Ben JONSON
Born London 11 June, 1572: Died London 6 August, 1637
Stage Works:
Unless otherwise noted, the plays were first performed in London. All are wholly or partially in verse.
- The Case Is Altered. Comedy, 5 acts. Published
1609 (Stationers' Register, Jan. 26, 1609). Produced
originally by an unidentifiable company:
in revised form, Blackfriars Theatre (Children of the Queen's Revels), 1597, 1609.
- Every Man in His Humour. Comedy, 5 acts. Published 1601 (Stationers' Register, Aug. 4, 1600). Produced Lord Chamberlains Men, shortly before Sept. 20, 1598. Revised version, in which the play's locale was changed from Italy to England: Written probably 1605. Published 1616. Produced at court, Feb. 2, 1605.
- Every Man Out of His Humour. Comical satire, 5 acts. Published 1600 (Stationers' Register, Apr. 8, 1600). Produced Globe Theatre (Lord Chamberlain's Men), 1599.
- Cynthia's Revels, or The Fountain of Self-Love. Comical satire, 5 acts. Published 1601 (Staioners' Register, May 23, 1601). Produced Blackfriars Theatre (Children of the Queen's Chapel), 1600/01.
- The Poetaster, or The (His) Arraignment. Comical satire, 5 acts. Published 1602 (Stationers' Register, Dec. 21, 1601). Produced Blackfriars Theatre (Children of the Queen's Chapel), 1601.
- Sejanus His Fall. Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1605 (Stationers' Register, Nov. 2, 1604). Produced Icing's Men, 1603.
- Eastward Ho! (With George Chapman and John Marston). Comedy, 5 acts. Published 1605 (Stationers' Register, Sept. 4, 1605). Produced Blackfriars Theatre (Children of the Queens Revels), 1605.
- Volpone, or The Fox. Comedy, 5 acts. Published 1607 (Stationers' Register, Oct. 3, 1610). Produced probably Globe Theatre (King's Men), 1605/06.
- Epicoene, or The Silent Woman. Comedy, 5 acts. Published 1616 (Stationers' Register, Sept. 20, 1610). Produced Children of the Queen's Revels, 1609.
- The Alchemist. Comedy, 5 acts. Published 1612 (Stationers' Register, Oct. 3, 1610). Produced probably Globe Theatre (King's Men), 1610. 11. Catiline His Conspiracy. Tragedy, 5 acts. Published 1611. Produced King's Men, 1611.
- Bartholomew Fair. Comedy, 5 acts. Published 1631. Produced Hope Theatre (Lady Elizabeth's Men), Oct. 31, 1614.
- The Devil Is an Ass. Comedy, 5 acts. Published 1631. Produced Blackfriars Theatre (King's Men), October/November (?), 1616.
- The Staple of News. Comedy, 5 acts. Published 1631 (Stationers' Register, Apr. 14, 1626). Produced Blackfriars Theatre? (King's Men), February, 1626.
- The New Inn, or The Light Hart. Comedy, 5 acts. Published 1631 (Stationers' Register, Apr. 17, 1631). Produced Blackfriars Theatre (King's Men), January, 1629.
- The Magnetic Lady, or Humours Reconciled. Comedy, 5 acts. Published 1640. Produced King's Men, 1632 (licensed Oct. 12, 1632).
- A Tale of a Tub. Comedy, 5 acts. Published
1640. Produced Cockpit Theatre (Queen Henrietta s Men),
1633 (licensed May 7, 1633). Produced at court (Queen's
Men:
first known production), Jan. 14, 1634. Some scholars believe this play is a revision of an earlier play.
Fragments
In the second Jonson folio (1640) are printed two acts of The Sad Shepherd, or A Tale of Robin Hood, a pastoral drama, written probably about 1637:
and a fragment of Mortimer His Fall, a tragedy of uncertain date.
Entertainments
- Althorp Entertainment (The Satyr). Stationers' Register, Mar. 19, 1604. Produced Althorp, June 25, 1603.
- Coronation Entertainment. Published 1604 (Stationers' Register, Mar. 19, 1604). Produced Mar. 15, 1604. Presented as part of a large civic entertainment in honor of King James.
- Highgate Entertainment (The Penates). Published 1616. Produced house of Sir William Cornwallis, Highgate, to welcome the King, May 1, 1604.
- The Entertainment of the Two Kings of Great Britain and Denmark at Theobalds. Published 1616. Produced July 24, 1606.
- An Entertainment of King James and Queen Anne at Theobalds. Published 1616. Produced May 22, 1607.
- The Speeches at Prince Henry's Barriers. Published 1616. Produced Jan. 6, 1610.
- A Challenge of Tilt, at a Marriage. Published 1616. Produced Jan. 1, 1614.
- An Entertainment at the Blackfriars. Published 1816. Produced May, 1620?
- The Masque of Owls. Published 1640. Produced Kenilworth, Aug. 19, 1624.
- The King's Entertainment at Welbeck. Published 1640. Produced May 21, 1633.
- Love's Welcome at Bolsover. Published 1640. Produced July 30, 1633.
Masques
- The Masque of Blackness. Stationers' Register, Apr. 21, 1608. Produced Jan. 6, 1605.
- Hymenaei. Published 1606. Produced at court, Jan. 5, 1606.
- The Masque of Beauty. Stationers' Register, Apr. 21, 1608. Produced at court (Whitehall), Jan. 10, 1608.
- Lord Haddington's Masque, or The Hue and Cry after Cupid. Produced at court (Whitehall), Feb. 9, 1608.
- The Masque of Queens. Published 1609 (Stationers' Register, Feb. 22, 1609). Produced at court (Whitehall), Feb. 2, 1609.
- Oberon, The Faery Prince. Published 1616. Produced at court (Whitehall), Jan. 1, 1611.
- Love Freed from Ignorance and Folly. Published 1616. Produced at court (Whitehall), Feb. 3, 1611.
- Love Restored. Published 1616. Produced at court (Whitehall), Jan. 6, 1612.
- The Irish Masque. Published 1616. Produced at court (Whitehall), Dec. 29, 1613.
- Mercury Vindicated from the Alchemists. Published 1616. Produced presumably at court (Whitehall), Jan. 6, 1615.
- Christmas His Masque. Published 1640. Produced at court (Whitehall), 1616.
- The Golden Age Restored. Published 1616. Produced Jan. 1, 1616.
- The Vision of Delight. Published 1640. Produced at court (Whitehall), Jan. 6, 1617.
- Lovers Made Men. Published 1617. Produced house of Lord Hay, Feb. 22, 1617.
- Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue. Published 1640. Produced at court (Whitehall), Jan. 6, 1618. First version of For the Honour of Wales.
- For the Honour of Wales. Published 1640. Produced Feb. 17, 1618. Revision of Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue.
- News from the New World Discovered in the Moon. Published 1640. Produced at court (Whitehall), Jan. 7, 1620.
- Pan's Anniversary, or the Shepherds' Holiday. Published 1640 (Stationers' Register, Mar. 20, 1640). Produced at court (Whitehall), June 19 (?), 1620.
- The Gypsies Metamorphosed. Published 1640 (Stationers' Register, Feb. 20, 1640). Produced Burley-on-the-Hill, Aug. 3, 1621.
- The Masque of Augurs. Published 1622. Produced at court (Whitehall), Jan. 6, 1622.
- Time Vindicated to Himself and to His Honours. Published 1623. Produced at court (Whitehall), Jan. 19, 1623.
- Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion. Published 1624. Prepared for Jan. 6, 1624, but not produced. First version of The Fortunate Isles and Their Union.
- The Fortunate Isles and Their Union. Published 1625. Produced at court (Whitehall), Jan. 9, 1625. Revision of Neptune's Triumph
- Love's Triumph Through Callipolis. Published 1631. Produced at court (Whitehall), Jan. 9, 1631.
- Chloridia: Rites to Chloris and Her Nymphs. Published 1631. Produced at court (Whitehall), Feb. 22, 1631.
CRITICISM
- A. C. Swinburne, A Study of Ben Jonson, New York, 1889:
- S. E. Woodbridge, Studies in Jonson's Comedy, Boston and New York, 1898:
- C. R. Baskervill, English Elements in Jonson's Early Comedy, Austin, Tex., 1911:
- M. Kerr, Influence of Ben Jonson on English Comedy, 1598-1642, New York, 1912:
- R. G. Noyes, Ben Jonson and the English State, 1660-1776, New York, 1935:
- G. E. Bentley, Shakespeare and Jonson: Their Reputations in the Seventeenth Century Compared, Chicago, 1945:
- A. H. Gilbert, Symbolic Persons in the Masques of Ben Jonson, New York, 1948:
- B. Johansson, Religion and Superstition in Plays of Jonson and Middleton, New York, 1950:
- E. B. Partridge, The Broken Compass: A Study of the Major Comedies of Ben Jonson, New York, 1958:
- J. A. Barish, Ben Jonson and the Language o f Prose Comedy, Cambridge, Mass., 1960:
- J. A. Barish, ed., Ben Jonson: A Collection of Critical Essays, New York, 1963:
- E. C. Dunn, Ben Jonson's Art: Elizabethan Life and Literature as Reflected Therein, New York, 1925, reprint, 1963:
- C. G. Thayer, Ben Jonson: Studies in the Plays, Norman, Okla., 1963:
- S. K. Orgel, The Jonsonian Masque, Cambridge, Mass., 1965:
- J. L. Davis, Sons of Ben: Jonsonian Comedy in Caroline England, Detroit, 1967:
- G. B. Jackson, Vision and Judgment in Ben Jonson's Drama, New Haven, Conn., 1968:
- C. Gum, Aristophanic Comedies of Ben Jonson, New York, 1970:
- J. W. Bamborough, Ben Jonson, London, 1970:
- A. C. Dessen, Jonson's Moral Comedy, Evanston, 1971:
- 1. Janicka, The Popular Theatrical Tradition and Ben Jonson, L6dz, 1972:
- F. Fricker, Ben Jonson's Plays in Performance and the Jacobean Theatre, Berne, 1972:
- A. Drew-Bear, Rhetoric in Ben Jonson's Middle Comedies, Salzburg, 1973:
- G. A. E. Parfitt, Ben Jonson: Public Poet and Private Man, London, 1975.