Author Series 26 - John Lyly

Author Series 26

John Lyly 

* 1553 – 1606

* English writer, poet, dramatist, playwright best known for his books Eupheus: The Anatomy of Wit (1578) and Eupheus and his England (Sequel of Eupheus; 1580)

* Lyly’s plays were acted before Queen Elizabeth by the ‘Children of the Chapel’ and by ‘Children of Paul’ at the Blackfriars theatre. 

* In 1583, he gained control of the first Blackfriars’ theatre.

* In 1632, Blount published six court comedies, the first printed collection of Lyly’s play which included the following plays and presented by the Children‘s of Paul:

1. Endymion (1591)

2. Compaspe (1584)

3. Sopho and Paho (1584)

4. Gallathea (1592)

5. Midas (1592) and

6. Mother Bombie (1594)

* Love’s Metamorphosis was left out among the six comedies.

* Love’s metamorphosis has deep influence on Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour lost.

* Gallathea of Lyly has influence on Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.

* The proverb “All is fair in Love and War” has been attributed to “Eupheus”.

Major Works of Lyly

1. Eupheus – The Anatomy of Wit (1578)

2. Eupheus and His England (1580)

(It is a sequel to Eupheus: The Anatomy of Wit)

3. Sapho and Paho (1584)

4. Endymion: The Man in the Moon (1591)

5. The Women in the Moon (1595)

(Pandora’ the first women on the earth is the protagonist of the play)

6. Compaspe (1584)

7. Gallathea (1592)

8. Midas (1592)

9. Mother Bombie (1594)