James Shirley

James Shirley

James Shirley , occasionally James Sherley (born September 18, 1596 in London , † before October 29, 1666 ibid), was an English playwright.

Life

Little is known about Shirley's childhood and youth. He studied at the Universities of Oxford ( St John's College ) and Cambridge ( St Catharine's College ) and finished his studies around 1618. During this time Shirley began to doubt questions of faith and soon converted to Catholicism .

In 1623 Shirley got a two year post as a lecturer at St. Alban's Grammar School . He then settled in London and was soon able to debut there with a play.

Shirley lived in Ireland from 1636 to 1640 , where his colleague and friend John Ogilby staged some of Shirley's plays at his Dublin theater . In the course of 1640 he returned to England and settled again in London as a writer. There some of his dramas were co-produced with colleagues, for example Alexander Dyce ( The Traytor ) and Edmund Gosse ( The Cardinal ).

At the age of 70, John Shirley (together with his second wife) died in London at the end of October 1666. The two found their final resting place on October 29, 1666 in the St.-Giles-in-the-Fields cemetery . Contemporary witnesses report that the Shirley couple ultimately died as a result of the long-term effects of the Great Fire in London (October 2-5, 1666).

Works

Title page of the 1627 comedy The Schoole of Complement

Comedies

• The ball (1632)
• The bird aa cage (1633)
• The brothers (1626)
• Changes or love in a maze (1632)
• The coronation (1635)
• The court secret (1653)
• The doubtful heir (1652)
• The gamester (1634)
• The gentleman of Venice (1639)
• The grateful servant (1629)
• The hide park (1632)
• The humorous courtier (1621)
• The impostue (1640)
• The lady of pleasure (1635)
• Love tricks or school of complements (1625)
• The opportunity (1634)
• The royal master (1638)
• The wedding (1626)
• The wittie faire one (1628)
• The young admiral (1633)

tragedies

• The cardinal (1641)
• The duke's mistris (1636)
• Love crueltie (1632)
• The maiden's revenge (1626)
• The traytor (1631)

Web links

• Literature by and about James Shirley in the catalog of the German National Library