Q-1 write brief about Chaucer, Edmund Spenser or Ben Jonson or any one of their works.
This blog is in response to the task given by Dr. Dilip Barad sir.this is thinking activity on age of chaucer to Elizabeth. In this blog I am sharing my own understanding about ben jonson.
Ben jonson:
- Introduction:
Ben Jonson was an English playwright, critic and poet. He was born in Westminster in London in 1572. There is plenty of criticism in his dedications. “ Timber ” or “ Discoveries ” is one of his famous critical works. In all his criticism, he wanted writers to write well not by chance but knowingly. All Ben Jonson's plays are modelled on the Latin drama. In his criticism, he follows aristotle and horace. “ Discoveries '' is a collection of notes that he made from time to time.
In the plays, however, one encounters a far different tone. Set primarily in urban middle- and lower-class environments, they represent the most extensive expression of Jonson’s satirical nature. The Jonsonian dramatic tone owes more to classical satire than to any other literary form, with a dominant moral edge in the manner of the Roman satirist Juvenal. Jonson delights in presenting the typical butt of his satire—a character demonstrating excesses, vices, eccentricities, or follies that must be reformed, purged, and flailed. He sets about his task with energy and unflagging determination and brings his characters, if not always to dread correction, at least to an appropriate end.
You can watch this video also for a summary of Ben Jonson's life and his work.
- His classicism:
Jonson did not like the classics for their own sake but he wanted to raise the English standards far with the Greek and latin. English literature, according to ben jonson, had passion , imagination , and expression in excess even Shakespeare had everything in excess. Jonson found well tried law in “ poetics ”. In his notes, he talks about the need of unity of action and unity of time. A story is an imitation of one action. A plot must have a beginning, a middle and an end. Action in a comedy or tragedy should be fit; it should give rise to the conclusion of the play. Jonson says that a play can exceed the 24 hours time because life has so many digressions , so art can also have digressions. Every part of a play should be one and whole.
Jonson , like Sidney, calls a poet a “maker” or “feigner”. Like Sidney, he calls “poetry as the queen of arts”. There are five requirements for a good poet: what he should be by nature, by exercise, by imitation, by study and by art. Poetry is largely an outcome of training and practice. A poet or the maker should have good nature wit. To perfect a poem a poet should imitate nature. He can also imitate what others have said. Jonson also asks the poets to study. He believes in bacon’s statement - “Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man and writing an exact man”. He follows aristotle and horace and says that, “art can lead a poet to perfection”.
Ben Jonson is against the Elizabethan use of extravagant expression. He has no use for words for their own sake. Words means thoughts. Words are like the relation between body and soul. Words are lifeless without soul. It should be used aptly. To use words one should require three necessities - to read the best authors, observe the best speakers and exercise of his own. He repeats his remarks on imitation, when he talks about reading the best author. He thinks that our mind and memory are sharpened when we read other writers. The same will happen when a writer listens to a good speech. A writer should not be content with the first word and with the first arrangement of words. He should revise them repeatedly and arrive at the best. A writer should write for the learned people. He can use ancient words, which are majestic.
- Estime on bacon and shakespeare:
In his critical works ben jonson talks about montaigne, spenser, marlowe, sidney, donne, bacon, and shakespeare,. Bacon passes the test fully. According to Jonson, bacon spoke neatly, more weightily and suffered less emptiness and idleness. His own writing resembled bacon’s. Bacon , according to Jonson, would say twenty things in ten words. Shakespeare is an honest and open natured poet. He has brave nations and gentle expressions. He has a powerful wit. He frames his own rules with his wit and he succeeds. He has more virtues than vices. He is someone to be praised rather than to be pardoned.
- His liberal concept of rules:
Jonson also talks about the rules given by the ancients. He wants a writer to read and learn as much as possible. He never advises them to rest in the soul authority of what they read. If a writer finds some truth and fitness that the ancient haven’t found he can say it in his own way. A writer can consider the classics as their guides and not as commanders.
- Ben jonson’s work:
every man in his humour.(novel)-1598
Every man out of his humour.(novel)-1599
volpone(novel)-1606
The forest (masque)
On my first sonne(elegy)-1616
The Alchemist(comedy)-1610
The silent woman(comedy play)-1609
Every man in his humour:
Jonson was famous for his satire. This is one of his famous satires. Every man in his humour was written in 1598 and was the first of his many "humour plays." Following Every Man in His Humour was a sequel, Every Man Out of His Humour. Though the first of the two plays was received well by audiences, the sequel was not such a success.
The idea of humour plays was not original to Jonson. His contemporary, George Chapman, wrote a play centred around the bodily humours at that time as well. Black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood were the four "humours" believed to control a person's temperament and health. Since the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, those basic fluids were a basis for medicine and many other ideas. Ben Jonson utilised this theory in his play by making each character dominated by a certain humour. References to that theme are made throughout the play such as when Bobadilla confesses to having a "filthy humour of quarrelling", or when cash blames "thy humour" for cob's distress.
The play was first performed by Lord Chamberlain’s Men in 1598 at the Curtain Theatre. It was acted at Court on February 2nd, 1605. Shakespeare himself may have played knowewell in these early stagings, and other notable actors such as Will Kemp and Will Slye played parts.The play was very popular and was published almost immediately. It remained in the King’s Men repertory until the closing of the theatres in 1642. Every Man was revived in 1675, then in 1725. In 1751 David Garrick revived it again and made notable alterations to the text. kitely was Garrick’s signature role, and the play became associated with him to the extent that it eventually fell out of favour as a mere “Garrick vehicle.” In 1845, Dickens mounted a production of the play and played Bobadil.
Though the humours are an essential theme to the play, Jonson's deeper love of parodying his own culture is also shown in Every Man in His Humour. Originally it was set in Florence, but Jonson later revised it for the 1616 folio and set it in London. This is significant because it allowed the audience to be familiar with the types of people and places that were being parodied. It brought the social satire close to home, and also used particular fashion trends and manners to engage and mirror the audience.
The audience was also supposed to admire, or understand at the very least, the language of the play. Jonson stayed away from innovative vocabulary, and aimed to mainly capture the world around him, and the language of the lower class. His education and interest in the humanist movement gave him a love for the classics that deeply influenced his writing style. Though he did not strictly follow Neoclassical ideals, he nonetheless appreciated them, and applied them when possible.
Ben Jonson's satires are looked on fondly now, but he was taking a risk by publishing them. Just after Every Man in His Humour was published, there was a band on satire in England. Jonson published the sequel nonetheless, and though it did not get him in too much trouble, some of his later shows did. Eastward Ho! was a satire co-written with George Chapman and John Marston that poked fun at the Scots; this angered the Scottish King James and landed Jonson and Chapman in jail. Despite that and some other legal blunders, Ben Jonson went on to write many other memorable plays like Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew fair that no doubt were indebted to a degree to his humour plays.
This video is very nicely explained by this youtube creator. If you want to better understand jonson’s work “every man in his humour” you can refer to this video.
- Conclusion:
Jonson saw some danger in the English literature. Shakespeare and bacon had their own lights to guide them but not other writers. Jonson in his criticism, addresses the other English writers. He is not against new paths, provided they conform to nature and reason. He also advises critics. He asks critics to look at the intricacies of poetic art. To judge a poet to sum up ben jonson's criticism we can use the word “th curb”- the necessity of submission to a code of conduct both on the part of the writer and the critic. He popularised the “comedy of humours”. He is also best known for his satirical plays. The production of “every man in his humours”. Had established his reputation as a dramatist. He died in 1637 and was buried in Westminster abbey.
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