Since our topic for this week's entries was decided to be
English theatre history, and I brought up Ben Jonson without remembering
anything he did, I chose to look into his work for my post.
Jonson started as a company member of the Admiral's Men in
1597. He was reputed to be a rather poor actor, but by 1598 had begun to write
original works to be performed by the company, at which he had far greater
success. He was well-regarded for his tragedies, although none of his early
tragedies survive. He was jailed for his play with Thomas Nashe, Isle of Dogs, which was alleged to have
satirized the queen. Jonson also wrote a great number of masques, which were
plays celebrating the nobility, performed specifically at court parties,
including participation from some members of court.
It is suspected that Jonson had a rivalry with Shakespeare,
and that from a literary standpoint he was critical of Shakespeare's work. The
accuracy of claims regarding this rivalry are uncertain, but it was clear that
Jonson respected Shakespeare as a writer in spite of any criticisms he may have
had. He contributed two poems to the preface of Shakespeare's First Folio, the
second of which was titled "To the Memory of the Beloved My Author, Mr.
William Shakespeare and What He Hath Left Us." I have attached a link to
the poem below.
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