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Philip Massinger
1583–1640
Known for sharp satire, tightly built plots, and a cool eye for power and money, this major 17th-century dramatist helped shape English theater after Shakespeare. His best-known plays, including A New Way to Pay Old Debts and The Roman Actor, still stand out for their social bite and stage energy.
4 Audiobooks
The Fatal Dowry
by Nathaniel Field, Philip Massinger
The Plays of Philip Massinger, Vol. I
by Philip Massinger
Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, Vol. 01 of 10: the Custom of the Country
by Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger
The Elder Brother
by Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger
About the author
Born near Salisbury in 1583 and baptized at St. Thomas's Church, Philip Massinger studied at St. Alban Hall, Oxford, though he did not take a degree. Much of his life is only partly documented, but he was active in the London theater world by the early 17th century and wrote during both the Jacobean and Caroline periods.
Massinger became known for plays that mix strong plotting with social realism, political tension, and satire. He also worked with other playwrights, including John Fletcher, and his most famous works include A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The City Madam, and The Roman Actor. His writing often focuses on corruption, ambition, justice, and the pressures of wealth and status.
He died in London in March 1640. Although not as widely known today as some of his contemporaries, he has long been valued as one of the most skillful and intelligent dramatists of early modern England.