The chief Elizabethan dramatists, excluding Shakespeare

In Short

Edited by William Allan Neilson in 1911, this landmark anthology gathers representative masterpieces from the towering figures of English Renaissance theatre who worked alongside and around William Shakespeare. Spanning the vibrant decades between 1500 and 1600 and extending into the Jacobean era, the collection sweeps across the theatrical landscape of early modern London. It brings together iconic tragedies, razor-sharp satires, domestic dramas, and romantic comedies by master playwrights including Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Kyd, Ben Jonson, Thomas Dekker, Thomas Heywood, John Webster, John Fletcher, and John Ford. Through these texts, readers witness the complete historical arc of Elizabethan drama—from the early swagger of mighty blank verse to intricate courtly intrigues and dark revenge plots. The volume endures because it offers an unedited, authentic look at the rich artistic soil from which Renaissance drama grew, capturing the ferocious energy, linguistic invention, and cultural anxieties of a society reinventing itself on the public stage.

The Story

The volume traces the dramatic evolution of English theatre across its most prolific era, beginning with the imaginative leaps of early Elizabethan comedy and tragedy and culminating in the sophisticated, world-weary works of the late Jacobean period. It opens with the foundational voices of the late sixteenth century, where playwrights establish new frontiers for English verse and dramatic form. The journey begins in the realm of high ambition and tragic conquest. In Christopher Marlowe's groundbreaking drama, the low-born Scythian shepherd Tamburlaine rises through sheer force of will and terrifying military genius to overthrow monarchs and claim sway over Persia and Asia, establishing the power of "mighty line" blank verse. Marlowe follows this study of worldly dominion with Doctor Faustus, the tragedy of a brilliant scholar who rejects traditional academic disciplines and trades his soul to the devil Mephistophilis in exchange for twenty-four years of absolute knowledge, magic, and earthly delight. Faustus spends his allotted time indulging in cosmic inquiries and theatrical tricks, only to face agonized terror as his damnation falls due.

Alongside these cosmic tragedies, the collection illustrates the birth of popular sensational drama and intricate courtly wit. Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy introduces the wildly popular revenge formula, following the grief-stricken knight marshal Hieronimo as he seeks justice for his murdered son Horatio, staging a bloody play-within-a-play in multiple languages to destroy his enemies before taking his own life. Marlowe's The Jew of Malta depicts the cunning Barabas, whose lands are seized by the governor of Malta, prompting a spiraling campaign of poisonings, forged challenges, and betrayals against his persecutors until he plunges into a boiling cauldron of his own design. Meanwhile, Marlowe's historical tragedy Edward II charts the political collapse and brutal murder of a weak king undone by his favorite companions and a rebellious nobility led by Young Mortimer and Queen Isabella.

As the collection moves into the Jacobean era, the focus shifts toward urban satire, domestic strife, and psychological dark comedy. Ben Jonson turns a critical, hilarious eye on London’s vices in Every Man in His Humour, where citizens and gallants navigate complex webs of jealousy, mistaken identity, and ridiculous pretention, untangled at last by the eccentric Justice Clement. Jonson's darker masterpiece Volpone centers on a rich Venetian magnificent who feigns terminal illness to trick greedy legacy-hunters into lavishing him with costly gifts, aided by his parasite Mosca, until their spiraling fraud destroys them both. In The Alchemist, Jonson exposes the gullibility of every social class as a butler, a rogue alchemist, and a cunning whore turn a plague-vacated London house into a den of pseudo-scientific scams.

Contrast arrives in the warm, populist comedies of Thomas Dekker and the poignant domestic tragedies of Thomas Heywood. Dekker's The Shoemaker's Holiday celebrates civic pride and romantic devotion in London, following a young noble who disguises himself as a Dutch shoemaker to win his merchant love, set against the cheerful backdrop of shoemakers crafting boots and drinking ale. Dekker and John Middleton's The Honest Whore explores themes of redemption, patience, and hypocrisy as the courtesan Bellafront attempts to reform her life while her volatile husband drags her toward ruin, paired with the comic sub-plot of the endlessly patient linen-draper Candido. Heywood's A Woman Killed with Kindness turns away from royal courts to examine the rural gentry, showing the quiet tragedy of Master Frankford, who discovers his wife's infidelity and chooses to banish her to a comfortable estate rather than shed blood, leading to her heartbroken death and repentance.

The tragic arc of the anthology reaches its darkest intensity in the Jacobean revenge plays and psychological dramas. John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi presents a virtuous young widow who secretly marries her honest steward Antonio, inciting the monstrous rage and madness of her corrupt brothers, the Cardinal and Duke Ferdinand, who subject her to imprisonment and execution before destroying themselves in a bloody free-for-all. Thomas Middleton and William Rowley's The Changeling charts the rapid moral decay of Beatrice-Joanna, who hires the repulsive servant De Flores to murder an unwanted suitor, only to find herself bound body and soul to her henchman in a fatal web of blackmail and lust. Philip Massinger's A New Way to Pay Old Debts brings a satisfying social reckoning as the extortionate tyrant Sir Giles Overreach is outwitted by his impoverished nephew Wellborn and driven to madness. Finally, John Ford's The Broken Heart and James Shirley's The Traitor bring the era to a close with stylized courtly grief, revenge, and tragic sacrifice, depicting characters who face death with cold, stoic grace as the golden age of Renaissance drama draws to its conclusion.

How It Unfolds

The rise of tragic ambition The collection opens with monarchs and scholars stretching the boundaries of human power. In Persia, weakness on the throne creates a vacuum that the ruthlessly ambitious Scythian shepherd Tamburlaine fills with conquest, sweeping away ancient dynasties and claiming imperial authority through terrifying military force and unyielding rhetoric.

The fatal bargain Human intellect seeks transcendent knowledge beyond mortal limits, leading Doctor Faustus to sign away his soul in blood. He travels the world with the demon Mephistophilis, engaging in astrological disputes and magic, while good and evil angels battle for his conscience until his final, terrifying hour approaches.

The machinery of revenge In response to secret murders and institutional corruption, aggrieved fathers and lovers take the law into their own hands. Hieronimo feigns madness while orchestrating a theatrical performance that serves as a deadly trap for his son's murderers, setting the template for the Elizabethan revenge tragedy.

The mirror of London life The drama steps onto the crowded streets, shops, and taverns of early modern London. Citizens, gullible gallants, and clever servants clash over money, romance, and status, from jealous merchants guarding their wives to humble shoemakers going off to fight in foreign wars while leaving behind crafted shoes as love tokens.

The exposure of greed and hypocrisy Satirists turn their attention to human folly and fraudulent schemes. In Venice and London, rogues exploit the desperate greed of legacy-hunters and gullible fools seeking the philosopher's stone, using elaborate pseudo-scientific jargon and deceitful disguises to strip victims of their wealth.

The tragedy of the domestic sphere The stage shifts from royal palaces to the quiet parlors of the English gentry, where betrayal cuts deeper than political treason. A husband discovers his wife's adultery and, rejecting violent bloody revenge, imposes a punishment of total banishment that breaks her heart and leads to her ultimate repentance.

The darkness of corrupt courts In the final movements, Jacobean drama descends into Italianate courts steeped in madness, tyranny, and moral decay. Noble women resist the violent control of cruel brothers and unwanted suitors, maintaining their dignity even as tragic traps close in and blood soaked retribution consumes villains and victims alike.

The People

• Tamburlaine: A Scythian shepherd who rises to become an unstoppable conqueror. He wants absolute dominion over Asia and the East, driving his armies forward with terrifying military skill and unmatched eloquence, leaving a trail of fallen kings in his wake.

• Doctor Faustus: A brilliant scholar who grows weary of conventional logic, medicine, and law. He desires infinite knowledge and supernatural power, trading his immortal soul to the devil, only to find his life spent on frivolous magic before facing eternal damnation.

• Mephistophilis: A melancholic and dark demon bound to serve Faustus. He warns the scholar of the reality of hell, yet relentlessly holds Faustus to his tragic bargain whenever repentance draws near.

• Barabas: A wealthy Jewish merchant of Malta whose immense fortune is seized by the state. Driven by a desire for vengeance against his persecutors, he orchestrates poisonings, forged duels, and political treachery, ending up destroyed by his own deadly traps.

• Hieronimo: The Knight Marshal of Spain whose world shatters when his son Horatio is murdered. He seeks justice through the court, but when thwarted, he uses his theatrical skill to construct a tragic play that executes his vengeance.

• Kitely: A prosperous London merchant consumed by an irrational, paralyzing jealousy. He constantly suspects his wife of infidelity and sees threats in every visitor to his home, tormenting himself until his fears are exposed as groundless.

• Volpone: A rich Venetian nobleman who delights in deceit and luxury. He feigns fatal illness to dupe greedy suitors into giving him gifts, pursuing pleasure and trickery until his arrogance leads to his exposure and legal downfall.

• Subtle: A cunning rogue posing as a master alchemist. He uses complex pseudo-scientific jargon to swindle gullible citizens out of their gold and jewels, promising them health, wealth, and the philosopher's stone.

• The Duchess of Malfi: A noble, courageous young widow who defies her tyrannical brothers by marrying her honest steward Antonio. She seeks personal happiness and love, standing firm and dignified even when subjected to torment and execution.

• De Flores: A repulsive, bitter servant obsessed with the noble Beatrice-Joanna. He commits murder at her request in exchange for her virtue, dragging them both into a cycle of blackmail, guilt, and mutual destruction.

In Its Own Voice

"Father, methinks a piece of this cake might serve your turn."

In The Old Wives' Tale, a swaggering knight encounters a mysterious old man at a crossroads, offering a small gift while seeking direction on his romantic quest.

"I have abandoned the court and honourable company, to do my devoir against this sore sorcerer and mighty magician: if this lady be so fair as she is said to be, she is mine, she is mine..."

A boastful traveller declares his noble lineage and heroic intentions as he marches off to confront a powerful magician and claim a legendary fair lady.

"Now to be rul’d and governed by a man / At whose birthday Cynthia with Saturn join’d, / And Jove, the Sun, and Mercury denied / To shed their influence in his fickle brain!"

In Tamburlaine, a Persian nobleman bitterly laments the weakness of his king, whose foolish rule leaves the empire vulnerable to barbarian threats.

What It's Really About

Beneath the intricate plots, theatrical violence, and sharp comedy, this anthology explores the profound anxieties of an era undergoing rapid modern transformation. At its core, the collection investigates the consequences of unchecked human desire—whether that desire manifests as a thirst for political empire, supreme intellectual power, boundless wealth, or illicit love. Playwrights repeatedly question the stability of traditional social hierarchies, showing how low-born shepherds, clever servants, and cunning rogues can disrupt the authority of kings, nobles, and scholars.

The plays also wrestle with the nature of justice and moral order in a world where divine intervention often seems absent or delayed. Characters who suffer horrific wrongs find that official legal systems fail them, forcing them to choose between passive submission and the corrupting violence of personal revenge.

In the comic works, the drama probes the absurdities of human self-deception and social climbing. Satirists expose how easily individuals are blinded by vanity, financial greed, and irrational jealousy, creating a world where hypocrites thrive until their own schemes collapse under the weight of their excess.

Finally, the collection reflects a deep fascination with mortality and the fragility of worldly glory. Across every genre, the plays constantly remind the audience that power, beauty, and wit are fleeting, leaving characters to face their ultimate reckonings before a transcendent order.

Why Read It Today

Reading this collection offers an extraordinary, unvarnished window into the artistic powerhouse of Renaissance London, revealing that Shakespeare was not an isolated genius but the crown of a thriving, highly competitive theatrical culture. Readers who venture into these pages will discover a startling variety of dramatic voices, ranging from Marlowe's soaring poetic majesty to Jonson's sharp, hilarious social satire and Webster's haunting tragic verse. The experience of reading these plays in their original structural form feels dynamic and alive, filled with vivid colloquialisms, inventive staging ideas, and unforgettable character portraits that still jump off the page.

It is honest to acknowledge that the anthology presents real challenges for modern readers. The language retains the complex syntax, early modern vocabulary, and dense mythological allusions of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Furthermore, readers must navigate period attitudes toward religion, social class, and foreign cultures that reflect the harsh realities of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe. The sheer volume of material and the intricate, multi-layered plots demand time, patience, and active intellectual engagement.

Yet for anyone who loves theatre, history, or classic literature, the rewards are immense. The plays stay with you long after reading—the chilling horror of Faustus's final hour, the outrageous scams of Jonson's rogues, and the quiet dignity of a tragic heroine facing death with stoic grace. It is a vital volume for readers who want to understand the true breadth of English drama at its moment of greatest explosive creativity. Would you like a summary of the next section?