''The Coxcomb'' is an early Jacobean era stage play, a

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

written by

Francis Beaumont Francis Beaumont ( ; 1584 – 6 March 1616) was a dramatist in the English Renaissance theatre, most famous for his collaborations with John Fletcher. Beaumont's life Beaumont was the son of Sir Francis Beaumont of Grace Dieu, near Thr ...

and John Fletcher. It was initially published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647.

Date and performance

Scholars date the play to c. 1608–10, based on contemporary allusions and availability of sources. (It has been argued that one of the play's sources was the "Curious Impertinent" episode in ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...

,'' which was published in French translation in

1608 Events January–June *January – In the Colony of Virginia, Powhatan releases Captain John Smith. *January 2 – The first of the Jamestown supply missions returns to the Colony of Virginia with Christopher Newport commanding ...

, that translation being the playwrights' source.

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

refers to the play in ''

The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...

'' in

1610 Some have suggested that 1610 may mark the beginning of the Anthropocene, or the 'Age of Man', marking a fundamental change in the relationship between humans and the Earth system, but earlier starting dates (ca. 1000 C.E.) have received broa ...

.) ''The Coxcomb'' was performed at Court early in November

1612 Events January–June * January 6 – Axel Oxenstierna becomes Lord High Chancellor of Sweden. He persuades the Riksdag of the Estates to grant the Swedish nobility the right and privilege to hold all higher offices of gover ...

by the Children of the Queen's Revels. The play's text in the second Beaumont and Fletcher folio of

1679 Events January–June * January 24 – King Charles II of England dissolves the "Cavalier Parliament", after nearly 18 years. * February 3 – Moroccan troops from Fez are killed, along with their commander Moussa ben Ahmed be ...

provides a cast list for one production, a list that cites

Nathan Field Nathan Field (also spelled Feild occasionally; 17 October 1587 – 1620) was an English dramatist and actor. Life His father was the Puritan preacher John Field, and his brother Theophilus Field became the Bishop of Llandaff. One of his brother ...

, Joseph Taylor, Giles Gary, Emanuel Read, Richard Allen, Hugh Atawell,

Robert Benfield Robert Benfield (died July 1649) was a seventeenth-century actor, noted for his longtime membership in the King's Men in the years and decades after William Shakespeare's retirement and death. Nothing is known of Benfield's early life. He was mo ...

, and William Barkstead. This combination of personnel matches not the Queen's Revels Children but the

Lady Elizabeth's Men The Lady Elizabeth's Men, or Princess Elizabeth's Men, was a company of actors in Jacobean London, formed under the patronage of King James I's daughter Princess Elizabeth. From 1618 on, the company was called The Queen of Bohemia's Men, afte ...

. The former company combined with the latter for a time in 1613. The children's troupe later passed out of existence, leaving some of its plays, including ''The Coxcomb,'' behind with the Lady Elizabeth's company. The play then passed into the possession of the King's Men, who acted it at Court on 5 March

1622 Events January–May * January 7 – The Holy Roman Empire and Transylvania sign the Peace of Nikolsburg. * February 8 – King James I of England dissolves the English Parliament. * March 12 – Ignatius of Loy ...

, and on 17 November

1636 Events January–March * January 1 – Anthony van Diemen takes office as Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), and will serve until his death in 1645. * January 18 – ''The Duke's Mistress'', the last ...

Authorship

Cyrus Hoy Cyrus Henry Hoy (February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2010) was an American literary scholar of the English Renaissance stage who taught at the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, and was the John B. Trevor Professor of English (emerit ...

, in his survey of authorship problems in the canon of Fletcher and his collaborators, provided this breakdown between the respective shares of Beaumont and Fletcher: :Beaumont — Act I, scene 4; Act II, 4; Act IV, 1, 3, and 7; Act V; :Fletcher — Act I, scenes 1-3 and 5; Act II, 1 and 3; Act III, 1 and 2; Act IV, 2, 4-6, and 8; :Beaumont and Fletcher — Act I, scene 6; Act II, 2; Act III, 3. Critics have long recognized that the existing text is a revised version of the

Beaumont and Fletcher Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatists Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, who collaborated in their writing during the reign of James I (1603–25). They became known as a team early in their association, so much so that their joi ...

original, likely done for one of the King's Men's revivals. The favorite candidate for the reviser is

Philip Massinger Philip Massinger (1583 – 17 March 1640) was an English 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 polit ...

, a major participant in Fletcher's canon; but

William Rowley William Rowley (c. 1585 – February 1626) was an English Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c. 1585; he was buried on 11 February 1626 i ...

has also been considered. If the revision was done for the 1636 revival, as some believe, Rowley would be eliminated, since he died a decade earlier.

After 1642

Along with many other plays in Fletcher's canon, ''The Coxcomb'' was revived during the Restoration era; it proved popular, and was reprinted in a single-play edition in 1718. The play is one of the relatively few Beaumont/Fletcher works given a performance in later centuries; it was acted by the

Elizabethan Stage Society The Elizabethan Stage Society was a theatrical society dedicated to putting on productions of drama from the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, particularly (but not exclusively) those of William Shakespeare. It was founded in 1895 by William Poel. I ...

in the Hall of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

on 10 February 1898 – a production reviewed by

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

.George Bernard Shaw, ''Dramatic Opinions and Essays, with an Apology,'' New York, Brentano, 1907; pp. 418–28.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coxcomb, The English Renaissance plays 1600s plays Plays by Francis Beaumont Plays by John Fletcher (playwright) Plays by Beaumont and Fletcher