Jonson, Ben

views updated

Ben Jonson

June 11, 1572
in or near London, England
August 6, 1637
London, England

English playwright

"For a good poet's made as well as born."
Ben Jonson, To the Memory of Shakespeare quoted in Bartlet's Familiar Quotations, [Online] Available http://www.bartleby.com/100/, April 3, 2002.

The English playwright and poet Ben Jonson is best known for his satiric comedies (plays based on criticism through the use of humor). An immensely learned man with an irritable and domineering personality, he was, next to William Shakespeare (1564–1616; see entry), the greatest dramatic genius of the English Renaissance. The Renaissance was a cultural revolution that began in Italy in the mid-1300s. It was initiated by scholars called humanists who promoted the human-centered values of ancient Greece and Rome. Humanist ideals were soon influencing the arts, literature, philosophy, science, religion, and politics in Italy. During the early fifteenth century, innovations of the Italian Renaissance began spreading into the rest of Europe and reached a peak in the sixteenth century.

Becomes successful playwright

Ben Jonson was born on June 11, 1572, in or near London, England, and received his formal education at Westminster School. He did not continue his schooling, probably because his stepfather forced him to engage in the more practical business of bricklaying. Nevertheless, Jonson studied the classics (literary works by ancient Greek and Roman writers) throughout his active life. He began his theatrical career as a strolling player in towns throughout the country. By 1597 he had returned to London and had begun writing plays. Jonson's first piece of dramatic writing, The Isle of Dogs, was judged to be a "lewd" (indecent) work containing material that was "seditious" (treasonous) and "slanderous" (damaging to a person' reputation). Jonson was imprisoned for this offense. In 1598 he was in more serious trouble. Having killed a fellow actor in a duel, he escaped hanging only by claiming right of clergy—that is, by reciting a few words of a religious nature in Latin, which was commonly known as "neck-verse."

Christopher Marlowe

The English dramatist and poet Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593) was another important figure in the English Renaissance. He was the first English playwright to make significant advances in tragic drama. He was killed at age twenty-seven, and scholars speculate that if he had lived longer he would certainly have rivaled the dramatic genius of William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson.

Marlowe was born in Canterbury, England, in February 1564, about two months before Shakespeare. He received his early education at King's School in Canterbury and at age seventeen enrolled at Cambridge University, where he held a scholarship requiring him to study for the ministry. He received a bachelor of arts degree in 1584 and a master of arts degree in 1587. Toward the end of his stay at Cambridge he evidently aroused the suspicions of university authorities, who threatened to withhold his degree. The Queen's Privy Council (chief advisers of Queen Elizabeth I) intervened, however, and assured the authorities that Marlowe "had done Her Majesty good service." The nature of this service is still a mystery, but it is likely that Marlowe was involved in a secret espionage (spying) mission abroad.

Shortly after receiving his master's degree, Marlowe went to London. He soon became known for his wild behavior and unconventional ideas. In 1589 he was imprisoned for a time in connection with the death of a certain William Bradley, who had been killed in a violent quarrel in which Marlowe played an important part. Several times Marlowe was accused of being an "atheist" (one who does not believe in God) and a "blasphemer" (one who makes insulting statements about God or the church). One of his main accusers was fellow playwright Thomas Kyd (1558–1594). These charges led to Marlowe's arrest in 1593, but he died before his case was decided.

Marlowe was killed in a tavern fight on May 30, 1593. He was dining in the town of Deptford with a man named Ingram Frizer and two other men. In the course of an argument over the tavern bill, Marlowe wounded Frizer with a dagger. Frizer then seized the same dagger and stabbed Marlowe over the right eye. According to the coroner's inquest, Marlowe died instantly. Despite the unusual wealth of detail surrounding this fatal episode, there has been much speculation about the affair. It has been suggested, for example, that the deed was politically motivated and that Frizer (who was subsequently judged to have acted in self-defense) was simply acting as an agent for a more prominent person.

Marlowe's career as a poet and dramatist spanned a mere six years. Between his graduation from Cambridge in 1587 and his death in 1593 he wrote only one major poem (Hero and Leander, unfinished at his death) and six or seven plays. One play, Dido Queen of Carthage, may have been written while he was still a student. Marlowe's best-known tragedies are Tamburlaine the Great (1590), Doctor Faustus (1604), and The Jew of Malta (1633). In each of these plays he focused on a single character who dominates the action with his extraordinary strength of will. Shakespeare later perfected this form in his famous tragedies.

In the same year Jonson's first major work, Every Man in His Humour, was performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men, with Shakespeare taking the lead role. Called a "comedy of humors," the play features characters whose behavior is dictated by a dominating whim or affectation (pretense). It was followed by Every Man out of His Humour (c. 1599), Cynthia's Revels (1601), and Poetaster (1601). These three "comical satires" represent Jonson's contribution to the so-called war of the theaters—a short-lived feud between rival theatrical companies. Jonson then wrote one of his most important works, the tragedy Sejanus His Fall (1603), which was admired by intellectuals but considered boring by average playgoers.

By 1604, before he had written his most famous works, Jonson had become known as the foremost writer of masques in England. A masque is a type of theater that dates back to antiquity, in which actors wear masks over their faces, which both disguises their true appearance and helps amplify their voices in large theaters. He continued writing masques throughout his career, frequently in cooperation with the famous architect Inigo Jones (1573–1652), who designed the stage sets and machinery (devices used to produce effects and move scenery). Jonson's dramatic genius was fully revealed for the first time in Volpone (1606), a satiric comedy that contains the playwright's harshest and most unrelenting criticism of human vice (wrongdoing). All the principal figures are named (in Italian) after animals suggestive of their characters. For example, Volpone is the cunning fox and Voltore is the ravenous vulture (bird of prey that feeds on dead animals). The main action turns on Volpone's clever scheme to cheat those who are as greedy as he but not nearly so clever. With the help of his servant Mosca, he pretends to be deathly ill. Each of the dupes (those who are tricked) is encouraged to believe that he may be designated heir to Volpone's fortune. They try to win his favor by presenting him gifts. Volpone is too clever for his own good, however, and is finally, betrayed by Mosca and exposed to the magistrates, or judges, of Venice. The punishment imposed on him, and on the self-seeking dupes as well, is unusually severe for a comedy. In fact, there is almost nothing in Volpone which provokes laughter.

Career declines

The satire of Jonson's next three comedies is less harsh. Epicoene, or the Silent Woman (1609) features an elaborate plot built around a ridiculous character with an insane hatred of noise. In The Alchemist (1610) the characters are motivated more by vice than folly—particularly the vices of hypocrisy, or false virtue, and greed. Their punishment consists largely in their humiliating self-exposure. Bartholomew Fair (1614) has a relatively thin plot featuring a rich and varied collection of unusual characters. After Bartholomew Fair, Jonson's dramatic powers suffered a decline. Nonetheless, he remained an impressive and respected figure, especially in literary and intellectual circles. He was also idolized by a group of younger poets and playwrights who styled themselves as the "tribe of Ben."

Jonson's nondramatic writings included a grammar (rules for using language) of the English language (1640), a collection of notes and reflections titled Timber, or Discoveries (1640), and a large number of poems. After the death of King James I (1566–1625; see entry) in 1625, Jonson suffered a number of setbacks. His talents as a masque writer were not fully appreciated by the new king, so he was in less in demand and frequently short of money. After becoming paralyzed in 1628, Jonson was confined to his home in Westminster. He died nine years later and was buried with great ceremony in Westminster Abbey.