DEKKER Thomas (Dekker Thomas)

(ca. 1572 - ca. 1632)
On the origin of Decker did not know. As a playwright he is first mentioned in 1598 in connection with the troupe of 'Servant of the Lord Admiral'. Usually worked in collaboration with other playwrights, most of his plays has been lost. The three most famous drama Decker refer to the early period - the lyrical folk-play Old Fortunatus (Old Fortunatus, . 1600), . Holiday shoemaker (The Shoemaker's Holiday, . 1600), . brought him the biggest success, . Beach and satirist (Satiromastix, . 1602), . funny satire on B. Johnson, . put during the 'Theater of War',
. In 1604 came the psychological tragedy Fair slut (The Honest Whore), Part I, and then - a series of satirical 'urban' comedy co-authored with T. Middleton and D. Webster.
Approximately 1606-1607 Dekker left the theater and continued the series of pamphlets, started Banquet bachelor (The Batchelor's Banket, 1603). The best known example of a gull Primer (The Gull's Hornbook, 1609) - description of the life of London dandies, and drama, and amazing year (The Wonderful Year, 1603), who left a reliable picture of the London Plague. The Seven Deadly Sins of London (The Seven Deadly Sins of London, 1606), News from Hell (News From Hell, 1606) and the candlesticks and candle (Lanthorn and Candlelight, 1608) reveal the vices of commoners. Four birds from Noah's Ark (Four Birds of Noah's Ark, 1609) - a simple, clear book of prayers.

Approximately 1609, possibly for material reasons, Decker returned to the theater. Riddled with debt, in 1613 he went to prison, where he spent nearly six years. Among his later works - domestic drama Witch of Edmonton (The Witch of Edmonton, 1621), from a position of enlightened mind protesting against the witch hunt. This was followed by several pieces in the fashionable tragicomic genre, as well as a stage for celebrations in honor of the Lord Mayor. Decker died about. 1632.

Style of prose pamphlets Decker is simple and transparent, and the lyrics of songs of his plays are comparable with the best examples of Elizabethan poetry. In Dekker's plays, with their depiction of bourgeois life, a true humanism and democratic fervor, like the atmosphere of the Elizabethan