Thomas Middleton’s nondramatic work includes a number of youthful, less accomplished works. He produced The Wisdom of Solomon, Paraphrased (1597), a poem based on the Book of Solomon; Micro-cynicon (1599), a volume of satiric poems; The Ghost of Lucrece (1600), a narrative poem; and The Black Book (1604) and Father Hubburd’s Tales (1604), two satiric pamphlets, the latter of which includes poetry. Through the rest of his career, the main body of Middleton’s writing that was not for the theater consisted of the lavish public or court entertainments known as masques, pageants, or shows. Middleton was the author of at least seven Lord Mayors’s shows—huge allegorical spectacles honoring the city, performed outdoors using expensive sets and costumes. In 1603, he collaborated with Thomas Dekker and Ben Jonson on a coronation pageant, The Magnificent Entertainment Given to King James, and in 1625, he was in charge of a pageant to welcome Charles I to London after King James’s death. Between 1604 and 1625, he wrote at least six other masques and entertainments for the court and for important occasions.

Like most of the dramatists of his day, Thomas Middleton lived as a practicing man of the theater without apparent concern for claiming literary stature. As with William Shakespeare (but in contrast to Jonson), the evidence suggests that he cared little about having his works published. Apparently the success he sought was that of the playwright whose works were performed, not read. Yet his works do have stature, both in reading and in performance. He created a number of interesting and insightful comedies, several substantial tragicomedies, and the most fascinating political satire of the age. Four of his comedies are frequently described as masterpieces, and two of his tragedies are considered great works. The four comedies, all dating from the first half of his career (1604-1613), are A Chaste Maid in Cheapside; A Mad World, My Masters; The Roaring Girl; and A Trick to Catch the Old One. The two tragedies, both written later (1620-1627), are The Changeling and Women Beware Women. Middleton is judged by some to be the third great playwright, after Shakespeare and Jonson, in a period notable for its abundance of gifted dramatists.