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The Review of English Studies 2000 51(204):540-581; doi:10.1093/res/51.204.540
© 2000 by Oxford University Press
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The misunderstanding of Munday as author of Sir Thomas More

T Merriam

Basingstoke, Kent, UK

In its original form, the anonymous play Sir Thomas More is penned in the identifiable handwriting of Anthony Munday, playwright and government agent. This has led scholars to presume Munday's compositional involvement, despite the play's favourable portraiture of More which contrasts with Munday's known political and religious Weltanschauung. This article proposes that the solution to the anomaly lies in Munday's ulterior motive in facilitating More, a motive divergent from the conventional aims of public entertainment and artistic remuneration. The essential point is Munday's prevision of the censor's reaction to what he had written, and his immunity as an experienced agent provocateur from any attendant displeasure on the part of those responsible for public order.


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