Tom Lockwood's study is the first examination of Jonson's place in the texts and culture of the Romantic age. Part one of the book explores theatrical, critical, and editorial responses to Jonson, including his place in the post-Garrick theatre, critical estimations of his life and work, and the politically-charged making and reception of William Gifford's 1816 edition of Jonson's Works.
Ben Jonson was the greatest of Shakespeare's contemporaries. His fame rests not only on the numerous plays he had written, but on his achievements over three decades as principal masque-writer to the early Stuart court, where he had worked in creative, if at times stormy, collaboration with Inigo Jones. One of the most accomplished poets of the age, he was--in fact if not in title--the first Poet Laureate in England.
Since the Romantic period, Jonson has been an author more respected than read. Frequently compared with Shakespeare, he usually suffers unfairly from the comparison. In this book Barton gives a reading of the plays which completely re-evaluates Jonson as a dramatist. Describing in detail his experimentation with different comic styles and his changing relationship to other Elizabethan and Jacobean poets, particularly Shakespeare, she brings us closer than ever before to Jonson as a man, and as a great artist in comedy. The book proceeds play by play...
Next to Shakespeare, Ben Jonson is perhaps the most widely studied Renaissance dramatist. Very few students of literature or drama would not encounter Volpone or Bartholomew Fair in the course of their studies, and there has been a recent resurgence of interest in Epicoene, or the Silent Women among gender theorists. As part of the Complete Critical Guide series, this volume offers the broadest range of information on Jonson and his works, from background on contexts to details of recent interpretations of his plays. A must for students of the Renaissance.
