Jonson, Ben

views updated

Jonson, Ben (1572–1637) English dramatist, lyric poet, and actor. A friend of Shakespeare, he was popular and influential in Elizabethan and Stuart drama. His comedies of humours include Volpone (1606), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fair (1614). He also wrote the neoclassical tragedies Sejanus and Catiline, and several court masques.

More From encyclopedia.com