Thomas Middleton

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Apr 17, 2025

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Join Professors Michelle O'Callaghan, Lucy Munro, and Emma Smith as they dive into the fascinating world of Thomas Middleton, a Jacobean playwright whose works blended comedy, tragedy, and societal critique. They explore Middleton's unique portrayal of gender, the interplay of sex and money, and his collaboration with Shakespeare. The discussion highlights Middleton's standout plays, his provocative political commentary, and the enduring relevance of his themes in today's context, revealing his lasting impact on theater.

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ANECDOTE

Middleton's Early Life

Thomas Middleton's father, William, prospered during London's building boom, acquiring properties and providing a comfortable life.
After William's death, Middleton's mother married Thomas Harvey, whose financial schemes and imprisonment disrupted Middleton's youth.

INSIGHT

Middleton's Early Publications

Middleton showcased early literary talent by publishing "The Wisdom of Solomon" while still in grammar school, dedicating it to the Earl of Essex.
He continued publishing at Oxford, capitalizing on trends with satires and "The Ghost of Lucrece", imitating Shakespeare.

INSIGHT

London Theatre Scene

London's theatre scene in the 1590s was dominated by adult companies like the Admiral's Men and the Chamberlain's Men.
The return of boys' companies, like the Children of Paul's, injected disruptive energy, with Middleton writing for them and establishing his satirical city comedies.

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Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most energetic, varied and innovative playwrights of his time. Thomas Middleton (1580-1627) worked across the London stages both alone and with others from Dekker and Rowley to Shakespeare and more. Middleton’s range included raucous city comedies such as A Chaste Maid in Cheapside and chilling revenge tragedies like The Changeling and The Revenger’s Tragedy, some with the main adult companies and some with child actors playing the scheming adults. Middleton seemed to be everywhere on the Jacobean stage, mixing warmth and cruelty amid laughter and horror, and even Macbeth’s witches may be substantially his work.

With

Emma Smith Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Hertford College, University of Oxford

Lucy Munro Professor of Shakespeare and Early Modern Literature at Kings College London

And

Michelle O’Callaghan Professor of Early Modern Literature at the University of Reading

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Reading list:

Swapan Chakravorty, Society and Politics in the Plays of Thomas Middleton (Clarendon Press, 1996)

Suzanne Gossett (ed.), Thomas Middleton in Context (Cambridge University Press, 2011)

R.V. Holdsworth (ed.), Three Jacobean Revenge Tragedies: A Selection of Critical Essays (Macmillan, 1990), especially ‘Calvinist Psychology in Middleton’s Tragedies’ by John Stachniewski

Mark Hutchings and A. A. Bromham, Middleton and His Collaborators (Northcote House, 2007)

Gordon McMullan and Kelly Stage (eds.), The Changeling: The State of Play (The Arden Shakespeare, 2022)

Lucy Munro, Shakespeare in the Theatre: The King's Men (The Arden Shakespeare, 2020)

David Nicol, Middleton & Rowley: Forms of Collaboration in the Jacobean Playhouse (University of Toronto Press, 2012)

Michelle O’Callaghan, Thomas Middleton: Renaissance Dramatist (Edinburgh University Press, 2009)

Gary Taylor and Trish Thomas Henley (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Thomas Middleton (Oxford University Press, 2012)

In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production