Dekker, THOMAS

Dekker, THOMAS, dramatist, was born in London about 1570. He was a very prolific writer, but only a few of his plays were printed. In 1600 he published two comedies, The Shoemaker's Holiday, or the Gentle Craft, and The Pleasant Comedy of Old Fortunatus. The first of these pieces is one of the pleasantest of old plays, and the second abounds in poetry of rare beauty. Dekker's next play was Satromastix, or the untrussing of the Humorous Poet (1602), in which Ben Jonson was held up to ridicule. In Every Man out of His Humour and Cynthia's Revels Jonson had made some satirical reflections on Dekker; and in The Poetaster (1601) he had assailed Dekker and Marston with bitter vehemence. Long afterwards, in 1619, Jonson told Drummond of Hawthornden that Dekker was a knave. Before the quarrel Jonson and Dekker had worked in harmony; in 1599 they wrote together two plays (which have not come down), Page of Plymouth and Robert the Second. In 1603 Dekker published a pamphlet entitled The Wonderful Year, which gives a heart-rending account of the sufferings caused by the plague. To the same year belongs the very amusing tract The Bachelor's Banquet, in which he describes with gusto the ills to which henpecked married men are forced to submit. His most powerful writing is seen in The Honest Whore (1604), of which the second part was published in 1630. Middleton assisted him in the first part. In 1607 he published three plays written in conjunction with Webster, the Famous History of Sir Thomas Wyatt (which has descended in a mutilated state), Westward Ho, and Northward Ho. A pamphlet entitled The Bellman of London (1608) gives a very lively account of the vagabonds of London; and Dekker pursued the subject further in Lanthorn and Candlelight (1608), which passed through several editions. The most famous of his pamphlets is The Gull's Hornbook (1609), in which the life of a town-gallant is racily depicted. The Roaring Girl (1611) was partly written by Dekker; but Middleton must take the chief credit for that excellent comedy. From 1613 to 1616 Dekker was confined in the King's Bench prison. Earlier in his career he had spent some time in the Counter prison. In each case his debts were the cause of his imprisonment. With Massinger he composed the Virgin Martyr; and Lamb was doubtless right in ascribing to Dekker the most beautiful scene (II. i.) in that play. The Sun's Darling, licensed for the stage in 1624, but not printed until 1656, was written in conjunction with Ford. A powerful tragedy, The Witch of Edmonton (posthumously published in 1658), was written by Dekker, Ford, and Rowley. We hear of Dekker in 1637, when he republished his Lanthorn and Candlelight under the title of English Villainies, and then he drops out of notice. His plays were collected in 1873 (4 vols.); and his pamphlets, which afford much valuable information about English social life in the early 17th century, were republished in 5 vols. in Dr Grosart's 'Huth Library.'