Ben Jonson
1572–1637
Biography
Ben Jonson (about 1572–1637) was an English playwright, poet and actor who worked in London under Elizabeth I and James I. He began in a humble trade before he went on to the stage, and his plays quickly drew attention from audiences and rivals alike. He was deeply learned in the classics and proud of it, and his quarrels with other writers were nearly as famous as his comedies. He ran into trouble with the authorities more than once, both for the content of his plays and for his temper.
His lasting reputation rests on comedy that exposes vice and folly. He popularised what he called the comedy of humours, in which each character is driven by one dominant trait; Every Man in His Humour (1598) is an early example. Volpone, or The Fox (about 1606), The Alchemist (1610) and Bartholomew Fair (1614) are his best-known satires. He also wrote masques for the court of James I and a large body of lyric and epigrammatic verse. A royal pension granted in 1616 is often treated as an early step towards the post of poet laureate.
Volpone is on this site. Its title character is a rich Venetian who pretends to be dying, so that the greedy men hoping to inherit from him will shower him with gifts. His servant Mosca, a parasite, helps him play one suitor against another, and the play turns the hunt for money into a sharp comedy of deception and ruin. It is a good place to meet the moral satire that runs through Jonson's work.
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Books
Volpone
by Ben Jonson
The Venetian magnifico Volpone pretends to be dying so that the greedy Voltore, Corbaccio and Corvino will compete with gifts to be named his heir, while his servant Mosca arranges every deception. The two grow so clever that they trap themselves, and a court scene finally…
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.