Heywood, John

Heywood, John (hā`wd), 1497?–1580?, English dramatist. He was employed at the courts of Henry VIII and Mary I as a singer, musician, and playwright. At the accession of Elizabeth I in 1564 Heywood, who was a Roman Catholic, fled to Belgium, where he stayed for the rest of his life. Important in the development of English comedy, Heywood was the most famous writer of the interlude, a short comic dialogue. Chief among his interludes are The Play of the Weather (1533) and The Four P's (c.1543). His other works include epigrams, proverbs, and ballads.

Bibliography

See his works (ed. by B. A. Milligan, 1956).

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Heywood, John

(born 1497?, London, Eng.?—died after 1575, Mechelen, Belg.) British playwright. His witty, satirical verse interludes (dialogues on a set subject) helped put English drama on the road to the fully developed comedy of the Elizabethans. His interludes, which replace biblical allegory with representations of everyday life and manners, include The Play of the Wether, A Play of Love, and Wytty and Wytless (all printed 1533), and The Playe Called the Foure P.P.: A Palmer, a Pardoner, a Potycary, a Pedler (printed c. 1544). He also wrote epigrams, ballads, and a verse allegory, The Spider and the Flie (1556).