Thomas Heywood

Thomas Heywood 1574?-1641, English dramatist. A prolific writer, he claimed to have written and collaborated on more than 200 plays, most of which are now lost. Although he wrote dramas based on English history, classical mythology, and romantic adventure, he is most famous for those dealing with contemporary English life. Heywood's best play, A Woman Killed with Kindness (1603), is one of the finest examples of domestic tragedy in the English drama. His other notable plays include The Fair Maid of the West (1631) and The London Traveler (1633). A professional actor as well as a playwright, he wrote an Apology for Actors (1612) in reply to attacks against the theater by the Puritans.

Bibliography: See studies by O. Cromwell (1928, repr. 1969), A. M. Clark (1931, repr. 1967), and F. S. Boas (1950).

Heywood, Thomas (1533–1641), was writing for Henslowe's Admiral's Men in 1596, and later became a leading dramatist of Queen Anne's and Lady Elizabeth's Men. He claimed to have written over 200 plays, many of which are lost; his chief strength lay in domestic drama. His best plays are A Woman Killed with Kindness (acted 1603, printed 1607), The Fair Maid of the West (printed 1631), and The English Traveller (printed 1633). His An Apology for Actors (1612) is the best Jacobean summary of traditional arguments in defence of the stage. He also published poems (including The Hierarchy of the Blessed Angels, 1635), translations, and pageants for seven Lord Mayor's shows.

Heywood, Thomas (c.1570–1641), English actor and dramatist, who may have been related to John Heywood. He was with the Admiral's Men, and later with Queen Anne's Men, until they disbanded in 1619, after which he does not seem to have acted again. As a dramatist he is first mentioned in 1596, when Henslowe recorded in his diary an advance payment made to him for an unnamed play. In 1599 he was apparently part-author with Chettle and others of a chronicle play, Edward IV. The following year he produced on his own a romantic drama Four Prentices of London, later satirized by Beaumont in The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1607). Mainly for Henslowe, he wrote or had a hand in over 200 plays, many of which are lost, as he only troubled about publishing them when forced to it by piracy. His masterpiece is undoubtedly the domestic tragedy A Woman Killed with Kindness (1603), which has been many times revived. Other good extant plays include The Wise Woman of Hogsdon (1604); If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody (1604/5), a rambling account of Elizabeth I's early reign; The Rape of Lucrece (1607), obviously designed to profit from the popularity of the poem of the same name by Shakespeare, from whom Heywood made frequent borrowings; and The Fair Maid of the West (1610). He also wrote, from 1631 to 1639, a series of civic pageants for the Lord Mayor's Show. The last play attributed to him was Love's Masterpiece, a comedy now lost.