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John Lyly
John Lyly , 1554?-1606, English dramatist and prose writer. An accomplished courtier, he also served as a member of Parliament from 1589 to 1601. His Euphues, published in two parts ( The Anatomy of Wit, 1578, and Euphues and His England, 1580), was an early example of the novel of manners and was one of the most influential works of its time. In it Lyly tried to establish an ideal of perfected prose style, which was actually convoluted and artificial (see euphuism ). His early plays, the most notable being Campaspe (1584) and Endimion (1591), followed Euphues in their elaborate style, but his later work, specifically Mother Bombie (1594), employed the realistic, robust manner of Roman comedy. His Woman in the Moon (1594?) was a a successful experiment in blank verse. Shakespeare and other Elizabethan playwrights were indebted to him for his innovation of prose as the vehicle for comic dialogue and for his development of the romantic comedy.
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"John Lyly." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "John Lyly." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Lyly.html "John Lyly." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Lyly.html |
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Lyly, John
Lyly, John (c.1554–1606), English novelist and playwright, whose involved and allusive style in his Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (1579) and Euphues and his England (1580) gave rise to the expression ‘euphuism’. His plays were written mainly for a courtly audience, which delighted in his grace and artificiality, and in his many sly allusions to current scandals. They were mostly acted by the Children of Paul's, whose vice-regent Lyly became in c.1590. Among them were Campaspe and Sapho and Phao (both c.1584), two comedies, Midas and Mother Bombie (both c. 1586), the latter a ‘comedy of errors’ in the style of Terence, and his most important play, Endimion, the Man in the Moon, first published in 1591, and possibly acted a couple of years earlier. Lyly, whose new use of language undoubtedly influenced Shakespeare, may have had a hand in other plays of his time, but nothing can be ascribed to him with any certainty, except for one or two pastorals on mythological subjects, of ephemeral interest.
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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Lyly, John." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Lyly, John." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-LylyJohn.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Lyly, John." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-LylyJohn.html |
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Lyly, John
Lyly, John (?1554–1606), grandson of W. Lily. He was MP successively for Hindon, Aylesbury, and Appleby (1589–1601), and supported the cause of the bishops in the Martin Marprelate controversy in a satirical pamphlet, Pappe with an Hatchet (1589). The first part of his Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit appeared in 1578, and the second part, Euphues and his England, in 1580. Its peculiar style came to be known as ‘Euphuism’. Among Lyly's plays are Alexander, Campaspe and Diogenes (see under Campaspe); Sapho and Phao (1584); Endimion (1591); Midas (1592); Mother Bombie (1594, see under Bumby). The attractive songs in the plays were first printed in Blount's collected edition of 1632.
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Lyly, John." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Lyly, John." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-LylyJohn.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Lyly, John." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-LylyJohn.html |
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LYLY, John
LYLY, John [c.1554–1606]. English writer and Member of Parliament, born in Kent, and educated at Oxford and Cambridge. Known as ‘the Euphuist’, he was one of the first prose stylists to leave a lasting mark on the language. He wrote the two-part romance Euphues, or the Anatomie of Wit (1578) and Euphues and his England (1580), an early epistolary ‘novel’ with comments on religion, love, and style. His ‘new English’ favoured an ornate, classical style widely admired during the Renaissance and known to this day as euphuism.
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TOM McARTHUR. "LYLY, John." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. TOM McARTHUR. "LYLY, John." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-LYLYJohn.html TOM McARTHUR. "LYLY, John." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-LYLYJohn.html |
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Lyly, John
Lyly, John (1553–1606) English poet, dramatist, and writer of prose romances. His prose comedies and pastoral romances include Sappho and Phao (1584), Endymion: the Man in the Moon (1591), and Midas (1592). Lyly is best known for the elaborate prose style that he evolved in Euphues (1578).
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"Lyly, John." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Lyly, John." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-LylyJohn.html "Lyly, John." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-LylyJohn.html |
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