Edward Filmer (c.1654–1703) was an English dramatist.

Life

He was the second son of

Sir Robert Filmer, 1st Baronet image:Robert Filmer.jpg, thumbnail, 150px, Sir Robert Filmer, ancestor of the Filmer baronets The Filmer Baronetcy, of East Sutton in the County of Kent, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 26 December 1674 for Robert Filme ...

, of

East Sutton East Sutton is a parish approximately 6 miles south-east of Maidstone in Kent, England. East Sutton is small in number of dwellings but relatively large in area: the parish has a women's prison, a council estate of 16 houses and the Grade I list ...

, Kent, who died 22 March 1676, and his wife, Dorothy, daughter of Maurice Tuke of

Layer Marney Layer Marney is a village and civil parish near to Tiptree, in the Colchester borough, in the county of Essex, England. Layer Marney has a Tudor palace called Layer Marney Tower and a church called Church of St Mary the Virgin. In 2001 the popu ...

, Essex. In 1672 he was admitted as

founder's kin Founders' kin was a hereditary privilege at certain colleges of the University of Oxford whereby preference was given to applicants who were kin of, that is, related to or descended from, the founder or founders of that college. (It also existed ...

fellow of

All Souls' College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

, and took the degree of B.A. on 17 December of that year, proceeding B.C.L. 21 February 1675, D.C.L. 27 October 1681. He was buried at East Sutton.

Works

Filmer wrote a lengthy

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and P ...

tragedy, ''The Unnatural Brother'' (published London, 1697), adapted from an episode in ''Cassandre'', a romance by

Gauthier de Costes, seigneur de la Calprenède Gauthier de Costes, seigneur de la Calprenède (1609 or 1610 – 1663) was a French novelist and dramatist. He was born at the Château of Tolgou in Salignac-Eyvigues (Dordogne). After studying at Toulouse, he came to Paris and entered the reg ...

. In terms of plot, it is considered derivative of ''

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 ...

'', and ''The Villain'' by Thomas Porter in the same tradition. It was acted at the theatre in Little Lincoln's Inn Fields, and was received coldly. Part of this drama was reproduced by

Pierre Antoine Motteux Peter Anthony Motteux (born Pierre Antoine Motteux ; 25 February 1663 – 18 February 1718) was a French-born English author, playwright, and translator. Motteux was a significant figure in the evolution of English journalism in his era, as the ...

as ''The Unfortunate Couple; a short Tragedy'', in ''The Novelty'' (1697). ''The Novelty'' was then used as the basis for a 1704 play, ''The Unnatural Couple''. Filmer in his tragedy was swimming against the tide of recent fashion–for the music of John Eccles, the productions of '' The Indian Queen'' as

semi-opera The terms "semi-opera", "dramatic opera" and "English opera" were all applied to Restoration entertainments that combined spoken plays with masque-like episodes employing singing and dancing characters. They usually included machines in the manne ...

and George Powell's '' Brutus of Alba''—in excluding music from his tragedy, a position he defended in the introduction to the published text. He pointed to features that he considered important (restriction of the number of characters on the stage at one time, in particular) as belonging to a classical tradition in drama he valued; the later 17th century London audience never favoured them. In a later work, Filmer defended the stage itself against the attacks of

Jeremy Collier Jeremy Collier (; 23 September 1650 – 26 April 1726) was an English theatre critic, non-juror bishop and theologian. Life Born Jeremiah Collier, in Stow cum Quy, Cambridgeshire, Collier was educated at Caius College, University of Cambrid ...

in a treatise ''A Defence of Plays'' (posthumous publication in 1707). He brought to bear the argument that Collier failed to understand "Stage-Discipline" (i.e.

poetic justice Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, henc ...

). Collier replied in ''A Farther Vindication of the Short View'' (London, 1708).

Family

By license, dated 29 January 1687, Filmer married Archiballa, only daughter and heiress of Archibald Clinkard or Clenkard of Sutton Valence, Kent.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Filmer, Edward 1654 births 1703 deaths 18th-century English people 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers 18th-century English writers 18th-century English male writers English dramatists and playwrights People from the Borough of Maidstone Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford English male dramatists and playwrights