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Shadwell, Thomas
Shadwell, Thomas (c.1642–92), Restoration dramatist, whose first play The Sullen Lovers; or, The Impertinents (1668) was based on Molière's Les Fâcheux (1661). The comedies which followed it seem, however, more indebted to Jonson, whom Shadwell much admired. The best known of them is Epsom Wells (1672). Shadwell has been much criticized for his adaptation of The Tempest as an opera, The Enchanted Island (1674), in which, following the examples of Davenant and Dryden, everything was subordinated to the stage machinery and scenery. He then returned to comedy with The Libertine (1675) and The Virtuoso (1676) before rewriting Timon of Athens as The Man-Hater (1678), and in his last years produced two of his best comedies, The Squire of Alsatia (1688) and Bury Fair (1689), which give interesting though somewhat scurrilous pictures of contemporary manners. His last play, The Volunteers; or, The Stock Jobbers, was produced posthumously. It was ironic that Shadwell, who was mercilessly satirized by Dryden in MacFlecknoe; or, A Satire upon the True-Blue Protestant Poet T. S. (1682), should have succeeded him on political grounds as Poet Laureate in 1688.
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Cite this article
PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Shadwell, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Shadwell, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-ShadwellThomas.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Shadwell, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-ShadwellThomas.html |
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Shadwell, Thomas
Shadwell, Thomas (?1642–92), dramatist, whose first play The Sullen Lovers (1668) was based on Molière's Les Facheux. He wrote some 14 comedies, including The Squire of Alsatia (1688), The Virtuoso (1676, a satire on the Royal Society), Epsom Wells (1672), and Bury Fair (1689). He also wrote operas, adapting Shakespeare's The Tempest as The Enchanted Island (1674). A successful dramatist in his day, he has been perhaps unfairly remembered for his quarrel with Dryden, dating from 1682. He was probably the author of The Medal of John Bayes (1682) and other anonymous attacks on Dryden; Dryden's counter-attacks include Mac-Flecknoe and the second part of Absalom and Achitophel, where Shadwell appears as Og. Shadwell defends himself from the charge of dullness in his dedication to Sedley of his translation of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal (1687). He succeeded Dryden as poet laureate in 1689.
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Cite this article
MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Shadwell, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Shadwell, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-ShadwellThomas.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Shadwell, Thomas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-ShadwellThomas.html |
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