A Fair Quarrel

A Fair Quarrel is a Jacobean tragicomedy, a collaboration between Thomas Middleton and William Rowley that was first published in 1617.

The play is thought to have been written and performed most likely in the 1615–16 period, though firm evidence for these aspects of the work has not survived. The 1617 quarto, printed by George Eld for the booksellers John Trundle and Edward Wright, was published in two states or impressions: Q1a is missing the "roaring school" scene, while Q1b includes the scene as an appendix. The second quarto, issued in 1622 and printed by Augustine Matthews, also includes the "roaring school" scene and places it in its proper place as Act IV, scene iv. The play was dedicated to Robert Grey, Esq., the dedication signed by Rowley. The title page of Q1 states that the play was "acted before the King."

The play was acted by Prince Charles's Men, the company to which Rowley belonged at the time. After the deaths of both authors, the play would become the property of Queen Henrietta's Men. By 1639 the play was in the repertory of Beeston's Boys. It was revived at least once during the Restoration era, in 1662.

The play was attributed to Middleton and Rowley on the title page of Q1 in 1617; internal evidence confirms the correctness of the attribution. The usual collaborative practice of Middleton and Rowley is for Middleton to take primary responsibility for the serious main plot and for Rowley, a comic actor by profession, to handle the comic subplot – which normally means that Middleton's share is more extensive than Rowley's. The rule is not rigidly applied, however; in The Changeling, Rowley composed the play's opening and closing scenes as well as the subplot, so that the shares of the two writers are roughly equal. In A Fair Quarrel, Middleton as usual handles the main plot, and subplot materials are the work of Rowley. But A Fair Quarrel is structured on three levels: the main plot tells the story of Captain Ager and his mother, the second-level plot relates the story of Fitzallen and Jane, and the third is the overt comedy material about the clowns Chough and Trimtram. As a result of this structure and division of labour, Rowley is the author of roughly two-thirds of the play, and Middleton only one third. David Lake divides their respective shares this way.

...
Wikipedia