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Encyclopedia entry: Shadwell, Thomas
- Article from:
- The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre
- Author:
Copyright© The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996. (Hide copyright information)
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Shadwell, Thomas
(
c.
1642–92), Restoration dramatist, whose first play
The Sullen Lovers; or, The Impertinents
(1668) was based on
Molière's
Les Fâcheux
(1661). The comedies which followed it seem, however, more indebted to
Jonson
, whom Shadwell much admired. The best known of them is
Epsom Wells
(1672). Shadwell has been much criticized for his adaptation of
The Tempest
as an opera,
The Enchanted Island
(1674), in which, following the examples of
Davenant
and
Dryden
, everything was subordinated to the stage machinery and scenery. He then returned to comedy with
The ...