Fletcher, John, 1579-1625

John Fletcher (1579–1625) was a playwright of the English Renaissance, and he is the author addressed here. Public information about his life is limited: details of his education, official positions and specific experiences are largely unknown, and his literary standing rests chiefly on plays written in collaboration with Francis Beaumont and others. The collection holds twenty-three related works, mostly in collection form, including several volumes of the ten-volume Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, as well as plays such as The Maids Tragedy, A King, and No King and The Loyal Subject. These works are notable for tragedy and tragicomedy, with tightly constructed plots, witty dialogue and intense personal conflict, making effective use of dramatic tension and stagecraft. His plays hold a place in the seventeenth-century English dramatic tradition and are often named alongside Beaumont, exercising a certain influence on later English drama.