Ben Jonson Study Guide: Key Works, Quotes & Exam Points for NET/SET
Ben Jonson (1572–1637)
Life and Career (Simple Points)
Birth and Family
- Born June 11, 1572, in London, one month after his father's death
- Father was a minister of Scottish descent; mother remarried a bricklayer
- Grew up poor but got good education at Westminster School under famous scholar William Camden
Early Struggles
- Had to work as bricklayer with stepfather but hated it
- Fought as soldier in Netherlands (Dutch war against Spain)
- Story says he defeated an enemy in single combat and took his weapons in classical style
Theater Career
- Returned to England by 1592, became actor and playwright
- 1594: Married Anne Lewis (unhappy marriage, all children died before him)
- 1597: Wrote for Philip Henslowe's company; jailed for writing "The Isle of Dogs" (seditious content)
Big Trouble in 1598
- 1598: Wrote first major play "Every Man in His Humour" – Shakespeare acted in it and they became close friends
- Same year: Killed actor Gabriel Spencer in a duel
- Escaped hanging by "benefit of clergy" (proved he could read Latin, got lighter punishment)
- Converted to Catholicism while in Newgate prison
War of the Theatres (1599–1602)
- Fought with playwrights John Marston and Thomas Dekker
- Attacked them in "Cynthia's Revels" and "Poetaster" (1601)
- They replied with "Satiromastix" making fun of Jonson
- Later became friends again and wrote "Eastward Ho!" (1605) together with Chapman and Marston
Royal Favor Under James I
- 1605: Jailed again for joke against King in "Eastward Ho!"
- But King James valued his learning; entered golden period
- 1616: Published "Workes" – first English writer to call his plays "works" (people laughed at his pride)
- Became unofficial Poet Laureate (first in England) with pension of 100 marks/year
- 1619: Oxford gave him Master of Arts degree
Later Life and Death
- 1623: Fire destroyed his library, lost many unpublished works
- 1625: King James died, Jonson lost court influence
- 1628: First stroke, became bedridden
- 1637: Died August 6, buried in Westminster Abbey with famous epitaph "O rare Ben Jonson"
- Only person buried upright in Westminster Abbey (to save space/money)
Personality
- Bold, aggressive, proud of his learning
- Led "Tribe of Ben" – group of younger poets (Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew, etc.) meeting at Mermaid Tavern
- Heavy drinker, became very fat ("mountain belly")
Complete Works (Chronological Order)
Early Plays (1597–1603)
1. 1597 – The Isle of Dogs (lost play, landed him in jail)
2. 1597–98 – The Case is Altered
3. 1598 – Every Man in His Humour (first major success)
4. 1599 – Every Man out of His Humour
5. 1600–01 – Cynthia's Revels
6. 1601 – The Poetaster (War of Theatres play)
7. 1603 – Sejanus His Fall (tragedy, failed badly)
Middle Period – Great Comedies (1605–1614)
8. 1605 – Eastward Ho! (with Chapman and Marston)
9. 1606 – Volpone, or The Fox (masterpiece)
10. 1609 – Epicoene, or The Silent Woman
11. 1610 – The Alchemist (masterpiece)
12. 1611 – Catiline His Conspiracy (tragedy, failed)
13. 1614 – Bartholomew Fair (last great play)
Later Plays (1616–1637)
14. 1616 – The Devil is an Ass
15. 1625 – The Staple of News
16. 1629 – The New Inn (failed, Jonson attacked audience in "Ode to Himself")
17. 1632 – The Magnetic Lady
18. 1633 – A Tale of a Tub
19. 1640–41 – The Sad Shepherd (unfinished)
20. 1641 – Mortimer His Fall (fragment)
Masques (Court Entertainments)
- 1605 – The Masque of Blackness (first major masque)
- 1609 – The Masque of Queens
- Many others for King James and King Charles I
Poetry Collections
- 1616 – Epigrams (short satirical poems)
- 1616 – The Forest (including "To Penshurst")
- 1640 – The Underwood (collected after death)
Prose Works
- 1616 – Timber, or Discoveries (literary criticism, essays)
- 1640 – The English Grammar
Important Plays – Details and Famous Quotes
1. Every Man in His Humour (1598)
What is "Humour"?- Jonson did not invent "humour comedy" but made it famous
- Humour = dominant obsession/peculiarity that controls a person's behavior (like bile in body)
- Each character represents one fixed type: jealous husband, gullible youth, etc.
- Old Knowell worries his son Edward is going bad in London
- Young Kitely is insanely jealous of his wife
- Various comic misunderstandings in London streets
- Ends with everyone learning their lesson
- First play with Shakespeare in the cast
- Set in Florence, Italy in first version; later changed to London (more realistic)
- Established Jonson as major playwright
2. Volpone, or The Fox (1606)
Jonson's Most Famous Play
Plot- Volpone (Italian for "fox") is rich old man pretending to be dying
- Mosca (the fly/parasite) is his clever servant
- Three legacy-hunters bring gifts hoping to be named heir:
- Voltore (vulture) – lawyer
- Corbaccio (raven) – old miser
- Corvino (crow) – merchant
- Volpone actually healthy, enjoying their greed
- They try to outdo each other; Mosca manipulates everyone
- Volpone overreaches, gets exposed; all punished in the end
- Greed is the root of all evil
- Appearance vs. Reality
- Justice finally catches the wicked
— Volpone worshipping his gold
— Volpone addressing his treasure
— Corbaccio seeing Volpone pretend to be sick
— Mosca on human nature
- Harshest attack on human vice in all Jonson's plays
- Perfectly constructed plot (classical unity)
- Still performed today more than any other Jonson play
3. The Alchemist (1610)
Plot- Lovewit leaves London because of plague; his housekeeper Face turns house into den of thieves
- Subtle (fake alchemist) and Dol Common (prostitute) join Face
- They cheat various gullible people:
- Dapper – wants familiar spirit to win at gambling
- Drugger – tobacconist wanting business advice
- Sir Epicure Mammon – wants philosopher's stone to turn metal to gold
- Ananias and Tribulation – Puritans wanting to counterfeit Dutch money for "holy" purposes
- Lovewit returns suddenly; Face manages to marry rich widow; Subtle and Dol escape
- Greed and gullibility
- Religious hypocrisy (Puritans)
- Social climbing
- Science/alchemy as fraud
- Considered most perfectly constructed of all Jonson's plays
- Brilliant comic scenes and character types
- Sharp satire on London society
4. Bartholomew Fair (1614)
Jonson's Last Great Play
Plot- Set during Bartholomew Fair (London's biggest fair) in Smithfield
- Many characters converge: Justice Adam Overdo, his wife, young lovers, Puritan Zeal-of-the-Land Busy, pig-woman Ursula, cutpurse Edgworth, etc.
- Overdo tries to spy on fair-goers to expose crime but gets humiliated
- Various plots: marriage arrangements, stolen goods, pig-eating contests
- Ends with everyone forgiving each other in "madness"
- Social chaos vs. order
- Hypocrisy of Puritans and authorities
- The energy and vulgarity of common life
- Looser structure than earlier plays – more realistic, less moralistic
- Panoramic view of London society – high and low mixed together
- Softened didacticism – Jonson became more tolerant in old age
- Shows Jonson's evolution from strict classicism to broader comedy
- Rich picture of Jacobean London life
5. Sejanus His Fall (1603)
Jonson's First Tragedy
Plot- Based on Roman history – rise and fall of Sejanus, favorite of Emperor Tiberius
- Sejanus becomes too powerful, Tiberius destroys him
- Heavy political intrigue
- Too pedantic and scholarly
- Rigid imitation of classical tragedy
- Audience could not understand the Latin tags and complex politics
6. Catiline His Conspiracy (1111)
Second Tragedy
Plot- Based on Cicero's orations against Catiline's conspiracy to overthrow Roman Republic
- Cicero is the hero who exposes the plot
- Again too learned and heavy
- Jonson was better at comedy than tragedy
7. The Masque of Blackness (1605)
First Major Masque
Important Features- Written for Queen Anne (James I's wife) and her ladies
- They appeared painted black as "daughters of Niger" searching for beauty
- Designed by Inigo Jones (famous architect) – started long collaboration
- Established masque as supreme court entertainment under James I
8. Epicoene, or The Silent Woman (1609)
Plot- Old Morose hates noise; wants to marry silent woman
- His nephew Dauphine arranges for him to marry Epicoene (supposedly silent)
- After marriage, Epicoene becomes incredibly loud and shrewish
- Turns out Epicoene is actually a boy in disguise
- Morose's marriage invalid; Dauphine gets inheritance
- Deception and disguise
- Battle of the sexes
- Noise vs. silence
- Very popular in Jonson's time
- Shows his skill at plotting and surprise
Poetry – Important Works
"To Penshurst" (in The Forest, 1616)
- Famous country house poem praising Sir Robert Sidney's estate
- Contrasts true hospitality with false city manners
- Key line: "Thou art not, Penshurst, built to envious show."
"On My First Son" (Epigrams)
- Lament for his son Benjamin who died aged 7
- Famous line: "Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy."
- (Benjamin means "son of the right hand" in Hebrew)
"To the Memory of My Beloved, the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare" (1623)
- Preface to First Folio of Shakespeare's plays
- Famous line: "He was not of an age, but for all time!"
Prose – Important Work
Timber, or Discoveries (1616)
- Collection of literary criticism and observations
- Translated and adapted from classical authors
- Important for: Jonson's views on poetry, drama, language
- Famous idea: Shakespeare had "small Latin and less Greek" (not really criticism, just statement of fact)
Summary Table for Quick Revision
| Play | Year | Type | Key Point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Every Man in His Humour | 1598 | Humour Comedy | Shakespeare acted; first success |
| Volpone | 1606 | Satirical Comedy | "The Fox"; masterpiece on greed |
| The Alchemist | 1610 | Satirical Comedy | Perfect plot; fake science |
| Bartholomew Fair | 1614 | Realistic Comedy | Last great play; fair setting |
| Sejanus | 1603 | Tragedy | Failed; too scholarly |
| Catiline | 1611 | Tragedy | Failed; too pedantic |
| Epicoene | 1609 | Comedy | Silent woman is boy in disguise |
Key Points for Competitive Exams (NET/SET)
- 1. First to call plays "works" – 1616 folio
- 2. First unofficial Poet Laureate – 1616
- 3. Comedy of Humours – made it famous (not invented)
- 4. Best plays – Volpone, The Alchemist, Bartholomew Fair
- 5. Failed tragedies – Sejanus, Catiline (too classical)
- 6. Shakespeare connection – acted in his play, friends, wrote preface to First Folio
- 7. Famous epitaph – "O rare Ben Jonson" (Westminster Abbey, buried upright)
- 8. Tribe of Ben – his followers (Herrick, Carew, etc.)
- 9. Masques – wrote for King James with Inigo Jones
- 10. Famous quote about Shakespeare – "He was not of an age, but for all time"