8-2Jonson

Who is Ben Jonson, and how did his life intersect with Shakespeare’s? //Answer prepared by Andrew K.// Ben Jonson was another playwright, author and actor during the time Shakespeare lived. To be candid, he wasn’t a very good actor, but he worked for Pembroke’s Men. He co-authored “Isle of Dogs,” which was accused of spreading sedition. Sedition is criticism of the government, and for this he was jailed for four months. In Shakespeare: The Biography, Peter Ackroyd surmises that this may have something to do with the fact that Mr. Jonson was Catholic in an England dominated by Protestantism (345). According to PBS’ In Search of Shakespeare, he ran afoul of the law after an argument with Gabriel Spencer led to a duel. Ben Jonson won and he only avoided execution by the government by posing as a priest. Stephen Greenblatt’s Will in the World says that Jonson’s first theater success, "Every Man In His Humour”, featured Shakespeare in the cast (80). He used boys companies, or groups of child actors, in a lot of his plays. This was contrary to Shakespeare, who generally used adult actors. They had many arguments over the merits of adult and boy actors. Eventually, they settled their differences and became friends. In fact, Ben Jonson wrote an inscription in the First Folio reading:

“To the Reader. This Figure, that thou here seest put, It was for gentle Shakespeare cut, Wherein the Graver had a strife with Nature, to out-doo the life : O, could he but have drawne his wit As well in brasse, as he hath hit His face ; the Print would then surpasse redress All, that was ever writ in brasse. But, since he cannot, Reader, looke Not on his Picture, but his Booke.”

Ben Jonson is saying that Shakespeare’s works are so great that their legacy will forever be remembered before the person that Shakespeare was. This and a few other comments by Ben Jonson on Shakespeare’s works, such as a line or two that should be changed, are the only remarks on Shakespeare by any of his contemporaries, says Michael Best in Ben Jonson on Shakespeare. Therefore, Ben Jonson was both a prominent playwright and close companions with William. Works Cited Ackroyd, Peter. //Shakespeare: The Biography//. New York: Random House Incorporated, 2005.

Alchin, Linda. "The Droeshout Engraving." William Shakespeare Info. 2005. 4 Apr 2009 .

Best, Michael. "Ben Jonson on Shakespeare." Shakespeare's Life and Times. November 2005. Internet Shakespeare Editions. Accessed 3 Apr 2009 .

Greenblatt, Stephen. //Will in the World//. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2004.

Love, Mark. "Ben Jonson." In Search of Shakespeare. 2003. PBS. Accessed 30 Mar 2009 [].

A portrait of Ben Jonson