John Fletcher

John Fletcher 1579-1625, English dramatist, b. Rye, Sussex, educated at Cambridge. A member of a prominent literary family, he began writing for the stage about 1606, first with Francis Beaumont , with whom his name is inseparably linked, later with Massinger and others. Fletcher may have collaborated with Shakespeare on Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen. Though there is great uncertainty in dating the plays of Beaumont and Fletcher, their chief works appeared between 1607 and 1613. In Philaster, A Maid's Tragedy, A King and No King, and The Scornful Lady, they developed the form of the romance tragicomedy, which came to characterize a whole generation of later plays. In these plays a potentially tragic situation is developed until, at the end, through a twist of plot a happy solution is effected. A prolific writer, he enjoyed great success in many genres because of his entertaining and accessible poetry, masterful use of sexual intrigue, and the refined composition of his work.

Bibliography: See edition of the works of Beaumont and Fletcher by F. Bowers (7 vol., 1966-); studies by E. Waith (1952), A. E. Thorndike (1965), and J. H. Wilson (1968).

Fletcher, John (1579–1625) English dramatist and poet. From c.1607 to 1616, he collaborated with Francis Beaumont on romantic tragicomedies, such as Philaster, The Maid's Tragedy, and A King and No King. He may have collaborated with Shakespeare on Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen. His own work includes The Faithful Shepherdess (1608) and The Chancer (1623).

Fletcher, John (1579–1625), English poet and dramatist, who spent most of his working life actively writing for the stage, either alone or in collaboration. His name is so closely connected with that of Sir Francis Beaumont that at one time more than 50 plays were attributed to them, of which some six to 16 may be their joint work. Among the best of these are Philaster (c.1609), The Maid's Tragedy and A King and No King (both c.1611), and The Scornful Lady (c.1613). After that Fletcher seems to have written either alone or in collaboration with other authors such as Massinger, Middleton, and Rowley. Among the plays attributed solely to him the first was The Faithful Shepherdess (1608); others were The Wild Goose Chase (1621), on which Farquhar based his comedy The Inconstant (1702); and The Chances (1623), rewritten by the second Duke of Buckingham and acted in 1666 with some success. Fletcher is believed by many critics to have had a hand in the writing of Shakespeare's Henry VIII (1613) (also known to its contemporaries as All is True) and to be the joint author with Shakespeare of The Two Noble Kinsmen (c.1613).