biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1572–1637)
|
| biography:
| Playwright and poet, born in London, UK. Educated at Westminster School, he worked as a bricklayer, did military service in Flanders, and joined Henslowe's company of players, where he killed a fellow player in a duel. His Every Man in His Humour, with Shakespeare in the cast, was performed in 1598. After some less successful works, including two Roman tragedies, he wrote his four chief plays: Volpone (1606), The Silent Woman (1609), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fair (1614). In collaboration with Inigo Jones, he produced several masques before 1625, when the death of James I ended his period of court favour. A major influence on 17th-c poets (known as ‘the tribe, or sons, of Ben’), he was appointed poet laureate in 1617. |
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