Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729), an Irish-born writer, created the popular journalistic essays that were published as The Tatler. He worked with Joseph Addison in writing the essays published as The Spectator.
The Tatler (1709-1711) dealt in a humorous, good-natured way with family life, the theater, and literature. Steele tried to inform and entertain his readers, especially women, and to develop their taste. Steele did most of the writing in The Tatler, though Addison helped him. Addison contributed more essays to The Spectator (1711-1712) than his friend did. Steele was a frank, warm person, and his essays are livelier than Addison’s (see Addison, Joseph). Steele later published several less successful series of essays. He also wrote poems and four comic plays. The first play, The Funeral (1701), was very popular. His last play, The Conscious Lovers (1722), was the best example of sentimental comedy, which flourished in English drama during the 1700’s.
Steele was born in 1672 in Dublin. In 1684, he entered the Charterhouse School in London, where he began his long friendship with Addison, a fellow student. Steele went to Oxford University in 1689, but left without a degree to join the army. He served several terms in Parliament beginning in 1713. He was knighted in 1715. Steele died on Sept. 1, 1729.
