John Fletcher

The works of the English playwright John Fletcher (1579-1625) are noted for their stylistic grace, ingenious plotting, and exciting theatricality.

John Fletcher was baptized on Dec. 20, 1579. His father was an Anglican minister who became chaplain to Queen Elizabeth and eventually bishop of London. John was educated at Cambridge and acquired a reputation as a literary man. It is not known when or why he turned to the stage, but by 1608 he had launched a long and fruitful career as a dramatist.

Although some 15 plays have been attributed to him as sole author, Fletcher did most of his work in collaboration with others. From about 1608 to about 1613, he and Francis Beaumont formed one of the most famous and successful partnerships in literary history. During this period he probably also assisted Shakespeare in one or two plays. After Shakespeare's death in 1616, Fletcher became the leading playwright of the King's Men, the most prestigious theatrical company of the period. From this time until his death in 1625, he generally served as senior partner in collaboration with Philip Massinger, Nathan Field, Samuel Rowley, and others.

Fletcher's plays were written for the elite, sophisticated audiences which frequented the "private" theaters of Jacobean London. Although his plays are still admired for their dramatic craftsmanship, they are commonly thought of as refined entertainments lacking the larger significance and universality of appeal which distinguish the work of his greater contemporaries.

Fletcher employed a variety of dramatic forms, including revenge tragedy (Valentinian, ca. 1614), satiric comedy (The Humorous Lieutenant, 1619), and farce (Rule a Wifeand Have a Wife, 1624). But his most characteristic kind of play is the "tragicomedy," which he described as a play which "wants [that is, avoids] deaths … yet brings some close to it [death]"(from his first play, The Faithfull Shepherdess, ca. 1608). But his description gives an inadequate idea of this new dramatic genre. A better illustration of Fletcherian tragicomedy is to be found in a play of narrowly averted incest, A King and No King (ca. 1611, probably written with Beaumont). Only in the last scene of this play, when King Arbaces is on the verge of yielding to his incestuous passion for Panthea, is it revealed that his beloved is not really his sister after all. Fletcher's principal concern is with the effects attending the sudden surprise which turns near-tragedy into comedy.

Fletcher died in 1625, reportedly a victim of the plague. He was buried at St. Saviour's Church in London.

Further Reading

Gerald Eades Bentley, The Jacobean and Caroline Stage, vol. 3 (1956), contains most of the essential information about Fletcher's life. For further information, some of it based on early gossip of questionable value, see the first volume of Alexander Dyce's edition of The Works of Beaumont and Fletcher (1843). Clifford Leech, The John Fletcher Plays (1962), discusses Fletcher's artistic merits. □

Fletcher, John (1579–1625), nephew of Giles Fletcher the elder and cousin of Giles the younger and Phineas Fletcher. From about 1606 he wrote some 15 plays in collaboration with Sir F. Beaumont, and some 16 of which he was sole author. He also collaborated with Massinger, Rowley, Middleton, Jonson, Chapman, and others in the writing of many other works.

Among the principal plays of which Fletcher was probably sole author are: The Faithful Shepherdess (printed not later than 1610); Valentinian (perf. 1610–14); The Loyal Subject (perf. 1618); The Humorous Lieutenant (perf. 1619); The Wilde Goose Chase (perf. 1621); The Woman's Prize, written 1604–17; Rule a Wife and Have a Wife (perf. 1624); The Chances, written c.1617.

Among plays certainly or probably by Beaumont and Fletcher are: Philaster, written 1609; The Maid's Tragedy, written 1610–11; A King and No King (perf. 1611); Bonduca (perf. 1613–14); Thierry King of France (printed 1621; also with Massinger).

Among plays probably by Fletcher and some other dramatist are: Sir John Van Olden Barnavelt (perf. 1619); The False One (perf. c.1620); The Custom of the Country (printed 1647); The Spanish Curate and The Beggar's Bush (both perf. 1622). In all the above Fletcher certainly or probably collaborated with Massinger. The romantic drama The Lover's Progress (perf. 1623) was later revised by Massinger. The Elder Brother (printed 1637) is thought to have been written by Fletcher and revised by Massinger. The Bloody Brother, or Rollo, Duke of Normandy (perf. c.1616) is by Fletcher, Jonson, Chapman, and Massinger. Fletcher also collaborated with Shakespeare in The Two Noble Kinsmen and Henry VIII.

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. He is also thought the principal author of Double Falsehood (first published 1727), in which Shakespeare may have had a hand. 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, his 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 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).

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).