Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson (1572-1637) was an English poet, playwright, and literary critic, whose influence on English Renaissance literature during the Jacobean Era (1603-1625) has been regarded as second only to that of William Shakespeare (1564-1616). A prolific writer, Jonson penned hundreds of poems, multiple masques, as well as several major plays, mostly comedies. The most significant of his plays include Every Man in His Humour (1598), Volpone, or the Fox (1606), Epicoene, or the Silent Woman (1609), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fair (1614).
Early Life & Adventures
In 1618, a middle-aged Ben Jonson embarked on a walking tour from London to Scotland and back again. While staying in Edinburgh, he lived for two weeks with Scottish poet William Drummond of Hawthornden. The two clearly enjoyed one another's company, speaking freely on topics ranging from their own personal lives to gossip about the London literary scene, and even discussing their opinions on the king. Drummond was so fascinated by his guest that he took extensive notes of their talks – recording only Jonson's side of the conversation – and grouped them by topic. It is largely from Drummond's notes that scholars have been able to surmise the details of Jonson's personal life.
Benjamin Jonson was born on 11 June 1572, in or around the city of London. His father, a Protestant, had lost his lands and had been imprisoned as part of the religious persecutions that took place under the Catholic Queen Mary I of England (r. 1553-1558). Though these persecutions ended after the accession of Mary's sister, the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603), the elder Jonson never recovered his fortunes and died about a month before his son's birth. Two years later, Jonson's mother was remarried to a successful bricklayer, who went on to become Master of the Tilers' and Bricklayers' Company. As a boy, Jonson showed a knack for academics and, with the financial support of a benefactor, was sent to be educated at Westminster School, one of the most fashionable in the country. He was personally tutored by the renowned antiquarian William Camden, under whose guidance he excelled in his classical and grammatical studies.
Upon graduating from Westminster in 1589, Jonson was briefly enrolled at St. John's College, Cambridge, but his studies were cut short when his stepfather called him home to begin an apprenticeship as a bricklayer. This life did not suit Jonson, who soon volunteered for the English army and was sent to fight the Spanish in the Low Countries. Jonson would later boast that, during his military service, he killed an enemy soldier in single combat and took the optima spolia, meaning he stripped the armor and weapons off his defeated foe as a prize. By 1592, Jonson had returned to England and eventually found work as an actor in the Admiral's Men, a company that performed at The Rose theatre – there is evidence that he played the role of Hieronimo, the lead in Thomas Kyd's popular revenge play, The Spanish Tragedy.
During this time, Jonson turned into something of a womanizer. In his conversations with Drummond, he admits that had had often been 'given to venery' as a young man and recounts several of his sexual exploits. In one instance, he was seduced by a married woman at the behest of her husband, who was "passingly delighted" by their affair. In another, Jonson courted a woman who "showed him all that he wished" of her body, but refused to go as far as "the last act" (quoted in Wells, 131). But though he believed the "use of a maid nothing in comparison to the wantonness of a wife", Jonson finally settled down and married Anne Lewis in 1594. Their marriage was – perhaps unsurprisingly – a rocky one, and they spent several years living apart before reconciling for good in 1605. They had at least four children, all of whom Jonson would tragically outlive.
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⇒ Ben Jonson
