"Every Man in His Humour" by Ben Jonson is a classic Elizabethan comedy that offers a humorous yet incisive portrayal of London society in the early 17th century. Set in the bustling city of London, the play follows the lives of various characters from different social backgrounds as they navigate the complexities of urban life. At the center of the narrative is the character of Edward Knowell, a young gentleman who arrives in London seeking adventure and excitement. Through his encounters with a colorful cast of characters, including the brash and boastful Captain Bobadill, the crafty and conniving Kno'well, and the eccentric and philosophical Justice Clement, Jonson explores themes of social hierarchy, ambition, and self-discovery. Through witty dialogue, clever wordplay, and exaggerated characterizations, Jonson offers a satirical commentary on the quirks and foibles of his contemporaries. The play is filled with comedic misunderstandings, farcical situations, and humorous exchanges, all of which serve to entertain audiences while also shedding light on the absurdities of human behavior.

Shakespearers"s nearest rival created in Volpone and The Alchemist hilarious portraits of cupidity and chicanery, while in Bartholomew Fair he portrays his fellow Londoners at their most festive-and most bawdy.

This book focuses on the influence of classical authors on Ben Jonson’s dramaturgy, with particular emphasis on the Greek and Roman playwrights and satirists. It illuminates the interdependence of the aspects of Jonson’s creative personality by considering how classical performance elements, including the Aristophanic ‘Great Idea,’ chorus, Terentian/Plautine performative strategies, and ‘performative’ elements from literary satire, manifest themselves in the structuring and staging of his plays. This fascinating exploration contributes to the ‘performative turn’ in early modern studies by reframing Jonson’s classicism as essential to his dramaturgy as well as his erudition. The book is also a case study for how the early modern education system’s emphasis on imitative-contaminative practices prepared its students, many of whom became professional playwrights, for writing for a theatre that had a similar emphasis on recycling and recombining performative tropes and structures.

This edition of Ben Jonson's four comedies, Volpone, Epicoene, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, places the works in the popular history and culture of the times, (1605xxx;1614), and surveys the influences, classical and contemporary on Jonson as a playwright. Brief introductions to each play discuss local settings, sources, theatre history and suggest further reading, and the introduction includes a biography of Jonson, and a full chronology of the plays and masques.

This is the 1601 quarto version of Ben Jonson's play, set in Florence. The text is edited and modernised, and instead of endorsing the folio version as the superior play, the introduction seeks to understand this version on its own terms.