Background

Francis Beaumont was born the third son of Francis Beaumont, justice of the Court of Common Pleas, at Grace-Dieu, Leicestershire, in 1584. His father, who became one of the Queen's Justices of the Court of Common Pleas, was described by a contemporary as a "grave, learned, and reverend judge. "

In 1600 he entered the Inner Temple, one of the Inns of Court, perhaps with the intention of following his father into the law.

Education

Francis Beaumont entered Broadgates Hall (now Pembroke College), Oxford in 1597 with his brothers Henry and John, but left without taking a degree and entered the Inner Temple to study law in 1600. It seems, however, that he studied little, and there is no evidence of him ever practising law.

Career

Beaumont soon associated himself with the theater and wrote his first play, The Woman-Hater, about 1606. The chief characters bear some resemblance to the "humours" characters of Ben Jonson. Beaumont greatly admired Jonson, and this mildly satiric comedy was probably written in conscious imitation of the elder dramatist, who by this time had acquired some stature as a literary figure.

In his next dramatic effort Beaumont broke free of the Jonsonian influence and produced his delightful masterpiece, The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1607). In this charming mock-heroic play (supposedly written in 8 days and probably indebted for some of its episodes to Cervantes' Don Quixote), Beaumont's satire is aimed at several targets, but the laughter he provokes at their expense is never bitter. The play includes a burlesque of dramatic forms—such as the old-fashioned chivalric romance—as well as some good-natured ridicule of London audiences as represented by George the Grocer and his wife Nell, who station themselves on the stage and continually interrupt the action of the play. Although The Knight of the Burning Pestle was a failure when first performed, the play had a highly successful revival in 1635, after the author's death, and has remained a popular work ever since.

The remainder of Beaumont's career was spent in collaboration with John Fletcher.

Beaumont soon associated himself with the theater and wrote his first play, The Woman-Hater, about 1606.

The chief characters bear some resemblance to the "humours" characters of Ben Jonson.

In this charming mock-heroic play (supposedly written in 8 days and probably indebted for some of its episodes to Cervantes' Don Quixote), Beaumont's satire is aimed at several targets, but the laughter he provokes at their expense is never bitter.

Although the two wrote no more than a dozen plays together, their names became so closely linked that by 1679 more than 50 plays were assigned to their joint authorship. The authorship of some of these plays is still in doubt, many were written by Fletcher alone or by Fletcher in collaboration with dramatists other than Beaumont. The most important of the authentic Beaumont and Fletcher plays are Philaster and The Maid's Tragedy, both written between 1608 and 1610. Beaumont's hand predominates in these plays, which did much to promote the form of drama known as tragicomedy. Plays of this type rely less on character and theme than on ingenuity of plot and the moving expression of sentiment.

Beaumont's literary career ended in 1613, when he married and retired. He probably lived the few remaining years of his life in Kent. He died on March 6, 1616, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

His was the superior poetic gift, and he possessed the truer comic genius.

Following the Restoration, they were revived with great success.

Dryden, in his Essay of Dramatic Poesy (1688), bears witness to the continued favor in which they were held in his own time: "Their plays are now the most pleasant and frequent entertainments of the stage, two of theirs being acted through the year for one of Shakespeare's or Jonson's: the reason is because there is a certain gaiety in their comedies and pathos in their more serious plays which suits generally with all men's humors. "

Achievements

• Francis Beaumont is a well-known dramatist in the English Renaissance theatre, most famous for his collaborations with John Fletcher.

Works

More photos

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  • Delphi Complete Works of Beaumont and Fletcher (Illustrated) (Series Five Book 21)

    (Regarded by some as second only to Shakespeare, the Jacob...)

  • Beaumont & Fletcher's Works (3 of 10): The Loyal Subject

    (Francis Beaumont was a dramatist in the English Renaissan...)

  • Rule a Wife, and Have a Wife - Beaumont & Fletcher's Works (3 of 10)

    (Rule a Wife, and Have a Wife - Beaumont & Fletcher's Work...)

  • The Faithful Shepherdess - The Works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher (Volume 2 of 10).

    (The Faithful Shepherdess - The Works of Francis Beaumont ...)

  • The Maids Tragedy

    (The Maids Tragedy is presented here in a high quality pap...)

  • Beaumont & Fletcher's Works (vol. 6 of 10): The Queen of Corinth; Bonduca; The Knight of the Burning Pestle; Loves Pilgrimage; The Double Marriage

    (Beaumont & Fletcher's Works (vol. 6 of 10): The Queen of ...)

  • The Works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher Volume 2 of 10: Introduction to the Elder Brother

Connections

Beaumont was married to Ursula Isley, daughter and co-heiress of Henry Isley of Sundridge in Kent, by whom he had two daughters, one posthumous.

Father:

Sir Francis Beaumont

He was a judge of the common pleas in Grace-Dieu.

Mother:

Anne Pierrepoint

Anne Pierrepoint had several ties to influential noble families of England and Scotland.

Wife:

Ursula Isley

Brother:

Sir Henry Beaumont

Brother:

Sir John Beaumont

References

• English Renaissance Drama: An Introduction to Theatre and Theatres in Shakespeare's Time (Literature Insights)
• Francis Beaumont - On the Tombs in Westminster Abbey
• Francis Beaumont (Perfect Library)
• The Knight of the Burning Pestle: Francis Beaumont (Revels Plays MUP)