Thomas Goffe
Thomas Goffe was an English playwright and clergyman born around 1591 in Essex. He was educated at Westminster School and later at Christ Church, Oxford, where he earned multiple degrees, culminating in a Bachelor of Divinity in 1623. Goffe’s writing career began during his time at Oxford, where he wrote poetry, Latin orations, and plays, all performed by all-male casts. His known works include three revenge tragedies: *The Raging Turk*, *The Tragedy of Orestes*, and *The Tragedy of Amurath*, which were not published until after his death in 1632. These plays explore themes of vengeance and often include violent and tragic elements, drawing influence from the revenge tragedies of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. Goffe is also recognized for integrating the character of Milos Obilic, a Serbian folk hero, into his narratives. After becoming rector in East Clandon in 1623, he married the widow of the previous rector and became a father figure to her children. Goffe passed away on July 27, 1629, and while attributed with several other works posthumously, most scholars question their authenticity. Despite being overshadowed by his contemporaries, Goffe remains a notable, albeit minor, figure in early English drama.
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Thomas Goffe
Playwright
- Born: c. 1591
- Birthplace: Essex, England
- Died: July 27, 1629
Biography
Thomas Goffe was born around 1591 in Essex, England. The son of a clergyman, he was a Queen’s Scholar at Westminster School. In 1609, he won a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford, where he received a bachelor of arts degree in 1613, his master of arts degree in 1616, and a bachelor of divinity degree in 1623, the same year he was ordained as a minister.
Goffe began writing at Oxford, composing poems, delivering funeral orations in Latin, and writing plays that were staged at the college with all-male casts, including the author. Three plays have definitely been attributed to Goffee, each produced between 1613 and 1619 but not published until after the author’s death: The Raging Turk: Or, Bajazet II, The Tragedy of Orestes, and The Tragedy of Amurath, Third Tyrant of the Turks (published in 1632 as The Courageous Turk; Or, Amurath the First.) All three plays are revenge tragedies, a popular form of drama during the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods which is considered a precursor of modern horror fiction. Derived from tragedies of Roman playwright and Stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger, the dramas are generally characterized by the foul and clandestine murder of a benign ruler by a malignant usurper; ghostly visions of the victim witnessed by a relative who vows to avenge the crime; plotting, intrigue, and disguises; and widespread carnage during which the target, or targets, of vengeance, innocent bystanders, and the avenger all die, often in gruesome fashion.
Goffe’s three known plays fit neatly into the revenge template, with poisonings, beheadings, infanticide, suicides, and bloody murders throughout. In The Raging Turk and The Courageous Turk, he used the Ottoman Empire, a real and powerful threat to Europe at the time, as a symbol to draw contrasts between the cruel heathens representing Mohammedans and the benevolent standard-bearers of Christianity. Goffe is considered the first to incorporate into a dramatic work the character of Milos Obilic, the Serbian folk hero of the battle against the Turks at Kosovo in 1389.
In 1623, Goffe accepted an appointment as rector of a church in East Clandon, Surrey. There, though he had a reputation as misogynist, he married the widow of the previous rector, Alexander Adams, and became stepfather to her brood of children, a situation perhaps responsible for his early demise. He became noted for inspiring sermons, one of which, “Deliverance from the Grave,” was later published as Deliverance from the Grave: A Sermon Preached at Saint Maries Spittle in London, on Wednesday in Easter Weeke Last, March 28, 1627 (1627). Goffe died and was buried in his church in East Clandon on July 27, 1629.
After his death, a number of other plays were attributed to Goffe, including the tragedies Selimus, The Second Maiden’s Tragedy, and The Bastard, but his authorship is now mostly discounted due to comparisons with the playwright’s genuine works, which display a clunky structure and pompous language. Many scholars ascribe the bucolic pastoral The Careless Shepherdess to Goffe. However, since it contains the words “as tedious to me as a sermon,” this seems dubious, given the nature of Goffe’s profession as a minister. Lost among the many outstanding playwrights of his time, Goffe will probably always remain a minor, if intriguing, figure.