Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare: Renaissance Drama Analysis

Ben Jonson and Volpone

Ben Jonson (London, 1572–1637) was a prominent playwright whose work Volpone was first performed in 1606 at the Globe Theatre and at Oxford and Cambridge in 1607. It was published in quarto in 1607 and intended for both stage and page. In 1616, Jonson published his Complete Works (plays and poems) in a folio edition, which served as a precedent for Shakespeare’s First Folio edition in 1623.

Jonson used prefaces—unlike Shakespeare, who did not—to justify himself, as he was deeply concerned about his public image. He was a shrewd observer of Londoners, loved the classics (translating Horace’s Ars Poetica in 1605), and was familiar with Italian interpretations of Aristotle's Poetics. Jonson did not attend college; instead, he attended Westminster School and was largely self-taught. His best comedies include Volpone and The Alchemist (1610). He also wrote tragedies, though they were generally considered weak, alongside elaborate court entertainments known as masques.

The Status of Players and Censorship

Acting companies and players were regarded by law as vagabonds unless they were protected by nobles or the monarch. Examples include Elizabeth I’s Lord Chamberlain’s Men and James I’s King’s Men.

Pre-production censorship forced playwrights to be cautious, often conveying political events in an oblique manner. For instance, in Eastward Ho!, Jonson went to jail because the play referred to the Scottish courtiers of James I.

Characters and Plot of Volpone

The characters in Volpone are extremely vicious yet intelligent, engaging in intelligent vice. The play relates to animal fables through symbolic names:

• Volpone: The fox and tricky deceiver. An unmarried, extremely rich old merchant with no family. He pretends to be seriously ill so that people will give him presents in hopes of being named his heir.
• The Competitors: Corbaccio, Corvino, and Voltore, who all aim to be Volpone's sole heir and engage in serious competition.
• Mosca: Volpone’s parasite and servant. He attracts the competitors like flies to birds and moves the trades.

Initially, the competitors give Volpone money. Then, Mosca suggests to Corvino—who is extremely jealous—that he take Celia (his stupid, young wife) to Volpone’s bed so the ill man could experience the warmth of a young woman one last time. Corbaccio, an old and miserly man (avaro), has an only son, Bonario (who is described as simple but benevolent). Mosca suggests making Volpone Corbaccio’s only heir instead of Bonario, and then tricks Bonario into watching what happens.

Volpone attempts to rape Celia, but she is saved by Bonario, who over¬hears the act. Volpone is taken to court but is proven innocent because Voltore, an attorney, argues a false case and persuades the judges that Volpone is innocent, that Celia is an adulteress, and that Bonario attempted to murder his father. Consequently, both Celia and Bonario are declared guilty and taken to jail.

Poetic Justice and Morality

The play contrasts innocent and vicious characters. While innocent characters are rewarded, vicious ones are ultimately punished:

• Clia: Sent back to her father with her dowry.
• Bonario: Given his father's estate.
• Corvino: Sent to the pillory.
• Corbaccio: Sent to a monastery.
• Voltore: Disbarred (he can no longer work as an attorney).
• Mosca: Sent to the galleys.
• Volpone: Sent to a terrible prison where he is expected to contract any kind of illness.

These punishments are extremely harsh for a comedy, largely because Venetian laws were very strict, and the moralizing ending was likely an imposition. Audiences often empathize more with Volpone and Mosca.

Setting and Themes

The play is set in Venice rather than London, serving as a distancing device. Both Venice and London were hubs of big commercial activity and important ports. Furthermore, Venetians were Roman Catholic, and contemporaries believed they could be exceptionally vicious precisely because they were Italian (reflecting contemporary English prejudice, combined with irony, suggesting Londoners could never be so wicked). Venice was also known for its immorality, courtesans, and transvestites, making Catholic immorality, cunning, and hypocrisy the perfect backdrop for a satire on greed, lust, and deceit.

As a satiric comedy, Volpone is both entertaining and moralizing (docere et delectare). Vice is punished and virtue rewarded. Because the play is primarily entertaining, the very last part leans heavily into moralizing, with Jonson adding an epilogue. Volpone reappears and lets the stage know that the audience should not be afraid of having enjoyed the play or laughed, and that they should clap if they liked it, which effectively relieves the tension of the ending.

The action takes place over the course of a single day, making it fast-paced and highlighting the characters' resourcefulness. The structure features a double plot (main and secondary plots) designed to highlight similarities and differences:

• Similarities: Vice.
• Differences: Three Englishmen—Sir Politic Would-Be, Lady Politic Would-Be, and Peregrine (whose name means parrot). Their vice is imitative (like parrots) rather than intelligent (like the Venetians), making the three Englishmen completely stupid. Peregrine attacks Sir Politic, and upon attending to his political return, they return to England.

The play is written in blank verse, except for the prologue.

William Shakespeare and King Lear

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) attended a grammar school in Stratford-upon-Avon (studying Latin, Greek, and medicine). He wrote 37 plays, performed at the Globe Theatre and, starting in 1608, at Blackfriars.

King Lear (performed at the Globe in 1606) was published in 1608 as a quarto. In 1623, it was included in the Folio edition of his compiled plays (First Folio). It is classified as a historical tragedy or state tragedy, based loosely on the history of an ancient king of Britain around 800 BC.

Distancing Devices and Character Dynamics

Shakespeare utilized historical distancing devices to avoid censorship, setting the play in the distant past and employing the king's madness and the Fool. Lear is an active character, whereas Gloucester is passive. Generally, tragic characters are dynamic, while comic characters are static.

There is symbolic use of clothing throughout the play, representing the transition from power to deprivation: at the beginning, Lear wears his royal trappings, but when he becomes mad, he is dressed in tatters.

Madness and Reality

Madness is portrayed as real in Lear versus feigned in Edgar. Edgar replaces the Fool (who speaks in riddles) once Lear learns the difference between reality and appearances. Typically, mad characters use prose, whereas sane characters use blank verse (iambic pentameter).

Critical Analysis Points

1. Interaction with Gloucester: Lear barely realizes the truth until the end. It functions almost as a monologue.
2. Lear's Insight: Lear remarks, “What, art mad? A man may see how this world goes with no eyes.” Both Lear and Gloucester gain insight into the true nature of the world and of people by losing their minds and physical sight, respectively, through extreme suffering.
3. Evolution of the Title Role: Lear has lost everything—his might, luxury, and even his mind—but has gained the ability to see the world as it is, learning humility and losing faith in his family and the world itself.
4. Critique of Moral Hypocrisy: Lines such as “Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand! Why dost thou lust that whore? Strip thine own back; / Thou hotly lust'st to use her in that kind / For which thou whipp'st her” fiercely critique moral hypocrisy.
5. Critique of the Legal System: Lines like “Through tattered clothes small vices do appear; / Robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold, / And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks; / Arm it in rags, a pygmy's straw doth pierce it” highlight corruption in the legal system and social inequality.
6. Lear’s Awareness: In lines like “Take that of me, my friend, who have the power / To seal the accuser’s lips,” Lear still intermittently believes he is king even after going completely mad, remaining fully unaware of his actual situation.
7. 17th-Century Sensitivities: 17th-century authorities could easily find fault with Lear's statements because he directly criticizes moral hypocrisy, social inequality, and a corrupted legal system.
8. Shakespearean Techniques: Shakespeare employs distancing devices such as setting the play in the distant past, using the Fool's riddles, and exploring both real and feigned madness to criticize political and social structures safely.

17th-Century Political Context and Richard Lovelace

The era was closely related to the reign of Charles I (1625–1649), an Anglican who favoured ceremony in church services. Puritans hated these ceremonies because they reminded them of Catholicism and because of the hierarchical church government, whereas Puritans preferred an egalitarian structure. Charles I tried to impose the Book of Common Prayer on Scottish Presbyterians and reissued the Book of Sports (1633)—originally published by his father, James I, in 1618—which prescribed the celebration of popular festivities like May Day in all parishes. (Robert Herrick’s poem “Corinna’s Going a-Maying” mocks Puritan zeal using the carpe diem motif).

Charles I was an absolutist monarch who dissolved Parliament in 1629 and did not convene it again until 1640, when he desperately needed money.

Richard Lovelace and "To Althea, from Prison"

Richard Lovelace (1618–1657) was imprisoned in the Gatehouse because he was a Royalist. During his imprisonment, he wrote To Althea, from Prison (1642).

The poem features a lyric "I" (the poet) addressing his beloved. Note that "Love" is capitalized because it is a personified abstraction. The metrical structure features an alternating pattern of 4-3-4-3 stresses with an abab rhyme scheme:

• First line: iambic tetrameter.
• Second line: trochee – iamb – iamb (replacing the first iamb with a trochee is called metrical inversion or reversal), resulting in iambic trimeter.
• Third line: iambic tetrameter.
• Fourth line: iambic trimeter.

The poem heavily relies on paradox, which is an apparent contradiction.

Poetic Analysis

1. Central Paradox: The lyric "I" experiences confinement as freedom, feeling entirely free even while physically imprisoned, representing both political and personal freedom.
2. Composition Setting: Lovelace wrote the poem in the Gatehouse prison because he was a Royalist imprisoned among republicans.
3. Qualities of the King: The text implies the king possesses sweetness, mercy, majesty, and glories, suggesting their complete absence in his illegitimate rivals (as Lovelace viewed Cromwell as a usurper and believed the King was chosen by God).