The Knight of the Burning Pestle

E575691

The Knight of the Burning Pestle is a satirical early 17th-century English play that parodies chivalric romance and theatrical conventions through its meta-theatrical, comic treatment of a grocer’s apprentice turned would-be knight.

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Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf English Renaissance drama
comedy
metatheatrical work
stage play
author Francis Beaumont NERFINISHED
centralCharacterOccupation grocer’s apprentice
centralCharacterRole would-be knight
countryOfOrigin England
dramaticForm five-act play
dramaticPeriod Jacobean era NERFINISHED
featuresCharacter George NERFINISHED
Humphrey NERFINISHED
Jasper NERFINISHED
Luce NERFINISHED
Nell NERFINISHED
Rafe NERFINISHED
Venturewell NERFINISHED
firstPerformanceDate 1607
1608
firstPublicationDate 1613
genre comedy
metatheatre
satire
hasTitleCharacter The Knight of the Burning Pestle NERFINISHED
influencedBy chivalric romance tradition
language English
literaryMovement Jacobean drama
literaryTechnique burlesque
farce
parody
notableFor comic treatment of citizen class
early use of meta-theatrical devices
originalMedium stage
originalTheatre Blackfriars Theatre NERFINISHED
originalTheatreCompany Children of the Blackfriars NERFINISHED
parodies chivalric romance
theatrical conventions
periodOfSetting early 17th century
setting London, England
surface form: London
structure play-within-a-play
theatricalDevice audience intervention on stage
breaking the fourth wall
theme critique of commercialism
illusion versus reality
parody of knighthood
satire of bourgeois taste
timePeriod early 17th century

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Beaumont and Fletcher notableWork The Knight of the Burning Pestle
Francis Beaumont wrote The Knight of the Burning Pestle