II.

Career

It is unclear exactly when Fletcher’s career as a dramatist began. His sequel to English playwright William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, titled The Woman's Prize, or The Tamer Tamed, has been dated as early as 1604. The most important of Fletcher’s early plays is his tragicomedy The Faithful Shepherdess (1608-1609). This work, unsuccessful on the stage, was printed in an undated edition containing commendatory verses by leading English dramatist Ben Jonson and by Beaumont. It also included a prefatory statement by Fletcher regarding the nature of tragicomedy. Fletcher wrote of that genre that 'in respect it wants [lacks] deaths, which is enough to make it no tragedy, yet brings some near it, which is enough to make it no comedy.'

A.

Collaboration with Francis Beaumont

Fletcher is often linked with Beaumont in the public mind. Even their contemporaries saw the pair as so inseparable that the title pages of two editions of Fletcher’s solo works and collaborations with other playwrights gave credit to Beaumont and Fletcher jointly. As a result, Beaumont was credited for many plays not actually written until after his death in 1616, and the hand of Philip Massinger—Fletcher's principal collaborator after Beaumont—was largely ignored.

The team of Beaumont and Fletcher probably collaborated on about ten plays. By the time Beaumont retired in 1614, these collaborations had helped establish both men in the ranks of the best dramatists. The production dates of nearly all of these works are uncertain. The two playwrights coauthored popular works such as Philaster (1609?), The Maid’s Tragedy (1610?), and A King and No King (1611). Other collaborations include The Coxcomb (1612), The Captain (1613), and Cupid’s Revenge (1611?).

B.

Other Works

Fletcher had an active career outside of his work with Beaumont. He succeeded Shakespeare as the chief dramatist for the King's Men, the principal acting company in London, and probably collaborated with Shakespeare on several works around the year 1613. Fletcher also wrote plays on his own and collaborated with several other dramatists to produce a series of highly successful plays. Fletcher’s solo works are some of the most admired dramas of the 17th century. They include The Chances (1617?), The Wild Goose Chase (1621?), The Humourous Lieutenant (1619?), and Rule a Wife and Have a Wife (1624).

Fletcher collaborated with Massinger on works such as Sir John van Olden Barnavelt (1619), The Custom of the Country (1619?), The Beggar’s Bush (1622), and The Spanish Curate (1622?). With Massinger and Nathan Field, Fletcher wrote three tragicomedies. He also collaborated with William Rowley in writing The Maid in the Mill (1623?) and apparently collaborated with Jonson and with English playwright George Chapman.