Anthony Munday
Anthony Munday was a playwright and writer active in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, whose legacy is marked by a mixture of criticism and occasional acclaim. Much of his work has been lost over time, leading to a portrayal that often emphasizes his perceived shortcomings as a writer. Notable contemporaries, like Ben Jonson and John Marston, provided unflattering critiques, suggesting that Munday was a hack who catered to the immediate demands of the theatrical scene. Despite this, Munday was capable of producing a significant quantity of work and was engaged as a writer for Philip Henslowe's Admiral's Company during a bustling theatrical period.
Munday's background included being the son of a well-connected figure linked to the Draper's Guild, which facilitated his commissioning for public pageants in London. He also had a brief stint working for the government and spent time in Rome, where he wrote against the Jesuits, resulting in notable publications like "The English Romayne Lyfe." Although only three of his plays have survived, including "The Death of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon," and he is believed to have contributed to "Sir Thomas More," Munday's ability to adapt romances for the stage indicates a level of creativity that resonated with audiences of his time. Overall, Munday's career reflects the complexities of being a writer in a competitive and often harsh literary landscape.
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Anthony Munday
Playwright
- Born: c. 1560
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: Buried August 9, 1633
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
What is known about Anthony Munday is based upon scant evidence. Much of his writing has been lost. The portrayal of him that has survived is that he was at best a hack with a facile pen who could write instantaneously about contemporary situations. Scholars view Munday through the comments, usually quite negative, made about him by such literary figures as Ben Jonson. In Jonson’s play The Case Is Altered, Antonio Baladino, one of the servants, seems clearly to depict Munday unflatteringly. John Marston used the descriptor “goosequillian” in writing about Munday, who had earlier been identified as the character Posthaste in the anonymous play Histriomastix (1589). Frances Mere, in Palladis Tamia (1598), was somewhat more charitable, commenting on Munday’s skill in writing comedy and in adapting plots from prose pieces, mostly romances, for the stage.
Apparently, Munday was the son of a well-connected man associated with the Draper’s Guild, an affiliation that resulted in Munday’s being commissioned to write pageants for the city of London to commemorate various public events. Munday worked well under pressure and turned out more writing quantitatively than nearly any of his contemporaries. In the satirical presentation of him as Posthaste in Histriomastix, where he is portrayed as a drunkard and a hack, he is said to be willing to write for players for a shilling a page. The writer also likens the appearance of his name on the door of a theater to the plague.
While Munday’s work drew more ridicule than praise from his literary contemporaries, the public seemingly appreciated some of his work. He was the only British writer of the early seventeenth century who continued to be popular after William Shakespeare burst onto the theatrical scene. He was regularly employed between 1594 and 1602 as a writer of plays and adaptations of romances for Philip Henslowe’s Admiral’s Company
Early in his life, Munday worked for the government as a server of warrants, a profession that certainly would not have enhanced his popularity. In 1578, he went to Rome for a year to research a series of attacks he wrote against members of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits. The English Romayne Lyfe, which he published in 1582, as well as several pamphlets resulted from this Italian sojourn.
Only three of Munday’s plays have survived. One of the plays is The Death of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon, a collaboration with Henry Chettle, produced as a sequel to Munday’s earlier The Downfall of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon. Although he is known to have published ballads early in his career, no body of his poetry has been preserved. In his later years, Munday continued to produce pageants for the city of London. He is thought to have had some hand in the playSir Thomas More (c. 1598), although others, possibly even Shakespeare, may have collaborated on the play.