The Shoemaker's Holiday

The Shoemaker's Holiday or the Gentle Craft is an Elizabethan play written by Thomas Dekker. The play was first performed in 1599 by the Admiral's Men, and it falls into the subgenre of city comedy. The story features three subplots: an inter-class romance between a citizen of London and an aristocrat, the ascension of shoemaker Simon Eyre to Lord Mayor of London, and a romance between a gentleman and a shoemaker's wife, whose husband appears to have died in the wars with France.

The play is a "citizen" drama, or a depiction of the life of members of London's livery companies, and it follows in Dekker's style of depicting everyday life in London.^[1]^[2] The events of the play occur during the reign of King Henry VI, though also hinting at the reign of Henry V. Henry V succeeded his father, Henry IV, as leader of England following Henry IV's death in 1413 at the age of 26.^[3] He is best known for securing the French crown and for his depiction in Shakespeare's plays Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V. Dekker uses this correlation in The Shoemaker's Holiday, as an English king appears in scenes 19 and 21; however, he is only identified as "The King" in the speech prefix in the first printed edition of the play.^[4]^[5]

^ "Dekker, Thomas (c. 1572–1632), playwright and pamphleteer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7428. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Harris, Jonathan Gil., editor. "Introduction: About the Play." The Shoemaker's Holiday, by Thomas Dekker, Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2015, p.vii
^ "Henry V (1386–1422), king of England and lord of Ireland, and duke of Aquitaine". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/12952. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Dekker, Thomas. The Shoemaker's Holiday, New Mermaids Series, 3rd edition. ed. Jonathan Gill Harris. LonMethuen Drama, 2008, pg. 4
^ Dekker, Thomas. The shomakers holiday. Or The gentle craft VVith the humorous life of Simon Eyre, shoomaker, and Lord Maior of London. London: Valentine Sims, 1600.

[1] "Dekker, Thomas (c. 1572–1632), playwright and pamphleteer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7428. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[2] Harris, Jonathan Gil., editor. "Introduction: About the Play." The Shoemaker's Holiday, by Thomas Dekker, Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2015, p.vii

[3] "Henry V (1386–1422), king of England and lord of Ireland, and duke of Aquitaine". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/12952. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[:6-4] Dekker, Thomas. The Shoemaker's Holiday, New Mermaids Series, 3rd edition. ed. Jonathan Gill Harris. LonMethuen Drama, 2008, pg. 4

[5] Dekker, Thomas. The shomakers holiday. Or The gentle craft VVith the humorous life of Simon Eyre, shoomaker, and Lord Maior of London. London: Valentine Sims, 1600.

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