Biography of Ben Jonson Born in London, England around June 11, 1572, Ben Jonson would learn the true meaning of tragedy at a tender young age (The Life of Ben Jonson). Jonson’s father was Protestant and sentenced to prison and deprived of his estate during the reign of Mary Tudor, who was Catholic. With only a month left till Ben Jonson’s birth his Mother was left a penniless widow when his father suddenly past away. Seeking financial stability, Jonson’s Mother hastily married a bricklayer
In the play Volpone, written by Ben Jonson, Volpone, a childless and wealthy nobleman, plans to carry out a trick on three legacy hunters with assistance from his “parasite”, Mosca. Even though Mosca is dependent on his master for his living and finance, he is an influential person in Volpone’s life. Unlike ordinary servants, he is trusted to perform important tasks and continually thinks of ways to save his master from troublesome situations. It seems that Mosca will remain loyal and dutiful; however
But, in the shadows, Ben Jonson, was emerging as a well-educated man of the English Renaissance, making his name as a literary critic, influencing great names along the way. Born in London, in 1572, Jonson was educated at the Westminster school where he learned about poetry and its verses. Soon enough, he became known as one of the most influential poets of the era, contributing greatly to the minds of fellow writers. Due to his unique personal characteristics, Jonson stood out greatly in contrast
Based on our study of Ben Jonson and Robert Herrick, one can find many representative characteristics of early seventeenth century poetry, featuring neoclassical ideas and a touch of prerenaissance ideas. These include the moral stance of poetry and a clear, direct “everyman” approach to communication. One will also find much homage to classical themes such as carpe diem and utopia. There are also many classical values, forms, and references to mythology evident in Jonson and Herrick’s work which
Among the Jacobean and Elizabethan dramatists, Ben Jonson's reputation always came second to that of Shakespeare. He was Stuart dramatist from England, literary critic and lyric poet. Ben was born in 11th June 1572 in London after his father death two months earlier. He became a playwright and an actor after fighting alongside the England army in Netherlands. Among his greatest works and play are the Alchemist and Volpone. The paper compares and contrast the two these two great plays by Ben; the
art truly is. Shelly in his work “defense of poetry” considered art to be judged by the ethical and intellectual benefits it showered upon mankind. Jonson spoke uncompromisingly on the nature of art. Dr jonson regretted the loss of a proposed epic by dryden because it led to the deprivation of the social and moral edification of mankind .what jonson meant was that art’s function was to socially improve and morally rectify the viewer ,reader or observor of the work of art. Clutton brock opposes this
satire as well as a morality play. It also adapts the features of a fable in that it strives to teach a moral. Yet this play, even though it adopts these traditions, puts a different twist on what people would expect from a comedy or morality play. Jonson presents his audience with an unconventional way of approaching the subjects he is satirizing by creating a new form of comedy that embodies aspects of all three genres. Since we are considering Volpone to be a comedy, What type of comedy is it
Deception in Volpone In Volpone, Ben Jonson emphasizes the fun and the humor of deceit, but he does not overlook its nastiness, and in the end he punishes the deceivers. The play centers around the wealthy Volpone, who, having no wife or children, pretends to be dying and, with the help of his wily servant Mosca, eggs on several greedy characters, each of whom hopes to be made Volpone's sole heir. Jonson's ardent love of language reveals itself throughout the play, but especially in the words of
Son is a pouring out of a father's soul-a soul that pours out every last drop of pain, anguish, and love for his deceased son neatly into a beautiful poem. Ben Jonson illustrates his love and loss with concreteness and passion. Just as an artist creates a painting on paper with a pallet of colors and different types of brushes, Jonson uses thoughtful phrasing and strong diction to create a vivid word painting of his son. The phrasing of this poem can be analyzed on many levels.
Jonson relentlessly explores the idea of hypocrisy as the mask of lust and of lust as perversion of human nature. Avarice is everywhere: possessing possessions and being possessed! The perversity and deceptiveness of lust is constantly dramatized by use
difference in the severity of Volpone and Mosca`s punishments, the situation in which Corbaccio, Voltore and Corvino are left. Do you find the ending just and in structure or are the unresolved situations disturbing? In the epistle of the play Ben Jonson states “it being the office of a comic poet to imitate justice.” It can be said that this is shown in the ending and that it is just and in structure as all the characters are punished in some way for their avarice and the “innocent” characters Bonario
audience to lust for real females and to form homoerotic desires for the male actors (the re... ... middle of paper ... ...goal of the Antitheatrical movement in the Renaissance, was both supported and denounced by Jonson in various ways. However, the general perception is that Jonson (unlike Shakespeare) fueled the fires of degradation- implicating women with the weakness, lack of intelligence, and reason they were believed to exude. In the annals of theatrical history, Jonson's metadrama could
his will; each can boost his or her prospects of becoming sole beneficiary after his death by presently bestowing upon him plentiful gifts. However, Volpone is by no means a simple comedy, and there are elements of several genres contemporary to Jonson an...
Volpone Volpone was first brought out at the Globe Theatre in 1605 and printed in quarto in 1607, after having been acted with great applause at both Universities, and was republished by Jonson in 1616 without alterations or additions. Volpone is undoubtedly the finest comedy in the English language outside the works of Shakespeare. Daring and forcible in conception, brilliant and faultless in execution, its extraordinary merits have excited the enthusiasm of all critics. The great French historian
writer during his time? In fact, there were hundreds of famous British writers we do not hear about. One of Williams Shakespeare biggest competors was the successful Ben Jonson. Jonson was one of the most extravagant poetic that ever lived. He was known for his humorous plays, poems, and literary critics (www.luminarium.org). Ben Jonson was born June 11, 1572 in London, England (www.poet.org). He was born two months after his father’s death. Though he was without a father he still had the loving care
when Ben Jonson wrote his poem, “To the Memory of My Beloved, The Author, Mr. William Shakespeare, and What He Hath Left Us.” Shakespeare died in 1616, and despite his popularity as a playwright of his day, he was hardly a household name, and had certainly not achieved the position of admiration which he holds today. Jonson’s poem is one of the first attempts to take Shakespeare beyond merely a popular playwright. His respect and esteem for the Bard is made plain in the poem, but Jonson has written
Cited Evans, Robert C. "Literature as Equipment for Living: Ben Jonson and the Poetics of Patronage". CLA Journal 30.3 March, 1987: 2. Jonson, Ben. "To Penhurst". The Broadview Anthology of Seventeenth-CenturyVerse & Prose Volume 1: Verse ED. Alan Rudrum, Joseph Black & Holly Faith Nelson. Peterborough: Broadview Press Ltd., 2001. 68-70. McGuire, Mary Anne C. "The Cavalier Country-House Poem. Mutation on a Ben Jonson Tradition": Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. 19.l Winter
Ars Poetica, written by Archibald MacLeish, depicts the significance of a poem’s use of imagery in order to convey the author’s intended meaning. “A poem should be wordless, as the flight of birds” (MacLeish 558 l.7-8). A flock of birds does not take much thought to comprehend, rather the sight explains the event itself. This beautiful metaphor presents a suggestion for poets by displaying its effectiveness first hand. Likewise, the poems in “cluster 3” follow the same criterion. In essence, Ars
...omparison of summer to his love through personification, crossed rhyming, and metaphors. All three poets created a remembrance of strong relationships so readers can remember them forever. Works Cited Jonson, Ben. "To Celia." 1898. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. By X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 6th ed. Boston: Longman, 2010. 520. Print. Compact Edition. Randall, Dudley. "Ballad of Birmingham." 1894. Literature: An
The study will encompass the compare and contrast of two great writers’ literary works. It will take comprehensive discussion on “Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist” and “William Shakespeare’s The Tempest”. Jonson and Shakespeare were contemporaries with more immediately recognizable common ground between them than difference. They shared the same profession and brought forth their works from the matrix of common intellectual property. They appealed to the same audience and both gained popularity and esteem