Thomas Dekker: Edited, with an introduction and notes by Ernest Rhys. Unexpurgated Edition

In Short

This collection brings together five foundational works by a master of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. Ranging from the buoyant, celebratory comedy of a shoemaker’s rise to power to the dark, chilling exploration of witchcraft and societal scapegoating, the plays offer an unvarnished look at seventeenth-century life. Whether depicting the bustling trade of the city, the moral complexities of redemption, or the tragic consequences of greed, the writing remains grounded in a deep empathy for the human condition. These works have endured because they balance sharp social observation with a profound, poetic understanding of the resilience—and the frailty—of ordinary people.

The Story

The collection opens with The Shoemaker’s Holiday, a spirited comedy centered on Simon Eyre, a boisterous and ambitious shoemaker who ascends to the office of Lord Mayor of London. His rise is interwoven with the romantic plight of Rose and Lacy, a couple whose union faces the obstacles of class and war. Through Eyre’s transformation, the play celebrates the dignity of the artisan class, concluding with a grand feast that unites the city’s apprentices with the king himself.

In contrast, The Honest Whore (presented in two parts) delves into the complexities of redemption and the harsh realities of those cast to the margins of society. Bellafront, a courtesan, attempts to leave her life of vice, but her path is fraught with the judgment of others and the persistent influence of her former associates. Her journey is mirrored by Count Hippolito, who struggles with a consuming, melancholic devotion to his lost love, Infelice. As their lives intersect, the play confronts the hypocrisy of moralizing citizens and the difficulty of finding genuine social acceptance after a fall from grace.

Old Fortunatus introduces a more allegorical arc, following a man who encounters the goddess Fortune and is granted a wish that secures him infinite wealth. He believes this power will bring happiness to his sons, but their acquisition of the magical purse leads them into a cycle of vanity, excess, and eventual ruin. As they travel to foreign courts, the play shifts from a fable of sudden fortune to a cautionary tale about the corrosive nature of unchecked desire and the fleeting satisfaction of material status.

Finally, The Witch of Edmonton takes a darker, more somber turn. It examines the life of Mother Sawyer, an elderly woman driven to the margins of her community by relentless abuse and exclusion. Spurned by her neighbors, she turns to dark arts for protection and vengeance, aided by a malevolent familiar. Simultaneously, the play follows the tragic downfall of Frank Thorney, who commits murder to cover up a secret marriage. The narrative converges on the inevitable destruction of both the witch and the sinner, illustrating how the cruelty of a community can create the very monsters it fears. The collection closes on this note of stark moral reckoning, as the characters face the consequences of their choices—some finding a measure of grace, while others are consumed by the darkness they have embraced.

How It Unfolds

A rise to prominence Simon Eyre, a vivacious shoemaker, secures his own fortune and eventually the mayoralty, using his success to protect his apprentices and advocate for his employees. His narrative serves as the lighthearted anchor of the collection, establishing a theme of communal loyalty.

A quest for grace Bellafront attempts to shed her identity as a courtesan, seeking dignity in a city that refuses to look past her history. She encounters resistance from both the cynical gallants of the town and the rigid moralists who define her worth by her past sins.

The weight of gold Fortunatus receives a magical purse, which he passes to his sons as a supposed blessing. The narrative tracks their rapid descent from humble origins to a decadent, hollow life in which gold provides everything except peace or purpose.

The architecture of cruelty Mother Sawyer suffers the daily indignities of a society that labels her a witch for no crime other than her poverty and isolation. Her turn to the occult acts as both a desperate defense and the final justification for her neighbors’ hatred.

A final reckoning The various threads of ambition, lust, and betrayal reach their breaking point in the final acts of each play. Characters are forced to confront the wreckage of their lives, leading to endings that emphasize accountability and the high cost of moral compromise.

The People

Simon Eyre is the vibrant heart of the collection; he is a man of massive personality who uses his wealth not for isolation, but to feast his fellow apprentices, remaining a "shoemaker" at heart despite his velvet robes.

Bellafront stands in stark opposition to the city’s judgment; she is a woman who dares to demand a life of honesty. Her struggle is defined by her desire to be perceived as more than her trade, and she remains a resilient figure even when those around her—like the fickle Matheo—attempt to pull her back into the mire.

Hippolito serves as a foil to Bellafront’s growth; his "tyrant melancholy" blinds him to the virtues of the living as he clings to the memory of the dead. He represents a soul so trapped in its own rigid construct of love that it loses the ability to function in the real world.

Mother Sawyer is perhaps the most tragic figure. She is not a creature of inherent evil but a victim of the "world’s calling," pushed into madness by the cruelty of neighbors who strip her of her dignity until she reaches for the devil as her only remaining friend.

In Its Own Voice

"I swear to thee, Matheo, by my soul, Hereafter weekly on that day I’ll glue Mine eye-lids down, because they shall not gaze On any female cheek."

Count Hippolito expresses his extreme, self-imposed penance in The Honest Whore, swearing to avoid the company of women after the loss of his beloved.

"I am dried up With cursing and with madness, and have yet No blood to moisten these sweet lips of thine."

Mother Sawyer laments her isolation and her dependence on her demonic familiar in The Witch of Edmonton, revealing the pathetic, desperate nature of her pact.

"By the Lord of Ludgate, it’s a mad life to be a lord mayor; it’s a stirring life, a fine life, a velvet life, a careful life."

Simon Eyre reflects on the burdens and the frantic energy of his newfound status in The Shoemaker’s Holiday.

What It's Really About

These plays investigate the tension between individual ambition and the rigid, often cruel, expectations of a hierarchical society. The works repeatedly ask what constitutes an "honest" life—is it defined by one’s social standing, one’s past actions, or the hidden motives of the heart? There is a persistent argument that those who reach for power or wealth—whether through the shoemaker’s trade, a magical purse, or a secret murder—inevitably find their humanity tested by the environment they inhabit. The plays suggest that society often acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy; by excluding the poor, the "whore," or the "witch," the community creates the very instability and malice it claims to despise. It is a deeply humanist collection, concerned less with moral platitudes and more with the messy, often contradictory reality of living among others.

Why Read It Today

Reading these plays today feels like stepping into a crowded, noisy, and remarkably observant London street. The language is sharp, idiomatic, and full of the "subtle flame" of the period, offering a direct line to the anxieties and joys of the seventeenth century. Readers who appreciate Dickensian characters—the boisterous artisan, the fallen woman seeking redemption, the misunderstood social outcast—will find the prototypes of those archetypes here.

However, the collection does not shy away from the harshness of its time. The period attitudes toward women, foreigners, and the poor are present and sometimes difficult to navigate; the plays are "unexpurgated" in the truest sense, reflecting the rough, sometimes brutal humor and prejudice of the era. The dialect, particularly in the representations of Irish or foreign characters, may require patience. Yet, the reward for this effort is a profound sense of connection to the past. You are not reading a sanitized museum piece, but a collection that pulses with the erratic energy of real life. What stays with you is the humanity of the characters—the shoemaker’s pride in his craft, the witch’s desperate need for companionship, and the courtesan’s quiet, stubborn demand for respect. It is a challenging, rewarding window into a world that, despite its distance, mirrors our own struggles with ambition, exclusion, and the relentless search for a place to call home.