A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Chettle, Henry

by John William Cousin

Chettle, Henry (1565-1607?).—Dramatist. Very little is known of him. He ed. R. Greene's Groat's-worth of Wit (1592), is believed to have written 13 and collaborated in 35 plays. He also wrote two satires, Kind Harts Dreame (1593), and Pierre Plainnes Prentship (1595). He was imprisoned for debt 1599.

Among his own plays, which have considerable merit, is Hoffmann, which has been reprinted, and he had a hand in Patient Grissill (1603) (which may have influenced Shakespeare in the Merry Wives of Windsor), The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, and Jane Shore.