Lyly biography

John Lyly was a 16 century English writer who considered himself a playwright at first but who, later on, switched to poetry. He is best remembered though for two novels: Euphues, The Anatomy of Wit (1578) and His England (1580). He invented a whole new style of writing which became known as “Euphuism”, in honour of his first book. It has been said that some of his romantic writing influenced the work of William Shakespeare. Besides writing he served as a Member of Parliament in three different constituencies over a twenty year period.

He was born, according to some accounts, in the Kentish town of Canterbury sometime around 1553. The family were reasonably well off, his father being the Registrar for Matthew Parker, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Lyly’s mother originated from a country estate in the North Riding of Yorkshire called Burgh Hall. Over a fifteen year period his mother had eight children in all. John received a good education including a spell at Magdalen College, Oxford from where he graduated with a bachelor”s degree in 1573. He followed this up with a master”s in 1575.

In between the two degrees he applied for a Fellowship at the college, hoping that Lord Burghley would assist him with it. He was, though, unsuccessful and one reason may be that he was rusticated at one point. It seems that university studies were not to his liking, even though he had sufficient academic prowess to obtain two degrees. He was known as a witty individual, both in company and in his writing.

His popularity as a writer was growing though, especially when he abandoned the novel form in favour of plays and poetry. He hoped that this new venture would help him to obtain a place at court in the position of Master of the Revels but, alas, he was unsuccessful in this venture as well. His work was performed for the Queen though between the years 1584-1591 and was seen as lively and contemporary, in that real people and events of the day were often portraye

John Lyly (1553 or 1554 – November 1606; also spelled Lilly, Lylie, Lylly) was an English writer, dramatist, courtier, and parliamentarian. he was best known during his lifetime for his two books Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (1578) and its sequel Euphues and His England (1580).

References

• Hunter, G. K. (1962). John Lyly: The Humanist as Courtier (376 pp). Harvard University Press.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lyly, John". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 159–162.

Other websites

Media related to John Lyly at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related to John Lyly at Wikiquote
Works written by or about John Lyly at Wikisource

Name:John Lyly.
Born: 1553 / 1554, Kent, England.
Died:c. 20 November 1606.
Buried:20 November 1606, St. Bartholomew the Less, London.

Life of John Lyly

John Lyly was the first superstar dramatist of the Elizabethan era, though his brilliance shone more like a shooting star than the sun.

Born in about 1553 in Kent, Lyly earned a B.A. from Magdalen College in Oxford, and an M.A. from Oxford, although as the 17 century antiquarian Antony Wood wrote, Lyly did “in a manner neglect academic studies.”

Lyly then moved to London where he spent decades waiting fruitlessly for a rewarding appointment from the court. Turning to writing, Lyly published his first novel, Euphues, or the Anatomy of Wit, in 1578. The book, a sort of travel and romance adventure, was an immediate sensation, and he followed up his success with the equally popular Euphues and His England in 1580. The reason for the interest in the books, however, was the unusual style of the writing, more so than the stories themselves, and we will discuss this style in a moment.

It is possible that Lyly had been led to expect he would be appointed to be Master of the Revels, the official charged with reviewing and licensing plays in London, whenever the next vacancy arose. However, his dreams were constantly disappointed, when first in 1578 Thomas Blagrave was appointed to the office after the death of its previous holder, and then again in 1579 when the position was granted to Edmund Tylney, who would hold it for 31 years!

In the meantime, Lyly turned to drama, and from 1584 to 1592 he wrote and directed about 7 or 8 plays, which delighted London audiences as much as his books had. In fact, the plays were all performed privately for Queen Elizabeth, after having been publically presented and practiced, and all were acted by children’s troupes. The sovereign appears to have enjoyed them as much as the common London citizen did. All the plays but one (The Woman in the Moon) were in prose.

Desp

English writer, dramatist, courtier, and Member of Parliament. (c. 1553/4–1606)

This article is about John Lyly. For people named John Lilly, see John Lilly (disambiguation).

John Lyly (; also spelled Lilly, Lylie, Lylly; born c. 1553–4 – buried 30 November 1606) was an English writer, playwright, courtier, and parliamentarian. He first achieved success with his two books Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (1578) and its sequel Euphues and His England (1580), and then became a dramatist, writing eight plays which survive, at least six of which were performed before Queen Elizabeth I. Lyly's distinctive and much imitated literary style, named after the title character of his two books, is known as euphuism. He is sometimes grouped with other professional dramatists of the 1580s and 1590s like Christopher Marlowe, Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe, George Peele, and Thomas Lodge, as one of the so-called University Wits. He has been credited by some scholars with writing the first English novel, and as being 'the father of English comedy'.

Biography

Childhood and education

John Lyly was born in Kent, England, c. 1553–4, the eldest son of Peter Lyly and his wife, Jane Burgh (or Brough), of Burgh Hall in the North Riding of Yorkshire. He was probably born either in Rochester, where his father is recorded as a notary public in 15