MASSINGER, PHILIP

born 1583, near Salisbury, Wiltshire, Eng. died March 1639/40, London English Jacobean and Caroline playwright noted for his gifts of comedy, plot construction, social realism, and satirical power. Baptized at St. Thomas' Church, Salisbury, on Nov. 24, 1583, Massinger attended St. Alban Hall, Oxford, in 1602, but nothing certain is known about his life from then until 1613, though he may have been an actor. After an indefinite period of apprenticeshipduring which he wrote plays for the theatrical manager Philip Henslowe and collaborated, from about 1613, with fellow playwrights, including John FletcherMassinger began about 1620 to work as an independent author. In 1625 he succeeded Fletcher, some of whose plays he revised, as the chief playwright of the King's Men, a well-known theatrical company. Though apparently not as successful as Fletcher, he remained with the King's Men until his death. Among the plays Massinger collaborated on with Fletcher is The False One (c. 1620), a treatment of the story of Caesar and Cleopatra. Two other important plays written in collaboration are The Fatal Dowry (161619, with Nathan Field), a domestic tragedy in a French setting, and The Virgin Martyr (1620?, with Thomas Dekker), a historical play about the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Diocletian. Fifteen plays written solely by Massinger have survived, but many of their dates can only be conjectured. The four tragedies are The Duke of Milan (162122) and The Unnatural Combat (1624?)both skillfully told mystery stories of a melodramatic typeand The Roman Actor (1626) and Believe As You List (1631)each a historical tragedy in a classical setting. The Roman Actor is considered his best serious play. The Bondman (1623), about a slave revolt in the Greek city of Syracuse, is one of Massinger's seven tragicomedies and shows his concern for state affairs. The Renegado (1624), a tragicomedy with a heroic Jesuit character, gave rise to the unaccepted theory that he became a Roman Catholic. Another tragicomedy, The Maid of Honour (1621?), combines political realism with the courtly refinement of later Caroline drama. The tendency of his serious plays to conform to Caroline fashion, however, is contradicted by the mordant realism and satirical force of his two great comedies A New Way to Pay Old Debts, his most popular and influential play, in which he expresses genuine indignation at economic oppression and social disorder, and The City Madam (1632?), dealing with similar evils but within a more starkly contrived plot that curiously combines naturalistic and symbolic modes. A standard edition in five volumes, The Plays and Poems of Philip Massinger by Philip Edwards and Colin Gibson, was published in 1976.