Stephen Gosson
Stephen Gosson was a 16th-century English writer and critic, baptized in Canterbury in 1554. He was the eldest son of Cornelius and Agnes Oxenbridge Gosson and received a rigorous education at a cathedral school, which emphasized moral teachings and drama. Gosson went on to study at Corpus Christi, Oxford, where he further developed his knowledge within a Christian humanist framework. By the age of thirty, he had become an ecclesiastical lecturer at St. Martin's Church in London, possibly being ordained in the process.
Gosson's early literary efforts focused on didactic poetry, though little of it survives today. He is best known for his critical work, *The Schoole of Abuse* (1579), where he argued that criticism should provoke thought, distinguish right from wrong, and reveal vice. His critiques of popular plays of the time positioned him as a significant figure in dramatic criticism, second only to notable contemporaries such as Sir Philip Sidney. Gosson's writings contributed to a growing moral discourse around theater, ultimately influencing events that led to the closure of theaters in England by 1642. His critical legacy has overshadowed his poetic beginnings, cementing his role in the history of British literature.
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Stephen Gosson
Playwright
- Born: April 1, 1554
- Birthplace: Canterbury, England
- Died: February 13, 1624
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
The date of his birth is unknown, but Stephen Gosson was baptized in Canterbury, England, in 1554. He was the eldest son of Cornelius and Agnes Oxenbridge Gosson. His father, a joiner who emigrated from the Low Countries, also expected Gosson to become a joiner. Instead, Gosson entered the cathedral school, known for its rigorous moral teachings, as a scholar when he was fourteen. Although the model Christian humanist grammar school highly emphasized the study of religion, the youngster was also exposed to the study of drama. In 1572, Gosson began attending Corpus Christi, Oxford, where he continued his education within another Christian humanist center that boasted a heavily religious curriculum and a world-class library, of which more than half was made up of Bibles. At the age of thirty, Gosson was accepted as an ecclesiastical lecturer at St. Martin’s Church, London, and possibly became ordained.
Influenced by his strong religious background at Canterbury and Oxford, Gosson’s first writing efforts centered on highly didactic poetry, little of which remains. In his highly moralistic romance The Ephemerides of Phialo (1579), after Phialo, a young student from Siena, cannot complete his education, he goes to Venice where his friend Philotimo argues with him for leaving the university. Phialo demonstrates the proper way to criticize a friend. When Philotimo falls in love at first sight, Phialo lectures him once again on virtue.
At the same time as Gosson wrote poetry, he attempted to write plays, none of which survived. Throughout the sixteenth century, Gosson was surpassed only by Sir Philip Sidney and George Puttenham in the literary arena of dramatic criticism. He is important for his criticism of the era’s most popular plays in his enormously popular The Schoole of Abuse (1579). He argued that criticism must evoke thoughtful responses, teach right from wrong and expose vice. To accomplish this, the critic must be wise and play an authoritative role.
While he positively critiqued some dramas in The Schoole of Abuse, Gosson wrote approvingly of Catiline’s Conspiracies as a moral work because it unveils the evils of tyranny. His series of attacks, written before any of the works of William Shakespeare were ever staged, began the series of events that eventually closed theaters throughout England in 1642. Although Gosson began his career in writing as a poet, it is his criticism of poetry and plays that has ensured his place in the history of British literature.