Edward Filmer facts for kids

Edward Filmer (born around 1654, died 1703) was an English writer who created plays. He lived a long time ago, during a period when theater was very popular in England.

Edward Filmer's Early Life and Education

Edward Filmer was the second son of a well-known family, the Filmers of East Sutton in Kent, England. His father was Sir Robert Filmer, 1st Baronet.

In 1672, Edward went to All Souls College, Oxford, a famous university. He was admitted as a "founder's kin fellow," which meant he was related to someone who helped start the college. He earned his first degree, a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), in 1672. Later, he continued his studies and received advanced degrees in law, a Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.) in 1675 and a Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.) in 1681. He was buried in his family's home area, East Sutton.

Edward Filmer's Plays and Writings

Edward Filmer wrote a long play called The Unnatural Brother. It was a type of play called a tragedy, which often has a sad ending. This play was written in blank verse, which is poetry that doesn't rhyme. It was based on a story from a French romance novel called Cassandre.

When The Unnatural Brother was performed in London in 1697, it wasn't very popular. People thought parts of its story were similar to other plays like Othello by William Shakespeare and The Villain by Thomas Porter. A small part of Filmer's play was even used in another work called The Novelty by Pierre Antoine Motteux.

Why His Play Was Different

At the time, many plays in London were becoming more like operas, with lots of music. For example, The Indian Queen and Brutus of Alba were very popular for their music. However, Edward Filmer chose not to include music in his tragedy. He explained in the introduction to his published play that he wanted to follow older, more traditional rules for plays. He believed in keeping fewer characters on stage at one time, which was a classical idea. But the audiences in the late 1600s preferred the newer, more musical styles.

Defending the Stage

Edward Filmer also wrote a book called A Defence of Plays, which was published after he died in 1707. In this book, he defended plays against attacks from a writer named Jeremy Collier. Collier believed that plays were bad for people's morals. Filmer argued that Collier didn't understand how plays taught moral lessons, especially through something called "stage-discipline" or poetic justice. This means that good characters are rewarded and bad characters are punished in the story. Collier later wrote another book to argue back against Filmer.

Edward Filmer's Family Life

In 1687, Edward Filmer married Archiballa Clinkard. She was the only daughter and heir of Archibald Clinkard from Sutton Valence, Kent.