Thomas Nabbes
Thomas Nabbes was an English playwright active during the Jacobean and Caroline periods, born in 1605 in Worcestershire. Coming from a modest background, he attended Exeter College at Oxford University but left without earning a degree, likely due to financial constraints. Nabbes began his career as a dramatist in London around 1630, with a focus on comedic works and masques, drawing significant influence from the renowned playwright Ben Jonson. He specialized in realistic comedy, often paralleling Jonson's comedy of humors, and created charming masques that are considered some of his finest contributions to theater. Though his characters may lack depth, they are portrayed as admirable figures. Nabbes maintained a friendship with fellow playwright Richard Brome, and both shared similar social and financial standings. His most prolific period in the theater occurred around 1638, and his collected works were published in 1639, two years before his death in 1641. Nabbes is recognized by critics of his time, including Charles Lamb, who recommended his plays for their merit.
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Thomas Nabbes
Playwright
- Born: 1605
- Birthplace: Worcestershire, England
- Died: April 6, 1641
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Thomas Nabbes was an English dramatist of the Jacobean and Caroline age. Born in 1605 in Worcestershire, Nabbes came from a modest family background. While he entered Exeter College at Oxford University around 1621, he left without taking his degree. Such early withdrawals were usually the result of insufficient funds, and this was probably so in Nabbes’s case.
Nabbes seems to have begun pursuing the career of dramatist around 1630 in London. The more successful of his dramas were his comedies and masques, and he seems to have been heavily influenced by Ben Jonson, one of the most popular and respected dramatists of the age. Jonson also excelled in comedy and masques and created the magnificent Stuart masques with his collaborator, Inigo Jones.
Nabbes’s forte was the so-called realistic comedy which was modeled on Jonson’s comedy of humors, but his charming masques are some of his best works. Like his contemporary, Robert Davenport, Nabbes probably created his one tragedy by reworking a previous play by another author. He and Richard Brome, another contemporaneous playwright, were good friends and colleagues. They were also of the same mediocre social and financial strata.
In his best plays, Nabbes presents leading characters that are sincerely admirable, although somewhat colorless and uninteresting. Nevertheless, Charles Lamb, one of the most astute critics of his time, thought enough of Nabbes’s work to recommend him, as did A. H. Bullen in his book Old English Plays. Nabbes’s most popular and successful time in the theater seems to have been around 1638. Nabbes’s plays were collected in 1639, two years before his death in 1641.