Thomas Duffet ( fl. 1673 – 1676), or Duffett, was an Irish playwright and songwriter active in England in the 1670s. He is remembered for his popular songs and his burlesques of the serious plays of

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

Thomas Shadwell Thomas Shadwell ( – 19 November 1692) was an English poet and playwright who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1689. Life Shadwell was born at either Bromehill Farm, Weeting-with-Broomhill or Santon House, Lynford, Norfolk, and educated at B ...

Elkanah Settle Elkanah Settle (1 February 1648 – 12 February 1724) was an English poet and playwright. Biography He was born at Dunstable, and entered Trinity College, Oxford, in 1666, but left without taking a degree. His first tragedy, '' Cambyses, King ...

and Sir

William Davenant Sir William Davenant (baptised 3 March 1606 – 7 April 1668), also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned b ...

. By profession, Duffet was a

milliner Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of ...

who maintained a shop in the New Exchange in London. Virtually nothing is known of his life apart from his surviving works. A Thomas Duffet confessed to forgery in 1677 and this may have been the author. Duffet's plays show a close familiarity with the lower and criminal classes of London society, perhaps suggesting first-hand knowledge.

Plays

Duffet's dramatic canon is uncertain and in dispute among scholars and critics. Six plays are generally attributed to him with a fair degree of certainty: *''

The Spanish Rogue ''The Spanish Rogue'' is a 1673 comedy play by the English writer Thomas Duffet. It was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane by the King's Company. The original cast included William Harris as Don Fenise, Edward Lydall as Don Alo ...

'', 1673 (printed 1674) * ''

The Amorous Old Woman ''The Amorous Old Woman; Or, 'Tis Well If It Take'' is a 1674 comedy play by the English writer Thomas Duffet. It was originally staged by the King's Company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. It was part of the tradition of Restoration comedy. ...

'', 1674 * '' The Mock Tempest, or the Enchanted Castle'', 1674 (1675) * ''The Empress of Morocco: a Farce'', 1674 * '' Psyche Debauch'd'', 1675 (1678) * ''Beauty's Triumph'', 1676. (The plays were first printed in the years they were staged, except where noted.) Duffet started as a conventional dramatist. His earliest two works were comedies. The market steered him in a different direction. ''The Spanish Rogue'' has been called "the best of all this author's dramatic works, yet it met with very indifferent success". Upon publication, the play was dedicated to Nell Gwyn. Duffet had much greater success in mocking other men's plays. Burlesque was a new development in English theatre in Duffet's generation. Sir

's ''

The Playhouse to Be Let ''The Playhouse to be Let'' is a Restoration stage play, a dramatic anthology of short pieces by Sir William Davenant that was acted in August 1663 at the theatre at Lincoln's Inn Fields, and first published in the 1673 collected edition of Daven ...

'' (1663; printed 1673) has been called the first burlesque in English drama. Duffett was the one author who took the greatest advantage of this new development in theatrical fashion, prior to

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel ''Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...

and other writers of the following century. Like other practitioners of farce and burlesque, Duffet often responded quickly to developments in contemporary society. '' The Tempest, or the Enchanted Island'', Dryden and Davenant's 1667 adaptation of

Shakespeare's 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 ...

'' The Tempest'', was first staged in Thomas Shadwell's "opera" version in 1674 and his parody of it was on the stage before the end of the year. Duffet also parodied Settle's ''The Empress of Morocco'' (1673) and Shadwell's opera ''Psyche'' (1675). As a dramatist, Duffet worked primarily for the

King's Company The King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London, after the London theatre closure had been lifted at the start of the English Restoration. It existed from 1660 to 1682, when it merged wit ...

; the plays he parodied were works staged by the rival Duke's Company. The King's Company was in major difficulty in the years after its grand venue, the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...

, burned down in 1672. Duffet's burlesques show the King's Company's determination to compete with its rivals despite this immediate disadvantage. Subsequent generations of critics, who took their drama very seriously, did not look kindly upon Duffet's effusions. "As pearls before swine, so were Shakspere's plays in the eyes of the hog Duffet" is one of many hostile comments in the relevant literature. Much of this reaction is a response to the abundant sexual humor in Duffet's work, though modern critics with a greater tolerance for such material have taken a less harsh view of Duffet. In contrast to most of Duffet's drama, ''Beauty's Triumph'' was a

masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masq ...

, staged, as its title page attests, "by the Scholars of Mr. Jeffrey Banister and Mr. James Hart, at their new Boarding School for Young Ladies and Gentlewomen ... at Chelsea".

Songs

Duffet's songs have been compared to the songs of Henry Purcell and

Thomas Arne Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song " Rule, Britannia!" and the song "A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of '' The Beggar's Opera'', wh ...

in style. "Come All You Pale Lovers", "To Francelia", "The Mistake", "Uncertain Love" and "Since Cœlia's My Foe" are considered among his best.Charles A. Read: ''The Cabinet of Irish Literature'' vol. 1 (London: Blackie & Son, 1893), p. 69-70. Duffet's collection ''New Poems, Songs, Prologues and Epilogues'' was published in 1676 by the bookseller Nicholas Wolfe. The title page states that the musical arrangements for the songs were "set by the most eminent musicians about the town".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duffet, Thomas Year of birth unknown 1676 deaths 17th-century Irish writers English dramatists and playwrights Irish dramatists and playwrights Irish male writers Irish classical composers Irish songwriters English male dramatists and playwrights Milliners 17th-century male writers