John Banks
John Banks was a 17th-century English dramatist known for his innovative approach to historical drama, particularly focusing on the lives of prominent women in English history. Born around 1650 and passing away in 1706, Banks’ career unfolded during a politically tumultuous era in England, which influenced the themes and reception of his works. His notable plays include "Virtue Betrayed" (1682), centered on Anne Boleyn, "The Island Queens" (1684), featuring Elizabeth I, and "The Innocent Usurper" (1694), highlighting Lady Jane Grey. Despite facing challenges such as censorship—many of his plays were banned due to their sensitive themes related to England’s Protestant-Catholic tensions—he found some success among audiences, with works like "The Unhappy Favourite" (1682) resonating well.
Critically, Banks has faced significant scrutiny for his writing style, with some sources characterizing his verse as lacking quality. Nonetheless, his unique blend of influences, particularly from French literature, allowed him to create compelling narratives that provided a fresh perspective on British history. His works invite contemporary readers to explore historical events through a different lens, celebrating the complexities of the characters he portrayed.
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Subject Terms
John Banks
Playwright
- Born: c. 1650
- Died: 1706
Biography
We know more about the plays John Banks wrote than we do about the author himself. He was a seventeenth century dramatist whose career paralleled that of many others, starting in the Inns of Court and moving on to a life of dramatic production.
He was born about 1650 and died in 1706; his life spans a politically volatile time in England, and some of his plays were banned from the stage despite his caution in dealing with historical issues such as the Catholicism of Mary, Queen of Scots. He devised a new type of historical drama which focused on women: the lives of Anne Boleyn (Virtue Betrayed, 1682), Lady Jane Grey (The Innocent Usurper, 1694), and Elizabeth herself (The Island Queens, 1684) are at the center of Banks’s she-tragedies. The fragility of England’s barely established Protestant state and the perception of a perpetual Catholic threat to it kept all of these but Virtue Betrayed off the boards. A revised version of The Island Queens called The Albion Queens (1704) was finally performed two years before Banks’s death.
Banks has been severely criticized in literary history for his style; authoritative sources call his verse “execrable.” He must have appealed to popular taste, however, for plays like his The Unhappy Favourite (1682), his treatment of Elizabeth’s lover the Earl of Essex, enjoyed popular success. Like many dramatists of his time, Banks found his inspiration for his plays in French novels and plays. Using the more distant, objective, and at times more sentimental French view of Britain’s tumultuous history since Henry VIII, Banks created characters like the innocent victim Anne Boleyn. Virtue Betrayed was immensely popular; it has the simplicity of a morality play in its depiction of the betrayal of the innocent Anne. Just as Banks found in French popular sources a new way of looking at British history, it is also possible for us to find in his neglected plays another way of appreciating familiar events.