MASSINGER, PHILIP, an eminent dramatist of the age of Shakespeare, was the son of Arthur Massinger, a gentleman in the service of the Earl of Pembroke, and was born at Salisbury in 1584. It has been conjectured that he received his early training at Wilton, the Wiltshire seat of the Pembroke family. But a more likely opinion is, that he was educated in his native city, at that school which afterwards numbered Addison among its pupils. In May 1602 he was sent to Oxford, probably at the charge of the Earl of Pembroke, and was enrolled a commoner of St Alban's Hall. There, according to Anthony à Wood, he eschewed the severe studies of logic and philosophy, and pleasantly squandered his hours in reading poetry and romance. Before he had completed the round of studies necessary for a degree, he was forced abruptly to leave the university, on account, as is generally believed, of the withdrawal of his patron's supplies. Of this withdrawal different explanations have been given. Gifford solves the difficulty by imagining, from certain passages in The Virgin Martyr, that Massinger was a Roman Catholic, and by unwarrantably inferring from this that he changed his faith at Oxford, and thus displeased his patron. Equally unsatisfactory is the explanation of Davies, who ascribes the event to Massinger's misapplication of his time. For it is by no means probable that William, the third earl of Pembroke, a man of a generous and liberal disposition, and a well-known patron of poets, and especially of dramatists, would cast the son of an old servant of his family penniless upon the world, simply because he devoted his attention to literature. There must evidently have been a more grievous cause of offence.
From Oxford Massinger repaired to London in 1606, where he devoted his life to the cause of the drama, and became the fellow-worker and rival of such men as Shakespeare, Jonson, and Fletcher. His biography, after this period, is little else than an account of the dates at which his principal plays were written. We know, however, that he toiled on in a modest privacy till the day of his death, producing two or three plays in a year, struggling at the same time in the gripe of poverty, and living unknown and neglected even while his admirable productions were calling forth the applause of the theatres. There is still extant a letter in which he requests Henslowe, a theatrical manager, to rescue him from a pecuniary difficulty. So often, indeed, was he in extreme destitution, that in dedicating one of his plays, he says, "I had not to this time subsisted, but that I was supported by your frequent courtesies and favours,"—an acknowledgment which on some similar occasions he makes in nearly the same words. How Massinger was engaged immediately after his arrival in London is not recorded. Urged by daily necessities, and afraid of risking his valuable time on a work of his own, he was probably content to be employed in assisting dramatists of an established fame. It is certain at least, that about 1613 he had been engaged as a joint-author with Fletcher, Field, and others. At first he was compelled to labour submissively under the shadow of some great dramatist, and to content himself with little of the profits, and less of the fame derived from their joint productions. In course of time, however, when his genius had asserted its proper place, other play-writers became desirous of having his name conjoined with their own on the title-pages of their works. Accordingly, at some period before 1623, he appeared before the public as the joint-author of The Virgin Martyr along with Decker, of The Fatal Dowry along with Field, and of The Old Law, along with Middleton and Rowley. Meanwhile he had written several plays by himself. Of these The Unnatural Combat and The Duke of Milan alone are extant. The rest, along with a few others
Massinger's plays, were preserved for some time in manuscript by a Mr Warburton, only to be devoted at last by that gentleman's cook to the covering of pies. The Unnatural Combat is full of vigour and passionate eloquence; and its plot, though marred by many disgusting incidents, retains evident traces of a master's hand. With many passages full of lofty poetical sentiments, and with an action deeply engrossing in its progress, and horror-striking in its catastrophe, The Duke of Milan is one of the best of Massinger's tragedies. The character of Sforza is a vivid representation of that impulsive temperament which fluctuates with the rapidity of thought between the most opposite passions. In 1623 The Bondman was produced at the Cockpit in Drury Lane. Its chief interest arises from the variety of its dramatis persona. The Roman Actor, which was licensed in 1626, is not generally thought to be what its author styled it, "the most perfect birth of his Minerva." More popular and more successful, both in plot and execution, was The Great Duke of Florence, produced in 1627. About this time Massinger wrote his most famous play, A New Way to Pay Old Debts. Its principal character, Sir Giles Overreach, intended for a satire against an infamous public individual of that day, is one of those rough, strongly-marked, and one-sided creations that are peculiarly fitted to carry the popular taste by storm. Accordingly, this comedy is said to have been a great favourite "at the Phoenix in Drury Lane," and is the only one of Massinger's plays that still keeps possession of the stage. Of the rest of its characters, Marrall, the mean-spirited yet revengful time-server, is the most amusing and most ably drawn. In 1629 was acted The Picture, one of the most pleasing of its author's productions. To a plot original and romantic, is added the stronger charm of a strain of feeling tender and poetical. The more earnest sentiments of the play are pleasantly relieved by the healthy, cynical humour of Ladislau, and the spirited practical jokes of Sophia. Equally fresh and varied is The City Madam, licensed in 1632. It is a satirical sketch of the ridiculous airs and blind prodigality of upstart wealth. The numerous objects in the picture are artfully grouped and strongly coloured. The Bashful Lover was acted with great applause at the Blackfriars in 1636. Its principal charm arises from the chivalrous love and valour of Hortensio. The other extant plays of Massinger are, The Renegade, The Parliament of Love, The Maid of Honour, The Emperor of the East, The Guardian, and A Very Woman. The continuous toil undergone in producing so many works seems to have imperceptibly undermined the health of Massinger. On the night of the 17th March 1640 he went to bed in apparent good health, in his own house on the Bankside, and was found dead next morning. His body was attended by the comedians to the churchyard of St Saviour's, and the sad story of his obscure life and lonely death was told in the register of his interment: "March 20, 1639-40, buried Philip Massinger, a stranger."
In his graphic delineation of character, in his skilful management of a plot, and in the blended grace and dignity of his blank verse, Massinger yields to none but Shakespeare. Less pathetic and less imaginative than a few of the secondary dramatists, he is also more refined and more melodious than them all. His besetting sins are a fastidious attention to the evolving of his catastrophe, and a consequent tendency to impair the consistency of his personages by adapting them to circumstances. Yet his incidents, though laboured, are ever fresh and engrossing, and his portraits of character, though indistinct in their minutest traits, are strikingly bold and vigorous in their outlines. His comedies are deficient in humour. They are, however, of great value as accurate and interesting life-sketches.
Regarding Massinger's personal character, we can infer VOL. XIV.
from the panegyrics affixed to his plays, that he was amiable, gentle, and reserved. The dedications of his several works to his patrons also throw some light on this subject. In these we see the instincts of a true and noble nature leading him in the middle path between a mere formal expression of gratitude and a slavish adulation. Nothing can be finer than the modest and manly simplicity with which he on several occasions records in one brief sentence his own destitution and the beneficence of his noble friends. The best edition of the works of Massinger is that of Gifford, published in 1805, and reprinted in 1815. An edition, freed from all objectionable passages, forms three volumes of Murray's Family Library, London, 1830.