The Elder Brother, Virgil’s De apibus, and the Chronology of the Plays in the Canon of John Fletcher and His Collaborators, 1617–20

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12745/et.27.1.5677

Keywords:

John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, The Elder Brother, Virgil, John Brinsley

Abstract

This article argues that John Brinsley's 1620 translation of Virgil's Georgics, Book IV, is a source for John Fletcher and Philip Massinger's The Elder Brother. This contention results in dating the play to 1620 rather than 1618 as suggested by Martin Wiggins. The re-dating has consequences for the dating of other plays in the canon of Fletcher and his collaborators for the period 1617 to 1620, and I propose a new chronology for the Fletcher plays in this time span.

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Published

2024-06-26

Issue

Vol. 27 No. 1 (2024)

Section

Articles

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