William Rowley, The Birth of Merlin

Tyler Jean Dukes (Texas Christian University)

Ed. by Virginia Mason Vaughan, Clark University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1620 - 1621

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

The Birth of Merlin, or, The Childe Hath Found His Father, has few equivalents in the catalog of Jacobean drama. Willliam Rowley and his mysterious collaborator(s) ambitiously pack multiple plots and even more generic peculiarities into the play. It is a journey into the absurd and anachronistic that can dizzy, if not divide, audiences. All five acts are “chaotic and surprising” (Kirwan). The play’s central theme — Things-Being-What-They-Are-Not — finds its most potent expression in the main characters Merlin and Joan, as well as the two sisters Constantia and Modestia.

Context & Reception

The Birth of Merlin was first performed in 1622. Scholars generally accept that it was “not a popular production” because of its “absence” in documentation between its performance and date of publication in 1662 (Bawcutt; Howe). When published, the printer ascribed the...

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4272 words

Citation: Dukes, Tyler Jean. "The Birth of Merlin". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 February 2022 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11986, accessed 10 June 2026.]

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