AP+2103+P2+Ben+Jonson

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Ben Jonson was a poet, playwright, and essayist in London during the 16th century. Ben Jonson was living and working within the theater and literature scene that was occurring during the time of William Shakespeare. He was particularly relevant to the time because he received the royal favor and patronage and made plays that william shakespeare was featured in. His historical importance can be understood because "...he was granted a substantial pension of 100 marks a year, and is often identified as England's first Poet Laureate" (Poets.org). His relevance increased when he wrote memorable plays, such as //Volpone// (1606) and //The Alchemist// (1610), for even King James I to enjoy ."Jonson was the dean and the leading wit of the group of writers who gathered at the Mermaid Tavern in the Cheapside district of London" (Jokinen). Because of his precedence in the writers scene, and because of his leadership among them as a dean figure, he can arguably be seen as one of the most influential of all writers during that time in London.

Jokinen, Anniina. "The Life of Ben Jonson (1572-1637)." //The Life of Ben Jonson (1572-1637)//. PamBytes, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. "Ben Jonson." //Poets.org//. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.

Kathleen - Aim

**Beth - Cultural**
Ben Jonson’s relationship with Shakespeare and contrast of works at the time culturally created an iconic image of Shakespeare against the time period. As a play writer himself at the same time of Shakespeare he was known for criticizing fellow writers however his own works were not as developed as Shakespeare. In a biography on Jonson and Shakespeare, the author contrasts the character development between Jonson’s comedies and Shakespeare’s. He states “In Jonson's plays we do not find a single woman worthy to come near the Shakespearean characters, Cordelia, Imogen, and Desdemona. His limitations are nowhere more marked than in his inability to portray a noble woman”(Halleck). The limitations Johnson had in developing his characters contrasted Shakespeare’s characters. This made Ben Jonson’s plays less notable however made Shakespeare’s “worthy” to be remembered. The comparison of his writings to Shakespeare caused Ben Jonson to although not become recognizable in culture of writing but improved Shakespeare’s image for today’s society. Ben Jonson also influenced how the idea of Renissance plays were preformed. In a PBS transcript, they state “ In the early 1600's, Jonson embraced a new phenomenon. Boys Companies were as seductive to audiences and as threatening to Shakespeare's brand of theatre as N*Synch and Boys 2 Men were to today's Springsteens, REMs and Rolling Stones.” (Love). Although the idea of boy companies are atribbutated to Shakespeare’s plays, Jonson also “embraced” them in his own works. He provided competition for Shakespeare at the time in order to drawn audiences in to his own works. By doing so he helped created Shakespeare’s image and generalized the idea of plays for the time. His works although not nearly remember as Shakespeare provided the same “seductive” and “new phenonmenon” plays were and now are associated with that time period. Ben Jonson provided image and competition to boost Shakespeare’s cultural impact in society.

Halleck, Reuben P. "Ben Jonson - His Life, Work, and Relationship with Shakespeare."Ben Jonson - His Life, Work, and Relationship with Shakespeare. Halleck's New English Literature, 1913. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. Love, Mark. "Ben Jonson." PBS. PBS, 2003. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.
 * Works Cited **

**Abbey - Audience**


Ben Jonson, like many playwrights and actors, were controversial. He had a rebellious side to his plays, which makes one infer that perhaps the audience of the plays were not the true audience of Ben Jonson. According to Anniina Jokinen, the author of "Life of Ben Jonson", "Jonson's explosive temperament and conviction of his superior talent gave rise to "War of the Theatres". In The Poetaster (1601), he satirized other writers, chiefly the English dramatists Thomas Dekker and John Marston" (Jokinen 1). His audience to those plays were the people he was ridiculing, Thomas Dekker and John Marston. While the general idea of playwriting is to captivate the audience, sitting in the seats in front of the stage, he also placed attention to those whom he disliked and disapproved of. Even to the modern audience, although not as respected, there is a sense of communication in the dramatics that can still have an impact of how audience sees other writers of the time. According to Laurence Raw author of "Revaluating Ben Jonson", "In a recent (1992) collection of essays on New Historicism in Renaissance Drama, Richard Wilson and Richard Dutton observe that 'alone of the arts, the theatre remains a temple of modernism', that resists the influx of new critical theories (Dutton and Wilson: 239). This analysis of Ben Jonson's reputation in performance, during the 1960s and 1970s, has revealed a similar preoccupation with modernist ideas; the 'original text' should be carefully studied and performed, according to Leavisian precepts, so that Jonson's 'greatness' as a writer can be communicated to theatre audiences (and especially dramatic critics)" (Raw 2). Observers of the modern time, are able to understand Ben Jonson's work because of the way it is written. He wrote it in retrospect that he had many audiences in mind. He had the audience of opposing authors in order to ridicule them, the audience that sat in front of the stage, and the modern audience every advancing year.

Jokinen, Anniina. "The Life of Ben Jonson". //Luminarium//. 9 Sept 2003. Web. 12 Feb 2013.

Raw, Laurence. "Revaluating Ben Jonson". //The British Council.// 1992. Web. 12 Feb 2013