Robert Armin facts for kids
Robert Armin was a famous English actor who lived from about 1568 to 1615. He was a key member of a theater group called the Lord Chamberlain's Men. This was the same group that the famous playwright William Shakespeare worked with! Around the year 1600, Robert became their main comedy actor. He took over from another popular clown named Will Kempe. Robert was also a popular writer of funny stories and plays. He wrote a play called The History of the Two Maids of More-clacke. He also wrote books like Foole upon Foole and A Nest of Ninnies. Robert Armin changed how clowns were played on stage. Before him, clowns were often simple country servants. Robert made them clever and witty characters. They were smart and funny, not just silly.
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Robert Armin's Early Life
The famous writer Leslie Hotson once said about clowns: "…the clown is wise because he plays the fool for money, while others have to pay for the same privilege."
Robert Armin was one of three children. His father, John Armyn II, was a successful tailor in a town called King's Lynn. His father was also friends with a goldsmith named John Lonyson. Robert's brother, John Armyn III, became a tailor in London. But Robert did not follow his father's trade. Instead, in 1581, his father arranged for Robert to learn from Lonyson. Lonyson was part of the Goldsmiths' Company.
Lonyson had a very important job. He was the Master of Works at the Royal Mint in the Tower of London. This meant Robert's life changed a lot. He moved into a different social group than he would have as a tailor's son. Lonyson sadly died in 1582. Robert's apprenticeship then moved to another master.
There's a story about Robert in a book called Tarlton's Jests. It says that Robert met Richard Tarlton, who was the Queen's famous jester. The story goes that Robert was sent to collect money from someone staying at Tarlton's inn. When the person wouldn't pay, Robert wrote some funny poems on the wall with chalk. Tarlton saw them and liked how clever they were. He then wrote his own reply, saying he wanted Robert as his apprentice. We don't know if this story is completely true. But it shows that Robert was known for his wit even when he was young.
Robert finished his apprenticeship in 1592. He was already known as a writer before then. In 1590, his name appeared on a religious book. Two years later, other writers like Thomas Nashe and Gabriel Harvey mentioned him. They said he wrote ballads, which were popular songs or poems. Sadly, none of his ballads have survived today.
Joining the Chandos Company
At some point in the 1590s, Robert Armin joined a theater group. This group was supported by William Brydges, 4th Baron Chandos. We don't know much about this company. But it's believed Robert traveled with them across England. He likely performed in places from the western Midlands to East Anglia.
We can guess what kind of roles he played from his own play, The History of the Two Maids of More-clacke. The book version of this play, published in 1609, says he played a clown named Blue John. This character was like the older style of clowns, such as Tarlton and Kempe. But Robert also seemed to play Tutch, a clever fool. This was the type of witty character he later became famous for in London. The 1609 book was for a new performance by a group called the King's Revels Children. But Robert likely wrote the play around 1597.
We don't know many other details about Robert's time with Chandos's Men. In 1604, he dedicated a book to his patron's widow. This suggests he knew the Brydges family personally. However, another writing hints that he might have performed alone sometimes, like Will Kempe did.
Around the year 1600, Robert published two books. These books show that he was very interested in his acting craft. One book was called Fool Upon Fool (1600). It was later reissued in 1608 as A Nest of Ninnies. This book shared the clever sayings of different "natural fools." These were people who were naturally silly or simple. Robert knew some of them personally.
In the same year, he published Quips upon Questions. This book was a collection of quick, witty conversations. Robert used his marotte, which was a jester's stick with a carved head. He called his stick Signor Truncheon. In this book, he showed his unique style. Instead of just talking to the audience, he used different characters. He also sang songs or commented on people and events. He didn't just exchange words; he gave words freely.
In Quips upon Questions, Robert mentioned traveling to Hackney. This was either on Christmas Day 1599 or New Year's Day 1600. He said he was going to visit his "right honourable good lord." This might have been Baron Chandos. Or it could have been Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, who lived in Hackney.
The first versions of these two books were credited to "Clonnico de Curtanio Snuffe." This meant "the Clown of the Curtain Theater." The 1605 edition changed "Curtain" to "Mundo," which meant the Globe. It wasn't until 1608 that his full name was used. But Londoners would have known who "the Clown of the Curtain" was.
Another book by Robert, The Italian Tailor and his Boy, was published in 1609. It was a translation of a story by Gianfrancesco Straparola. The story was about a tailor, which might connect to Robert's own family. His father was a tailor, and Robert himself was a goldsmith's apprentice. The story also had a ruby ring, which might remind him of his goldsmith training.
Some experts believe Robert also wrote a pamphlet in 1599 called A Pil to Purge Melancholie. This is because the same printing press published it. It also mentions a clown with Robert's nickname. Plus, some words in it are similar to his play Two Maids of More-clacke.
Joining the Lord Chamberlain's Men
It's a bit of a mystery exactly when Robert Armin joined the Lord Chamberlain's Men. It's generally thought that he joined when Will Kempe left the group. But why Kempe left isn't fully clear. One idea is that the theater company, especially Shakespeare, wanted a new kind of clown. They might have been tired of Kempe's older style of comedy. The main evidence for this is Kempe's departure and the new types of funny roles Shakespeare wrote after 1600.
Robert Armin was performing on the Globe stage by August 1600. Some experts think he might have joined the Chamberlain's Men in 1599. He might have continued to do solo shows at the Curtain Theater. Or he might have performed with the company at the Curtain while Kempe was still there.
Robert Armin is famous for playing all the "licensed fools" in Shakespeare's plays. These were clever characters who were allowed to speak their minds. He played Touchstone in As You Like It and Feste in Twelfth Night. He was also the Fool in King Lear and Lavatch in All's Well That Ends Well. He might also have played Thersites in Troilus and Cressida. Other possible roles include the Porter in Macbeth, the Fool in Timon of Athens, and Autolycus in The Winter's Tale.
Touchstone is one of the most discussed of these roles. Some people, like Harold Bloom, describe him as "rancidly vicious." They say he helps show how good Rosalind's spirit is. But John Palmer disagrees. He thinks Touchstone is either a true cynic or pretends to be one. Palmer believes a true cynic wouldn't fit in the happy setting of Arden. So, the clown must be a good person at heart. Touchstone pretends to be a grumpy cynic. This helps show how quick-witted Rosalind is. When she talks to both Jaques and Touchstone, she shows their silliness. She stops them from making Arden seem worse than it is.
Feste was almost certainly written for Robert Armin. This is because Feste is a scholar, a singer, and very witty. Feste's job is to show how foolish the other characters are. Lear's fool is different from Touchstone and Feste. He is also different from other clowns of that time. Touchstone and Feste are like philosopher-fools. Lear's fool is more like the "natural fool" that Robert Armin studied and wrote about. This role gave Robert a chance to show his research. The fool in King Lear speaks important prophecies. He tells them to Lear, but Lear mostly ignores him. Then the fool disappears from the play. Lear's fool is not just there for fun. He helps the story move forward. He stays loyal to the king and perhaps tries to stop his madness.
Even though Robert usually played smart clown roles, some experts think he played Iago in Othello. This is because Iago sings two drinking songs. Most songs in Shakespeare's plays from 1600 to 1610 were sung by Robert's characters. Also, Othello is the only play between As You Like It and Timon of Athens that doesn't have a fool for Robert to play. However, another idea is that John Lowin played Iago. In that case, Robert might have played Othello's servant, which was a smaller part.
In plays not by Shakespeare, Robert likely played Pasarello in John Marston's The Malcontent. Marston might have even added that part just for him. Robert Armin is also listed in the cast for Ben Jonson's The Alchemist. He might have played the character Drugger. He is also thought to have been the clown in George Wilkins's The Miseries of Enforced Marriage.
Robert Armin is not listed in the cast for Jonson's Catiline (1611). Other clues suggest he retired from acting around 1609 or 1610. In the preface to his play Two Maids, he wrote that he wanted to play Blue John again. But he said, "tempora mutantur in illis" (times change for them), and he couldn't do what he wanted. He was buried in late 1615.
In London, Robert lived in the area of St Botolph's Aldgate. Records show that three of his children died before they grew up. Another actor from the King's Men, Augustine Phillips, left Robert twenty shillings in his will. The writer John Davies of Hereford also wrote a poem praising Robert. His burial was recorded on November 30, 1615.
A New Kind of Fool
Robert Armin likely played a very important role in how Shakespeare's fools developed. As Leslie Hotson said, "If any player breathed... who could explore with Shakespeare the shadows and fitful flashes of the borderland of insanity, that player was Armin." Robert Armin explored every type of clown. He played everything from the naturally silly person to the wise philosopher-fool. He changed the clown from a simple servant to a trained jester.
Through his studies, writing, and acting, Robert changed the clown from a simple, funny person to a clever, high-comedy jester. His characters, both those he wrote and those he acted, cleverly showed the silliness of what people called normal. Instead of just copying common English people, he created a new kind of fool. This new fool was a high-comedy jester who showed that wisdom was wit, and wit was wisdom.
When Robert Armin took over from Kempe in the Chamberlain's Men, it was seen as "taming the clown." Robert's new style of comedy brought in the "world-wisely fool." This encouraged Shakespeare to create characters like Feste in his play Twelfth Night. Feste was a philosophical character who seemed to fit in everywhere but belonged nowhere.
The writer Ken Kesey once explained Robert Armin's ideas about two kinds of fools. He said that Robert Armin wrote about the difference between an "artificial fool" and a "natural fool" in his book A Nest of Ninnies. A "natural fool" like Jack Oates never stops being a fool. He never tries to please his master. An "artificial fool" is always trying to please people; they are like a servant.
Images for kids
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Title page of Armin's The History of the two Maids of More-Clacke, 1609. The woodcut shows Armin onstage.
