The play's internal evidence of style and textual preferences points to Ford it shows, among other particulars, the pattern of unusual contractions ( t'ee for "to ye," d'ee for "do ye," y'are for "you are") that typifies Ford's work. Since Ford is thought to have written for the King's Men only early in his career – just two of his earlier plays were acted by the company - The Queen may be another early work. This suggests that The Queen may also have been acted by the King's Men. Gough had earlier been a member of the King's Men, and had been part of the cast of that company's production of Ford's The Lover's Melancholy in late 1628 or 1629. The first quarto edition of 1653 was published by the actor-turned-bookseller Alexander Gough. The date and circumstances of the play's authorship and performance are unknown, though scholars can draw some inferences from the little factual information available. Though published anonymously in 1653, The play is now generally attributed to John Ford - making it a significant addition to the very limited canon of Ford's works. The Queen, or The Excellency of Her Sex is a Caroline era tragicomedy.
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