Quotes from work
Ralph Roister Doister

Ralph Roister Doister is a sixteenth-century play by Nicholas Udall, which was once regarded as the first comedy to be written in the English language.The date of its composition is disputed, but the balance of opinion suggests that it was written in about 1552, when Udall was a schoolmaster in London, and some theorize the play was intended for public performance by his pupils—who were all male, as were most actors in that period. The work was not published until 1567, eleven years after its author's death.


“Since I went no grasse hath growne on my hele.”

Nicholas Udall Ralph Roister Doister

Tom Trupenie, Act IV, sc. v.
Ralph Roister Doister (c. 1553)

“Gay love, God save it, so soone hotte, so soone colde.”

Nicholas Udall Ralph Roister Doister

Christian Custance, Act IV, sc. viii.
Ralph Roister Doister (c. 1553)

“For Myrth prolongeth lyfe, and causeth health.”

Nicholas Udall Ralph Roister Doister

Prologue.
Ralph Roister Doister (c. 1553)

“Wowers never speede well, that have a false harte.”

Nicholas Udall Ralph Roister Doister

Mathew Merygreeke, Act I, sc. ii.
Ralph Roister Doister (c. 1553)

“I am sorie God made me so comely.”

Nicholas Udall Ralph Roister Doister

Ralph Roister Doister, Act I, sc. ii.
Ralph Roister Doister (c. 1553)

“Yea, Custance, better (they say) a bad excuse than none.”

Nicholas Udall Ralph Roister Doister

Gawin Goodluck, Act V, sc. ii.
Ralph Roister Doister (c. 1553)

Similar authors

 Nicholas Udall photo
Nicholas Udall7
English playwright 1505–1556
William Shakespeare photo
William Shakespeare699
English playwright and poet None
John Fletcher photo
John Fletcher52
English Jacobean playwright None
Joseph Addison photo
Joseph Addison226
politician, writer and playwright None
Samuel Johnson photo
Samuel Johnson362
English writer None
Richard Brinsley Sheridan photo
Richard Brinsley Sheridan58
Irish-British politician, playwright and writer None
Carlo Goldoni photo
Carlo Goldoni9
Italian playwright and librettist None
Friedrich Schiller photo
Friedrich Schiller111
German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright None
Pierre Beaumarchais photo
Pierre Beaumarchais11
French playwright diplomat and polymath None
Molière photo
Molière72
French playwright and actor None