Shadwell, Thomas  ( born 1642? , Norfolk, England—died November
19, 1692 , London )  English dramatist and poet laureate, known
for his broad comedies of manners and as the butt of John
Dryden’s satire.  Educated at Caius College, Cambridge, and at
the Middle Temple, London, after the Restoration (1660) Shadwell
became one of the court wits and an acquaintance of Sir Robert
Howard and his brother, Edward, both of whom he satirized . He
satirized both Howards in The Sullen Lovers (1668), an
adaptation of Molière’s Les Fâcheux.  Shadwell wrote 18 plays,
including a pastoral, The Royal Shepherdess (1669), an opera,
The TempestEnchanted Island (1674; adapted from Shakespeare’s
The Tempest), a tragedy, Psyche (1674–75), and a blank verse
tragedy, The Libertine (1675). He translated Juvenal’s The Tenth
Satyr (1687) and composed bitter attacks upon John Dryden. He
also instituted the New Year and birthday odes when he became
poet laureate.  Shadwell’s friendship with Dryden ended with the
political crisis of 1678–79