Every Man out of his Humour

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | 700+ words | Copyright

Every Man out of his Humour, a comedy by Jonson, acted by the Lord Chamberlain's Men at the newly built Globe theatre 1599, printed 1600.

The play parades a variety of characters dominated by particular ‘humours’, or obsessive quirks of disposition; Macilente, a venomous malcontent; Carlo Buffone, a cynical jester; the uxorious Deliro and his domineering wife Fallace; Fastidious Brisk, an affected courtier devoted to fashion; Sordido, a miserly farmer, and his son Fungoso, who longs to be a courtier; Sogliardo, ‘an essential clown, enamoured of the name of a gentleman’; and Puntarvolo, a fantastic, vainglorious knight, who wagers that he, his dog, and his cat can travel to Constantinople and back. By means of various episodes, each character is eventually driven ‘out of his humour’. Two judicious onlookers, Mitis and Cordatus, provide a moral commentary.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Every Man out of his Humour." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Every Man out of his Humour." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-EveryManoutofhisHumour.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Every Man out of his Humour." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-EveryManoutofhisHumour.html

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