William Cartwright (1 September 1611 – 29 November 1643) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and churchman.

Early life

Cartwright was born at Northway,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, the son of William Cartwright of Heckhampton, Gloucestershire. He was educated at the free school of

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

and at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

. He matriculated from

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

on 24 February 1632 aged 20, and was awarded BA on 5 June 1632. He was awarded MA on 15 April 1635. 'Alumni Oxonienses, 1500-1714: Cabell-Chafe', Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714: Abannan-Kyte (1891), pp. 228-254. Retrieved 1 November 2011
/ref> Anthony Wood gives an account of his origin as son of a country gentleman turned innkeeper which is contradicted by statements made in David Lloyd's ''Memoirs''.

Career

Cartwright became reader in metaphysics at Oxford University and was, according to Wood, the most florid and seraphical preacher in the university. In 1642 he was made succentor of

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buildi ...

, and in 1643 he was chosen junior proctor of the university. Cartwright was a successor to

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

and is often counted among the Sons of Ben, the group of dramatists who practised Jonson's style of comedy. The collected edition of his poems (1651) contains

commendatory verse The epideictic oratory, also called ceremonial oratory, or praise-and-blame rhetoric, is one of the three branches, or "species" (eidē), of rhetoric as outlined in Aristotle's ''Rhetoric'', to be used to praise or blame during ceremonies. Origin ...

s by

Henry Lawes Henry Lawes (1596 – 1662) was the leading English songwriter of the mid-17th century. He was elder brother of fellow composer William Lawes. Life Henry Lawes (baptised 5 January 1596 – 21 October 1662),Ian Spink, "Lawes, Henry," ''Grove Musi ...

, who set some of his songs to music, by Izaak Walton, Alexander Brome,

Henry Vaughan Henry Vaughan (17 April 1621 – 23 April 1695) was a Welsh metaphysical poet, author and translator writing in English, and a medical physician. His religious poetry appeared in ''Silex Scintillans'' in 1650, with a second part in 1655.''Oxfo ...

and others. Cartwright and Lawes maintained an important working relationship, for perhaps a decade prior to Cartwright's death in 1643; in one view, Lawes made a significant contribution to Cartwright's conception of drama.Willa MaClung Evans, "Cartwright's Debt to Lawes," in: ''Music in English Renaissance Drama,'' John H. Long, ed. Lexington, KY, University of Kentucky Press, 1968. Though Cartwright has been listed among the 17th century dramatists known as the Sons of Ben, as they were to have been influenced by Ben Jonson, Cartwright's play ''The Ordinary'' has been described as a second-rate Jonsonian comedy, nothing more than a pale copy of an original. Some would perhaps argue that bad replication does not qualify Cartwright as a true Son of Ben.

Civil War

Cartwright was nominated one of the council of war at Oxford in 1642. He died of camp fever (epidemic typhus) at Oxford aged 32 and was buried in Christ Church Cathedral. It is said that King

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...

wore mourning on the day of his funeral.

Works

His plays are, with the exception of ''The Ordinary'', far-fetched in plot, and stilted and artificial in treatment. They are: *''The Royal Slave'' (1636), produced by the students of Christ Church before the king and queen, with music by Henry Lawes *''The Lady Errant'' (acted, 1635–1636; printed, 1651) *''The Siege, or Love's Convert'' (printed 1651) In ''The Ordinary'' (1635?) he produced a comedy of real life, in imitation of Jonson, representing pot-house society. It is reprinted in

Robert Dodsley Robert Dodsley (13 February 1703 – 23 September 1764) was an English bookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer. Life Dodsley was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school. He ...

's ''Old Plays'' (ed.

William Hazlitt William Hazlitt (10 April 177818 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English lan ...

, vol. xii.).

Notes

References

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartwright, William 1611 births 1643 deaths English Renaissance dramatists People educated at Westminster School, London People from the Borough of Tewkesbury Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford 17th-century English Anglican priests 17th-century English dramatists and playwrights 17th-century English male writers English male dramatists and playwrights English male poets