Authorship, Indebtedness, and the Children of the King's Revels

Abstract

The playwriting practices of the Children of the King's Revels at Whitefriars were highly interactive and frequently collaborative. Yet the prologues of three of their plays show an uncontextualized use of the authorial "he." This usage has no contemporary match elsewhere. What might account for this paradox? The ethos of the children's companies may offer a partial explanation, as may the examples of Ben Jonson and of John MarstonÑbut not a full one. This odd and thrice-offered designation of the writer suggests that an authorial sense of self-importance was more prominent among Renaissance dramatists than is often thought.