ed to the sockets in his breast.

THOMAS DEKKER

(1570?-1637?)

Thomas Dekker, the genial realist, the Dickens of Jacobean London, has
left in his works the impress of a most lovable personality, but the
facts with which to surround that personality are of the scantiest. He
was born about 1570 in London; at least in 1637 he speaks of himself as
over threescore years of age. This is the only clue we have to the date
of his birth. He came probably of a tradesman's family, for he describes
better than any of his fellows in art the life of the lower middle
class, and enters into the thoughts and feelings of that class with a
heartiness which is possible only after long and familiar association.
He was not a university man, but absorbed his classical knowledge as
Shakespeare did, through association with the wits of his time.

He is first mentioned in Henslowe's diary in 1597, and after that his
name appears frequently. He was evidently a dramatic hack, working for
that manager, adapting and making over old plays and writing new ones.
He must have been popular too, for his name appears oftener than that of
any of his associates. Yet his industry and popularity could not always
keep him above water. Henslowe was not a generous paymaster, and the
unlucky dramatist knew the inside of the debtor's prison cell; more than
once the manager advanced sums to bail him out. Oldys says he was in
prison from 1613 to 1616. After 1637 we find his name no more.

As a dramatist, Dekker was most active between the years 1598 and 1602.
In one of those years alone he was engaged on twelve plays. Many of
these have been lost; of the few that remain, two of the most
characteristic belong to this period. 'The Shoemaker's Holiday,'
published in 1599, shows Dekker on his genial, realistic side, with his
sense of fun and his hearty sympathy with the life of the people. It
bubbles over with the delight in mere living, and is full of kindly
feeling toward all the world. It was sure to appeal to its audience,
especially to the pit, where the tradesmen and artisans with their wives
applauded, and noisiest of all, the 'prentices shouted their
satisfaction: here they saw themselves and their masters brought on the
stage, somewhat idealized, but still full of frolic and good-nature. It
is one of the brightest and pleasantest of Elizabethan comedies. Close
on its heels followed 'The Pleasant Comedy of Old Fortunatus.' Here
Dekker the idealist, t