''The Murder of John Brewen'' (1592) is a pamphlet concerning the murder of a goldsmith by his wife. It is presumed to have been written by the Elizabethan playwright,

Thomas Kyd Thomas Kyd (baptised 6 November 1558; buried 15 August 1594) was an English playwright, the author of ''The Spanish Tragedy'', and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama. Although well known in his own time, ...

(1558–1594).

Genre

Before the existence of large daily newspapers since the late 18th century, news of the day, including sensationalist pieces, of which this is one example, were communicated by such pamphlets or else by ballads. Though written by a playwright, it does not seem to have been produced as a play in Elizabethan times. Nevertheless, it shows some affinity with domestic tragedies of the period, all on the subject of woman's adulterous proclivities, such as ''

A Yorkshire Tragedy ''A Yorkshire Tragedy'' is an early Jacobean era stage play, a domestic tragedy printed in 1608. The play was originally assigned to William Shakespeare, though the modern critical consensus rejects this attribution, favouring Thomas Middleton. ...

'', ''

Arden of Faversham ''Arden of Faversham'' (original spelling: ''Arden of Feversham'') is an Elizabethan play, entered into the Register of the Stationers Company on 3 April 1592, and printed later that same year by Edward White. It depicts the real-life murder ...

'', and ''

A Woman Killed with Kindness A'' Woman Killed with Kindness'' is an early seventeenth-century stage play, a tragedy written by Thomas Heywood. Acted in 1603 and first published in 1607, the play has generally been considered Heywood's masterpiece, and has received the most cri ...

''.

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

'', to a lesser extent ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

'' and ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'', are additional examples of this category, except that in each case the woman's adultery is falsely imagined by the husband. Domestic tragedies include the murder of other family members, such as the lost Jacobean play ''

Keep the Widow Waking ''Keep the Widow Waking'' is a lost Jacobean play, significant chiefly for the light it throws on the complexities of collaborative authorship in English Renaissance drama. ''A Late Murder of the Son Upon the Mother, or Keep the Widow Waking'' ...

'', in which a son kills his mother.

The Elizabethan Journals

The description of the murder is given in "The Elizabethan Journals".The Elizabethan Journals, 1934. https://archive.org/details/TheElizabethanJournals with the following entry of a current event in 1592:

Modern adaptation

"John Brewen"
adapted at

Wikiversity Wikiversity is a Wikimedia Foundation project that supports learning communities, their learning materials, and resulting activities. It differs from Wikipedia in that it offers tutorials and other materials for the fostering of learning, rather ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murder of John Brewen, The Early Modern English literature Pamphlets 1592 books