Lovers' Holiday, The

Anon. (Jacobean or Caroline)

Historical records

The fifth item on Hill's List of Early Plays in Manuscript is:

The Lovers holiday or the Beare

The forty-fourth item is

the Lovers holyday

One immediate question is whether these are two records of the same play, or two separate plays each with the title "The Lovers Holiday". Bentley and Harbage both note the possibility that they are one and the same. Bentley (5.1367) also observes the possibility that The Bear may be something different from The Lovers Holiday. Bentley also observes the potential ambiguity caused by the lack of an apostrophe: "It is impossible to tell how many lovers had a holiday, but one would guess more than one" (5.1366).

Theatrical provenance

This play (or plays) are not known except on Hill's List, and therefore cannot be ascribed to a particular company or dated beyond Bentley's usual formula: "The list seems to have been Hill's record of the stock of some bookseller, set down between 1677 and 1703, but it is notable that nearly all the identifiable plays and playwrights of the list are Jacobean or Caroline" (Bentley, V.1283).

Probable Genre(s)

Love comedy

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

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References to the Play

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Critical Commentary

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For What It's Worth

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Works Cited

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