''When You See Me You Know Me'' is an early Jacobean history play about

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

, written by

Samuel Rowley Samuel Rowley was a 17th-century English dramatist and actor. Rowley first appears in the historical record as an associate of Philip Henslowe in the late 1590s. Initially he appears to have been an actor, perhaps a sharer, in the Admiral's Men ...

and first published in 1605. The play was acted by Prince Henry's Men, the company to which Rowley belonged through most of his acting career, and premiered most likely in 1604 at the

Fortune Theatre The Fortune Theatre is a 432-seat West End theatre on Russell Street, near Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster. Since 1989 the theatre has hosted the long running play ''The Woman in Black''. History The site was acquired by author, playw ...

. It was entered into the

Stationers' Register The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. The company is a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with the publishing industry, including print ...

on 12 February 1605, and printed in the same year in

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

for the bookseller

Nathaniel Butter Nathaniel Butter (died 22 February 1664) was a London publisher of the early 17th century. The publisher of the first edition of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' in 1608, he has also been regarded as one of the first publishers of a newspaper in Englis ...

. A second quarto was issued in 1613, the year in which

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 ...

and Fletcher's ''Henry VIII'' was performed, and further editions appeared in 1621 and 1632.S503
an
S503
Inevitably, Rowley had to take a selective approach to the vast subject of Henry VIII's biography; he chose to emphasize the King's conflict with

Cardinal Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figur ...

and the birth and early education of

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

. Rowley's approach is loose and broadly synthetic: the events depicted in the play actually spread over three decades (1514–44); Wolsey is still alive at the end of the play, though he should have been long dead. The young Edward is depicted as an incipient hero of Protestantism, defending his sister

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

and

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...

when they are accused of treason. Rowley also shows the King going out in disguise to mingle with his subjects, as in the legends surrounding

Harun al-Rashid Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar , أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...

and similar figures. Henry is even shown getting into brawls and being arrested. Comic relief is provided by scenes of the King with his jester Will Summers. Rowley's play has been cited as a "probable source" for

and Fletcher's ''Henry VIII''. Scholars have also noted links between ''When You See Me'' and the "B text" or 1616 version of Marlowe's ''Doctor Faustus''. The Diary of

Philip Henslowe Philip Henslowe (c. 1550 – 6 January 1616) was an Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur and impresario. Henslowe's modern reputation rests on the survival of his diary, a primary source for information about the theatrical world of Renaissance ...

records a payment to Rowley for additions to Marlowe's play in Nov. 1602. The common features between ''When You See Me'' and ''Faustus'' have been employed in an effort to trace Rowley's contribution to the B text.

References

;Notes ;Sources * * *

External links

Texts

Scan of 1605 quarto
(Internet Archive)
Facsimile of 1613 quarto
(Internet Archive)
1874 edition in modern spelling
by

Karl Elze Karl Friedrich Elze (22 May 1821, Dessau21 January 1889, Halle) was a German scholar and Shakespearean critic. Life He was the son of Pastor Karl August Wilhelm Elze. He studied (1839–1843) classical philology, and modern, but especially En ...

(Internet Archive).

Background

* * *{{cite thesis , last=Schofield, first=Scott James, title=Staging Tudor Royalty: Religious Politics In Stuart Historical Drama (1603–1607), type=PhD, publisher=

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, year=2010 , url=https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/26233/3/Schofield_Scott_J_201011_PhD_thesis.pdf 1605 plays English Renaissance plays Cultural depictions of Henry VIII Plays about British royalty Plays set in the 16th century Plays based on real people Plays set in England