Research project examines satirical playwright

24th July 2015

Two literary historians have been awarded £715,622 by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to compile the first academic collection for over 100 years of the works of 17th century playwright John Marston.

Professor Matthew Steggle, from Sheffield Hallam University, and Professor Martin Butler, from the University of Leeds, were awarded the funding by AHRC to examine the works of Marston, a contemporary of Shakespeare. Professor Steggle, a member of Sheffield Hallam's Humanities Research Centre, said: "Although Marston refers to Shakespeare, and in later literary history is overshadowed by Shakespeare, he has his own voice, which is very distinctive and not at all like Shakespeare. "Marston was quite an angry satirist, and often courted controversy. He was the master of insults, and he often lampooned his contemporaries through his poems and plays." The five year research project will include a complete textual analysis of Marston's work, starting with the remaining 17th century printings, and a series of performances of extracts from Marston's plays at The Globe Theatre. The study will also examine the more mysterious parts of the playwright's life. Professor Steggle said: "At the height of his success, Marston just disappeared. He gave up writing and became a church minister. We're hoping to discover something about what happened in his life to trigger this, although evidence is very scarce."