SOURCE: Peery, William. “The Prayer for the Queen in Roister Doister.” Studies in English 27 (1948): 222-33.

In the following essay, Peery considers the prayer at the close of Ralph Roister Doister, arguing that it is addressed to Queen Mary, rather than Queen Elizabeth, as is often assumed. This contention has implications for the dating of the play and the authorship of the prayer.

The prayer for the queen and estates¹ which brings Ralph Roister Doister to a close raises two problems: for whom was it offered, and who wrote it? Though these are admittedly not major issues, they have been so often clouded that they merit further study. To answer the related questions of application and authorship is the purpose of this paper.

Most scholars—including Cooper, Arber, Hazlitt, Ward, Flügel, Chambers, Farmer, Child, Schweikert, and Greg²—have held the opinion that the prayer was offered for Elizabeth...