The Old Wives' Tale is a play by George Peele first printed in England in 1595.
[1] The play has been identified as the first English work to satirize the romantic dramas popular at the time.
Some critics regard the play as intentional satire constructed to highlight generic absurdities.
The play has been criticized as a "confusing jumble of theatrical nonsense" and for being a burlesque.
[citation needed] One strand of the plot involves two brothers who are on an adventure searching for their sister, Delia, who is being held captive by the magician Sacrapant (compare Milton's Comus).