John Fletcher

John Fletcher (1579-1625) was a playwright of the English Renaissance who flourished during the Jacobean Era (1603-1625). The author of over 50 plays, he is known for developing the genre of tragicomedy in English literature, and for his collaborations with playwright Francis Beaumont (1585-1616) – together, Fletcher and Beaumont wrote some of the most important tragicomedies of the era including Philaster (circa 1609), The Maid's Tragedy (1609), and A King and No King (1611). It is now generally accepted that Fletcher worked closely with William Shakespeare (1564-1616) in the last year of his career, co-writing Shakespeare's plays Henry VIII, The Two Noble Kinsmen, and the now lost Cardenio. Fletcher, whose popularity rivaled Shakespeare's at the peak of his career, took over as the house playwright for Shakespeare's acting company, the King's Men, and continued in that capacity until his death from the plague in August 1625.