Thomas Middleton, A Yorkshire Tragedy

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A Yorkshire Tragedy

is based on a murder case that took place in 1605, in which a father attacked his entire family and killed two of his children. The title page of the first edition, printed in 1608, informs readers that the play was performed by the King’s Men at the Globe Theatre, and that it is “Not so New as Lamentable and True”. There are no other records of the play’s early performance, although it is evident from the printed version that it was originally part of a theatrical compilation of four short pieces, as the head-title of the playtext reads “All’s One, Or, One of the foure Plaies in One, called a York-shire Tragedy: as it was plaid by the Kings Maiesties Plaiers”. The identity of the other pieces is unknown, but this theatrical provenance explains the…

1199 words

Citation: O'Brien, Emily. "A Yorkshire Tragedy". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 November 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35248, accessed 19 March 2024.]

35248 A Yorkshire Tragedy 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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