Woman's Tragedy, The

Chettle, Henry (1598)Property "Documentary Source" (as page type) with input value "{{{documentarySources}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.Property "Paratext" (as page type) with input value "{{{paratexts}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.Property "Partnering Institution" (as page type) with input value "{{{partneringInstitutions}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.

Historical Records

Payments

To playwrights in Philip Henslowe's diary

Fol. 47^v (Greg 1.90)

Lent vnto Harey Cheattell the 14 of July 1598	}
vpon a boocke called the playe of a womon	} vli
Tragedye the some of vli wch Robart shawe	}
willed me to delyuer hime J saye . . . . . . . . . .	}

                eather dd the playe or els to paye the money
                w^th in one forthnyght . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Theatrical Provenance

There is every reason to assume that the play, if it was completed and staged, was performed by the Admiral's men at the Rose.

Probable Genre(s)

Tragedy Harbage, Wiggins, Catalogue #1138

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

The generic title gives no clue to its narrative source.

References to the Play

None known.

Critical Commentary

Malone calls this play "The Play of a Woman," apparently considering Henslowe's "Tragedye" to be a designation of genre (p. 310). Collier, by capitalization, apparently considered "Tragedye" to be part of the play title (p. 127). Fleay, BCED provides nothing more than the title regularized to A woman tragedy (1.68, #10). Greg II also gives this title independent status (#141, p. 194) without a conjecture about its subject matter.

'Gurr omits this title from the appendix and index.

Wiggins, Catalogue #1138 offers alternative titles, either "A Woman's Tragedy" or "The Play of a Woman."

Works Cited

Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson; Last updated by Rlknutson on 11 August 2022 21:52:41