Lyly, John (c. 1553–1606)

English dramatist and author. His romance Euphues, or the Anatomy of Wit (1578), with its elaborate stylistic devices, gave rise to the word euphuism for a mannered rhetorical style. It was followed by a second part, Euphues and his England (1580).

The story line of Euphues is little more than a basis for the characters to engage in debate on the manners and values of the age. The prose style is chiefly characterized by a continuous straining after antithesis and epigram.

Lyly was born in Kent. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating with an MA degree in 1575, and also at Cambridge, graduating with an MA in 1579. The publication of Euphues, or the Anatomy of Wit brought him instant fame; the second part brought him to the notice of Lord Burghley, who gave him some employment. After this he wrote sophisticated plays to be performed at court by the children's acting companies, among which were Campaspe (1584), Sapho and Phao (1584), Endymion (1591), and Midas (1592). In 1589 he championed the cause of the bishops in the Marprelate controversy and published a tract entitled Pappe with an Hatchet. In 1589 he entered Parliament for Hinton, being subsequently elected for Aylesbury in 1593, for Appleby in 1597, and again for Aylesbury in 1601.