Jonson, Ben(jamin) (1572–1637)

English dramatist, poet, and critic. Every Man in his Humour (1598) established the English ‘comedy of humours’, in which each character embodies a ‘humour’, or vice, such as greed, lust, or avarice. This was followed by Cynthia's Revels (1600) and The Poetaster (1601). His first extant tragedy is Sejanus (1603), with Burbage and Shakespeare as members of the original cast. His great comedies are Volpone, or The Fox (1606), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fair (1614). He wrote extensively for court entertainment in the form of masques produced with scenic designer Inigo Jones.

He was born in Westminster, London, and entered the theatre as an actor and dramatist in 1597. In 1598 he narrowly escaped the gallows for killing a fellow player in a duel; his goods were confiscated and he was imprisoned. In prison he became a Catholic, but 12 years later reverted to Protestantism. His first comedy, Every Man in his Humour, was performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Servants at the Globe Theatre, London. The play was successful, and Jonson was at once enrolled on the list of the leading dramatists. His next plays were Every Man out of his Humour (1599), Cynthia's Revels, The Poetaster, and Sejanus. These were followed by Volpone, Epicoene, or The Silent Woman (1609), The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair. These are regarded as Jonson's greatest plays, in which he most brilliantly and profoundly exposes the nature of folly, and subtly but pervasively offers a standard of moral sanity by which to judge all excess. They were followed by The Devil is an Ass (1616) and, after a long absence from the stage, The Staple of News (1626), The New Inn (1629), The Magnetic Lady (1632), and The Sad Shepherd (1635).

Jonson collaborated with Marston and Chapman in Eastward Ho! (1605), and shared their imprisonment when official exception was taken to the satirization of James I's Scottish policy. He also wrote numerous poems (‘Drink to me only with thine eyes’), and some works in prose. In 1619 he received the laureateship and a small pension from the king, but he died in poverty. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.