The Devil Is an Ass: And Other Plays

This excellent Oxford World's Classics collection is unusual in that none of these plays by Ben Jonson were well-received when first performed, and furthermore, have seldom been staged until recent years. Nonetheless, all four plays - Poetaster, Sejanus his Fall, The Devil is an Ass, and The New Inn - make good reading. I especially recommend these plays to readers already familiar with Jonson's better known works like Volpone, The Alchemist, Epicene, and Bartholomew Fair. Reading Jonson can require effort and this Oxford World's Classics edition is to be highly commended for the excellent introduction, explanatory notes, and glossary by Margaret Jane Kidnie. Poetaster: Among his earliest plays, Poetaster was first staged in 1601, the same year as Hamlet. (A poetaster is a trivial rhymester, a writer of doggerel, at best an inferior poet.) Although Poetaster is primarily about the relationship of the Roman poets Ovid, Virgil, and Horace with governmental authority, several scenes are devoted to ridiculing two mean-spirited, envious, plagiaristic poets, Crispinus and Demetrius. Despite the setting in ancient Rome, the audience quickly recognized that these two inept poets were caricatures of Jonson's bitter rivals, John Marston and Thomas Dekker. Sejanus his Fall: Previously, Jonson had focused on satirical comedies; writing a historical tragedy was quite a change. Unfortunately, despite a cast that included Richard Burbage and William Shakespeare (perhaps, playing the lascivious Tiberius), Sejanus his Fall was a failure. To make matters worse, despite Jonson's effort to carefully document the historical accuracy of his play, he was summoned by the Privy Council to defend himself against charges of sedition and slander. Apparently, in recent performances Sejanus has fared much better. While I enjoyed reading Sejanus, Jonson may have overly constrained his artistic freedom by his insistence to adhere rigidly to historical accounts. The Devil is an Ass: This mildly satirical play, like Bartholomew Fair, abounds with unscrupulous characters, con men, and gullible dupes. Jonson successfully interweaves several subplots involving deceit and trickery, creating an enjoyable comedy. The play begins as a lesser devil, named Pug, requests an opportunity to visit London to entrap innocents, thereby ensuring their doom. Satan is skeptical. He considers modern 1616 London to be more corrupt and dissolute than Hell itself. Satan reluctantly allows Pug to proceed. The New Inn (or, The Light Heart): Jonson's final play was notably unsuccessful, being cancelled after a single night. Contrastingly, a modern production by the Royal Shakespeare Company received much acclaim. The editor, Margaret Jane Kidnie, urges the reader to read the play before reading Jonson's introductory summary, titled the Argument, which gives away the ending. It is probably prudent also to skip the short description of the play's characters. Act Five is best as a surprise.