is William Haughton’s earliest extant work. It was written in 1598 for the recently-merged Lord Pembroke’s and Lord Admiral’s Men, who at the time performed in Philip Henslowe’s Rose Theatre. It was probably performed at the Rose in 1598, although there is no record of the play in performance. Details of payment survive in Henslowe’s
Diary, where it was recorded as
A Woman Has Her Will; the initial part of the longer title appears to have first been used by the printer William White. White printed the first extant quarto (hereafter Q1) in 1616; later editions, offering few substantive variants, were published in 1626 and 1631.
The play was written as a literary response to Queen Elizabeth’s reception of Europeans (particularly the Dutch and French)
1741 words
Citation: Aldred, Natalie Clare. "Englishmen for My Money". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 December 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33518, accessed 31 October 2024.]