John Fletcher (playwright)

John Fletcher ( * December 1579 in Rye, Sussex, England; † August 1625 ) was an English playwright, who wrote many of his pieces in collaboration with Francis Beaumont.

Fletcher was born in December 1579 in Rye, Sussex, England. His exact birth are not known, but his baptism took place on 20 December. At age 11, he attended the Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Whether he also received a degree there, is not known.

Inspired by William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, John Fletcher was certainly the best known and most versatile playwright of his time. He became the major playwright for the King's Men theater company, but not, as William Shakespeare, whose business partner.

His talent lay primarily in the field of tragicomedy and comedy of manners, which were very popular during the reign of Charles I in England.

About his life little is known. Between 1609 and 1625 he wrote probably 42 pieces, 21 of them in collaboration with Francis Beaumont, Nathan Field, William Shakespeare, and others. Only nine of his plays were printed during his lifetime. In 1611 he wrote the play The Tamer Tamed, a parody of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, which was 20 years earlier.

At the age of 46 years John Fletcher died in August 1625; he found his final resting place on August 29 in St. Saviour's Church in Southwark.

Works (selection)

• A king and no king
• The maid 's tragedy
• Philaster or lovelies a- bleeding
• Rule a wife and have a wife
• Wit without money