Humphrey Moseley....
(1615-16)
The Witch
The Witch

The Witch is a Literature in English#Jacobean literature play, a tragicomedy written by Thomas Middleton. The play was acted by the King's Men at the Blackfriars Theatre....
, a tragicomedy (1616)
Macbeth
Macbeth

Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest Shakespearean tragedy and is believed to have been written some time between 1603 and 1606, with 1607 being the very latest possible date....
, a tragedy. Various evidence indicates that the extant text of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English people poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist....
's Macbeth was partly adapted by Middleton in 1616, using passages from The Witch
The Witch

The Witch is a Literature in English#Jacobean literature play, a tragicomedy written by Thomas Middleton. The play was acted by the King's Men at the Blackfriars Theatre....
.
A Fair Quarrel
A Fair Quarrel

A Fair Quarrel is a Literature in English#Jacobean literature tragicomedy, a collaboration between Thomas Middleton and William Rowley that was first published in 1617 in literature....
, a tragicomedy (1616). Co-written with William Rowley
William Rowley

William Rowley was an England Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c....
.
The Old Law
The Old Law

The Old Law, or A New Way to Please You is a seventeenth-century tragicomedy written by Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, and Philip Massinger....
, a tragicomedy (1618-19). Co-written with William Rowley
William Rowley

William Rowley was an England Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c....
and perhaps a third collaborator, who may have been Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger

Philip Massinger was an England dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The City Madam and The Roman Actor, are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and social themes....
or Thomas Heywood
Thomas Heywood

Thomas Heywood was a prominent England playwright, actor, and author whose peak period of activity falls between late Elizabethan theatre and early Jacobean theatre....
.
Hengist, King of Kent, or The Mayor of Quinborough, a tragedy (1620)
Women Beware Women
Women Beware Women

Women Beware Women is a Literature_in_English#Jacobean_literature tragedy written by Thomas Middleton, and first published in 1657 in literature....
, a tragedy (1621)
Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure is a Play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was originally classified as a comedy, but is now also classified as one of Shakespeare's Problem plays s....
. Stylistic evidence indicates that the extant text of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English people poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist....
's Measure for Measure was partly adapted by Middleton in 1621.
Anything for a Quiet Life
Anything for a Quiet Life

Anything for a Quiet Life is a Literature_in_English#Jacobean_literature stage play, a city comedy written by Thomas Middleton and John Webster....
, a city comedy (1621). Co-written with John Webster
John Webster

John Webster was an England Literature in English#Jacobean literature dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage....
.
The Changeling
The Changeling (play)

The Changeling is a Literature in English#Jacobean literature tragedy written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley. Widely regarded as "among the best" tragedies of the English Renaissance, the play has accumulated a significant body of critical commentary....
, a tragedy (1622). Co-written with William Rowley
William Rowley

William Rowley was an England Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c....
.
The Nice Valour
The Nice Valour

The Nice Valour, or The Passionate Madman is a Literature_in_English#Jacobean_literature stage play of problematic date and authorship. Based on its inclusion in the two Beaumont and Fletcher folios of 1647 in literature and 1679 in literature and two citations in 17th-century sources, the play has long held a place in the canon of John...
(1622). Printed as part of the Beaumont
Francis Beaumont

Francis Beaumont was a dramatist in the English Renaissance theatre, most famous for his collaborations with John Fletcher .Beaumont was the son of Sir Francis Beaumont of Grace-Dieu, Leicestershire, a justice of the Court of Common Pleas ....
and Fletcher
John Fletcher (playwright)

John Fletcher was a Jacobean era playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men , he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivaled Shakespeare's....
Folio, but stylistic analysis indicates comprehensive revision by Middleton.
The Spanish Gypsy
The Spanish Gypsy

The Spanish Gypsy is an English Literature_in_English#Jacobean_literature tragicomedy, dating from 1623. It is interesting to modern readers, students, and scholars principally because of the question of its authorship....
, a tragicomedy (1623). Believed to be a play by Middleton and William Rowley
William Rowley

William Rowley was an England Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c....
revised by Thomas Dekker and John Ford
John Ford (dramatist)

John Ford was an English Literature in English#Jacobean literature and Literature in English#Caroline and Cromwellian literature playwright and poet born in Ilsington, Devon in Devon in 1586....
.
A Game at Chess
A Game at Chess

A Game at Chess is a comedy satirical Play by Thomas Middleton, first staged in August 1624 by the King's Men at the Globe Theatre, notable for its political content....
, a political satire (1624). Satirized the negotiations over the proposed marriage of Prince Charles
Charles I of England

Charles I was List of English monarchs, List of monarchs of Scotland and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his capital punishment on 30 January 1649....
, son of James I of England
James I of England

James VI and I was List of monarchs of Scotland as James VI, and List of English monarchs and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Kingdom of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old, succeeding his mother Mary I of Scotland....
, with the Spanish princess. Closed after nine performances.

Masques and entertainments

The Whole Royal and Magnificent Entertainment Given to King James Through the City of London (1603-4). Co-written with Thomas Dekker, Stephen Harrison and Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson

Benjamin Jonson was an England English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satire plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist , and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his Lyric poetry poems....
.
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
The World Tossed at Tennis

The World Tossed at Tennis is a Literature in English#Jacobean literature era masque composed by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, first published in 1620 in literature....
(1620). Co-written with William Rowley
William Rowley

William Rowley was an England Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c....
.
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)
Microcynicon: Six Snarling Satires
Microcynicon: Six Snarling Satires

Microcynicon is a work of poetic satire written by English playwright Thomas Middleton in 1597 and 1598. The published version was burned publicly as part of the Archbishop of Canterbury's attack on verse satire....
(1599)
The Ghost of Lucrece (1600)
Burbage
Burbage

Burbage is the name of several places:*Burbage Brook, river in Derbyshire, England*Burbage, Derbyshire, village in Derbyshire, England; now part of Buxton...
epitaph (1619)
Bolles
Bolles

Bolles is a surname which may refer to the following people:*Charles Bolles, alias Black Bart, American outlaw*Don Bolles, an Arizona journalist murdered in 1976 after investigating the Mafia...
epitaph (1621)
Duchess of Malfi commendatory poem (1623)
St James (1623)
To the King (1624)

Prose

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 Entertainment 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)