Henry Porter (playwright) facts for kids
Henry Porter (died June 1599) was an English playwright, a person who writes plays. He is known for one play that still exists today, called The Two Angry Women of Abington. He also became known for how he died: he passed away after a fight with another writer.
About Henry Porter
We don't know much about Henry Porter's life. Most of what we know comes from the diary of Philip Henslowe, who managed theaters. Porter was described as a "gentleman" and a "poor scholar." Because his play is set near Oxford, and he seemed to know the area well, people think he might have studied there. However, no clear records connect him to Oxford.
His most famous play, The Two Angry Women of Abington, was first printed in London in 1599. This play was written before he started working for Henslowe in 1598. In 1598, a writer named Francis Meres praised Porter in his book Palladis Tamia, saying he was one of the "best for Comedy amongst us." Some experts also believe that Porter might have helped write some funny scenes in Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.
His Plays
The Two Angry Women of Abington is a fun play set in the countryside. It has two funny characters, Dick Coomes and Nicholas Proverbes, whose names were even on the play's cover. People have said that this play was as good as famous plays like The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Philip Henslowe's diary shows that he paid Porter for the play script and costumes in 1598. The play must have been performed before 1599, because its characters were mentioned in a popular booklet that year.
Henslowe's diary also mentions other plays Porter worked on:
- Love Prevented (1598)
- Hot Anger soon Cold (1598), which he wrote with Henry Chettle and Ben Jonson
- The second part of The Two Angry Women of Abingdon (1598)
- The Four Merry Women of Abingdon (1599)
- The Spencers (1599), also with Henry Chettle
It's not clear if "the second part of the Two Angry Women" was a completely new play. We also don't know if the later plays were finished before Porter died. In 1598, Porter and Chettle were paid 20 shillings to write a play called The Second Part of Black Batman of the North. It's thought that some of the money Porter received from Henslowe might have been used to help Chettle pay his debts.
The large amounts of money Porter was paid show that his plays were popular. However, Henslowe's notes suggest Porter wasn't always reliable. In February 1599, Henslowe gained the rights to any play Porter was involved in, in exchange for a large payment of forty shillings. Porter borrowed money more often as time went on, and the amounts he received became smaller.
How He Died
It's likely that The Two Angry Women of Abington was published because Porter had recently died. The last clear record of him is a note in his own handwriting in Henslowe's diary, dated May 26, 1599.
A historian named Leslie Hotson found court records that show a Henry Porter died on June 7, 1599, in Southwark, London. The person involved in his death was named John Day, who was also a playwright and worked for Philip Henslowe. Even though writers often worked together, there's no record of Porter and Day ever collaborating. Ben Jonson, who did work with Porter, described Day as a "rogue" and a "base fellow."
There are some similarities between how Henry Porter and another playwright, Christopher Marlowe, died. Both died in London, south of the Thames River. Marlowe died in Deptford in 1593, and Porter died in Southwark in 1599. In both cases, their deaths were explained in more detail in modern times by Leslie Hotson.
