Benjamin Jonson

• He was born in 1572
• He was an English dramatist, lyric poet, and literary critic
• He is regarded as the second most important English dramatist after William Shakespeare
• Among his major plays are the comedies Every Man in His Humour (1598) and Bartholomew Fair (1614)
• He wrote masques, which were a form of festive courtly entertainment
  • Masques involved music, dancing, singing and acting
  • The stage design was elaborate, and sometimes it was designed by renowned architects

Every Man in His Humour (1598)

• A comic drama in five acts
• It established the reputation of Ben Jonson
• The play belongs to the subgenre of "humours comedy", in which each major character is dominated by one of the four humours of medieval physiology
• The play was performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men, the same theatrical company with which William Shakespeare was connected
• The play portrays the language, habits, and humours of the contemporary London scene in a grotesque and detached way
• This play follows Latin models
  • A gentleman named Kno'well attempts to spy on his son, since he was concerned with his son's moral development
  • However, his espionage is subverted by the servant, Brainworm
  • These roles are Anglicized versions of roles of the Greek New Comedy, namely the senex, the son, and the slave

Bartholomew Fair (1614)

• A comedy in five acts
• The play is set at Bartholomew Fair, which was one of London's most important summer fairs
• The day of fair life represented in the play allows Jonson to portray the vivid life of the fair, from pickpockets to gallants
• The characters are used to comment on social, religious and political conflicts