Samson, The Story of

Anon. (>1567)

Historical Records

Complaint brought before the wardens of the Carpenters' Company, 15 July 1567

GL. MS 4329/1
(as qtd in Wickham, 291, from the transcription in Records of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters, ed. Bower Marsh, III, 95-6 [Oxford, 1915])

... And that the said John Brayne on saturday [19 July] next ensuing the date above written shall pay to the said William Sylvester the sum of £8 10s lawful money of England, and that after the play which is called The Story of Samson be once played at the place aforesaid the said John shall deliver to the said William such bonds as are now in his custody for the performance of the bargain. ...

Theatrical Provenance

The Story of Samson was to be performed at the Red Lion playhouse. On 15 July 1567 John Brayne, grocer, lodged a complaint with the wardens of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters against William Sylvester, carpenter, about the quality of Sylvester's carpentry on "the house called the Red Lion in the parish of Stepney" (as qtd in Wickham, 291).

A lawsuit in the Court of King's Bench in Hilary term 11 Elizabeth (1569) provides further details about the structure of the playhouse, its workmen, and its finances but does not mention a playing company or players (TNA. KB 27/1229/m. 30).

Probable Genre(s)

Biblical tragedy

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

The story had to have been based on the Old Testament narrative of Samson and Delilah. In the Miles Coverdale translation (1535), the narrative begins in Judges 13.2 and continues through Judges 16.31. Its major episodes include the following:

1. Birth narrative (Judges 13.2-25)

But there was a man at Zarga, of one of ye kynreds of the Danites, named Manoah, and his wife was vnfrutefull & bare him no children. And the angell of the LORDE appeared vnto ye woman, & sayde vnto her: Beholde, thou art baren, & bearest not: but thou shalt conceaue, & beare a sonne. Take hede therfore, yt thou drynke no wyne ner stronge drynke, and yt thou eate no vncleane thinge, for thou shalt conceaue, and beare a sonne, vpo whose heade there shal come no rasoure: for ye childe shal be a Nazaree of God, euen from his mother wombe, and shall begynne to delyuer Israel out of the hande of the Philistynes" (13.2-5). The child is subsequently born and named Samson.

2. The Woman of Thimnath (Judges 14.3-14):

Samson went to Thimnath where he saw a woman he desired. His parents were displeased: "Is there not a woman amonge the doughters of yi brethren, & in all yi people, but thou must go & take a wife amoge the Philistynes, which are vncircumcised?" (14.3) Pursuing his desire, Samson returned to Thimnath, passing on the way a raging lion that he destroyed. Returning home, he saw that a swarm of bees had made honey in the carcass of the lion. His father, Manoah, went with him to Thimnath to a feast, and Samson challenged the young men in attendance with a riddle: "Meate wente out from the deuourer, and swetenesse from the mightie" (14.14). The young men threatened Samson's woman for the answer, and after seven days of crying she coaxed it out of him. Scornful of their methods ("Yf ye had not plowed wt my calfe, ye shulde not haue founde out my ryddle" [14.18]), Samson nonetheless paid his promise of fresh raiment to the puzzle solvers, but he did so by killing 30 men in Ascalon, giving their clothing to the Thimnite men, then going home.

3. Samson's revenge (Judges 15.1-20):

After a time cooling off from the insult, Samson returned to the woman of Thimnath, only to find that her father had given her to another man. In retaliation Samson tied firebrands to the tails of 300 foxes and burned the harvest. Learning what had happened, the Philistines "wente … vp, and brent her and hir father also with fyre" (15.6). They extended this revenge by waging war on Samson's people in Juda. Timorous, the men of Juda sought out Samson, who had gone to Eram; they tied him up and delivered him to the Philistines as the price of peace. But Samson broke free of the bonds and wrecked havoc with his would-be captors: "And he founde the cheke bone of a deed asse: then put he forth his hande, and toke it, & slewe a thousande men therwith: And Samson sayde: With an olde asses cheke bone, yee eue with the cheke bone of an asse haue I slayne a thousande men (15.15-16]). Following this victory, Samson "iudged Israel in the tyme of the Philistynes twetye yeare" (15.20).

3. Dalilah (Judges 16.4-31)

Returning to Canaan, Samson "fell into the loue of a woman by ye broke of Sorek, whose name was Dalila" (16.4). The Philistine men bribed her to discover the secret of his strength, and after giving her three false answers, he finally complied: "There came neuer rasoure vpon my heade, for I am a Nazaree of God fro my mothers wombe. Yf I were shauen, my strength shulde departe fro me, so that I shulde be weake, and as all other men" (16.17). The Philistines then took him, bound him, blinded him, and "made him to grynde in the preson" (16.21). On the feast day of their god Dagon, the Philistine princes called for Samson to be brought forth for their sport. After he had endured their taunts awhile, he asked his guide to put his hands on the two pillars that held up the temple. He then "called vpon the LORDE, & sayde: O LORDE LORDE, thynke vpon me, & strength me but this once O God I beseke the, yt for both myne eyes I maye auege me on the Philistynes. And he toke holde of ye two mydpilers, that the house stode vpon & was holden by, the one in his righte hade, & ye other in his lefte, 30 & saide: My soule dye wt the Philistynes, & he bowed him selfe mightely. Then fell the house vpon the prynces & vpon all the people that were therin, so that there were mo of ye slayne which dyed in his death, the he slewe whyle he lyued" (16.28-30). His family and the people of Juda claimed his body and buried him with his father. (16.31)

References to the Play

The only known reference is in the court minutes of Carpenters' Company on 15 July 1567, in which the wardens respond to the complaint by John Brayne against the poor workmanship of William Sylvester. The wardens determine that Brayne is to pay Sylvester the £8 10s due him on the following Saturday (19 July) after the performance of "The Story of Samson" ("Historical Records," above).

Works Cited

Loengard, Janet S. "An Elizabethan Lawsuit: John Brayne, his Carpenter, and the Building of the Red Lion Theatre," Shakespeare Quarterly 34 (1983): 298-310.

Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; updated 14 June 2011.