{\b Thomas Dekker}.

Date of  Birth: 1570?

Date of  Death: 1641

{\b Works}.

English dramatist and pamphlet writer, best known for his comedies. His first 
two plays were The Shoemaker's Holiday and Old Fortunatus (both 1600), 
followed by Satiromastix (1602) which ridiculed Ben Jonson. He worked with 
Thomas Middleton on the first part of  The Honest Whore (1604) and The Roaring 
 Girl (1611). He also wrote three plays with John Webster, the Famous History 
of Sir Thomas Wyatt, Westward Ho! and Northward Ho! (all 1607). Other plays 
include Virgin Martyr (1622) and  Patient Grissil (1623). The most famous of 
his many pamphlets is  The Wonderful Year (1603) which gives an account of the 
plague. 

{\b Featured Works}.

'O Sweet Content'.

{\b General Comment}.

Thomas Dekker was born in London and spent much of his life in poverty. In 
1598 he was employed by Philip Henslowe, a theatrical manager, to write plays. 
He worked alongside, and in co-operation with, many well-known Elizabethan 
playwrights including Ben Jonson, John Webster and Thomas Middleton. Very few 
of his plays were printed and much of the work he did for Henslowe is now 
lost. He is remembered for around a dozen plays, most of which he co-wrote, 
and a number of pamphlets in which he used to imitate his fellow writers and 
satirise various characters with whom he was familiar. In his pamphlet Bellman 
of London (1608), for example, he gives a colourful description of  London 
vagabonds.

He was imprisoned for debt from 1613 to 1616 and appears to have disappeared 
from notice after writing part two of The Honest Whore (1630). Nothing is 
known of his final years.

Despite his many sufferings, Thomas Dekker's work generally reflects a man of 
great humour. His writings also show a unique sympathy for the oppressed, and 
his lively pamphlets provide a fascinating insight into the life of 
Elizabethan London.