ABSTRACT
The popularity of the Overburian characters has often been traced to the sensational circumstances surrounding Overbury's murder. Considering the Overburian characters as part of the development of satire shows them to be more the natural result of satiric tendencies than a fad emanating from lurid violence or aristocratic condescension. The Overburian contributors found little to interest them in the characters of Hall. Although the choice of subject matter and general approach of the Overburian characters are often noted, their witty style has always been their best known quality. The prime requisite for the individual trained in the traditional rhetoric was a free and ready flow of eloquent sayings--the well-known quality of copia as it was formed by the demands of oratory. There was little that Hall could give to the engagé contributors to the Overburian collection.
