Thomas Shadwell | |
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| Poet Laureate of England | |
| In office 9 March 1689 – 19 or 20 November 1692 | |
| Monarchs | William III andMary II |
| Preceded by | John Dryden |
| Succeeded by | Nahum Tate |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1642 |
| Died | (1692-11-19)19 November 1692 (aged approx. 49–50) London, England |
| Spouse | Anne Shadwell |
| Children | 4, includingCharles |
| Alma mater | Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Poet, playwright |
| Awards | Poet laureate |
| Writing career | |
| Notable works | Epsom Wells;Squire of Alsatia |
Thomas Shadwell (c. 1642 – 19 November 1692) was an English poet and playwright who was appointedPoet Laureate in 1689.[1]
Shadwell was born at either Bromehill Farm,Weeting-with-Broomhill or Santon House,Lynford,Norfolk,[2] and educated atBury St Edmunds School, and atGonville and Caius College, Cambridge, which he entered in 1656.[3] He left the university without a degree and joined theMiddle Temple. At theWhig triumph in 1688, he supersededJohn Dryden as poet laureate and historiographer royal. He died at Chelsea on 19 November 1692.[4] He was buried inChelsea Old Church, but his tomb was destroyed by wartime bombing. A memorial to him with a bust byFrancis Bird survives inPoets' Corner inWestminster Abbey.[5]
He was married to the actressAnne Shadwell, who appeared in several of his plays. They had four children including the playwrightCharles Shadwell andJohn Shadwell, aphysician who attended to bothQueen Anne andGeorge I.[6]
In 1668 he produced a prose comedy,The Sullen Lovers, or theImpertinents, based onLes Fâcheux byMolière, and written in open imitation ofBen Jonson's comedy of humours. His best plays areEpsom Wells (1672), for which SirCharles Sedley wrote a prologue, andThe Squire of Alsatia (1688).Alsatia was thecant name for theWhitefriars area of London, then a kind of sanctuary for persons liable to arrest, and the play represents, in dialogue full of the localargot, the adventures of a young heir who falls into the hands of the sharpers there.[7][8]
For fourteen years from the production of his first comedy to his memorable encounter withJohn Dryden, Shadwell produced a play nearly every year. These productions display a hatred of sham, and a rough but honest moral purpose. Although bawdy, they present a vivid picture of contemporary manners.[9]
Shadwell is chiefly remembered as the unfortunateMac Flecknoe of Dryden's satire, the "last great prophet oftautology", and the literary son and heir ofRichard Flecknoe:
"Shadwell alone, of all my sons, is he
Who stands confirm'd in full stupidity.
The rest to some faint meaning make pretence,
But Shadwell never deviates into sense."[10]
Dryden had furnished Shadwell with a prologue to hisTrue Widow (1679) and, in spite of momentary differences, the two had been on friendly terms. But when Dryden converted to Catholicism, joined the court party and producedAbsalom and Achitophel andThe Medal, Shadwell became the champion of theProtestants and made a scurrilous attack on Dryden inThe Medal of John Bayes: a Satire against Folly and Knavery (1682). Dryden immediately retorted inMac Flecknoe, or a Satire on the True Blue Protestant Poet, T.S. (1682), in which Shadwell's personal attacks were returned with interest. In 1687, Shadwell attempted to answer these attacks in a version ofJuvenal's 10th Satire.[9] However, Dryden's portrait of Shadwell asOg in the second part ofAbsalom and Achitophel cut far deeper and has withstood the test of time:
"A monstrous mass of foul corrupted matter,
As all the devils had spew'd to make the batter.
When wine has given him courage to blaspheme,
He curses God, but God before curst him; [...]
The midwife laid her hand on his thick skull,
With this prophetic blessing-- Be thou dull;
Drink, swear and roar, forbear no lewd delight
Fit for thy bulk, do anything but write".[11]
Nonetheless, due to the political triumph of theWhig party in 1688, Shadwell superseded his enemy asPoet Laureate andhistoriographer royal.[9]
His son,Charles Shadwell was also a playwright. A scene from his playTheStockjobbers was included as an introduction inCaryl Churchill'sSerious Money (1987).[4]
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Dear pretty youth, unveil your eyes, | |
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Love in their little veins inspires | |
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Nymphs and shepherds, come away. | |
A complete edition of Shadwell's works was published by another son, Sir John Shadwell, in 1720. Thomas Shadwell's other dramatic works are:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Shadwell, Thomas".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 759.
Works by or aboutThomas Shadwell atWikisource
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| Preceded by | BritishPoet Laureate 1689–1692 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | English Historiographer Royal 1689–1692 | Succeeded by |
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