Ben Jonson Practice Questions

Correct answer: Every Man in His Humour

*Every Man in His Humour* popularized the 'comedy of humours' in London, where characters are driven by an imbalance of bodily fluids or obsessive psychological traits. The 1598 production was a massive success for the Lord Chamberlain's Men and featured William Shakespeare in a principal acting role. Jonson later heavily revised the play for his 1616 Folio, shifting the setting from Florence to London to emphasize its sharp city satire.

Correct answer: The Fly

True to the beast-fable tradition underpinning *Volpone*, Mosca's name literally translates to 'the fly' in Italian, symbolizing a parasitic creature that feeds on corruption and flits between victims. While Volpone is the grand Magnifico or 'the Fox,' Mosca acts as the nimble parasite who drives the plot forward by exploiting the greed of others. Eventually, the fly outgrows its host, turning on Volpone in a desperate bid to secure the entire inheritance.

Correct answer: Sentenced to public whipping and lifelong service as a galley slave.

Unlike lighter romantic comedies of the era, Jonson's *Volpone* ends with severe, unyielding judicial punishments that reflect his strict moral worldview. Mosca is sentenced by the Scrutinio to be whipped and condemned to lifelong labor in the state galleys because of his low social station and transgressive insolence. This harsh ending reminds audiences that Jonson intended his comedy to actively correct social vices rather than simply amuse.

Correct answer: Lovewit

Lovewit is the wealthy master of the London house who flees to the country to escape the bubonic plague, leaving his butler Jeremy (Face) in charge. Jeremy immediately collaborates with Subtle and Dol Common to turn the vacant house into a highly profitable con operation. Lovewit's unexpected return in Act V forces the con artists to scramble, though Lovewit ultimately forgives Face in exchange for a wealthy widow.

Correct answer: Sir Epicure Mammon

Sir Epicure Mammon is Jonson's greatest caricature of overwhelming greed and sensuality, elevating simple avarice into a form of perverse poetry. He fully believes Subtle can create the Philosopher's Stone and dreams of transforming his entire world into gold, dining on flamingo tongues, and sleeping on beds of feathers. His self-delusion makes him the ultimate target for Face and Subtle's elaborate financial scams.

Correct answer: Hypocritical Puritans from Amsterdam who profit from moral laws

Ananias and Tribulation Wholesome are holy brethren from Amsterdam who represent the extreme, hypocritical fringe of English Puritanism. Jonson brilliant satirizes how they easily rationalize purchasing counterfeit gold and working with an occult alchemist by claiming the proceeds will support their religious cause. This reflects Jonson's career-long disdain for Puritan anti-theatrical sentiments and religious hypocrisy.

Correct answer: Bartholomew Fair

*Bartholomew Fair* is Jonson's most structurally sprawling, raucous comedy, abandoning classical unities of action to capture the festive chaos of Smithfield Market. The play features a massive gallery of characters who lose their inhibitions, social status, and possessions within the chaotic fairgrounds. It stands as a celebration of London's vibrant urban subculture while mocking those who try to police it.

Correct answer: A seller's roast pig and a canvas puppet theater show

Zeal-of-the-Land Busy is the ultimate caricature of Puritan extremism, who enters the fair to feast on roast pig while loudly condemning the entire event as a pagan abomination. He eventually breaks out into physical violence, attacking a toy seller's stall and a puppet show which he claims violates biblical prohibitions against graven images. His hypocrisy is thoroughly exposed when a puppet defeats him in a theological debate by proving puppets have no gender.

Correct answer: The English Privy Council

Following the 1603 performance of *Sejanus His Fall*, Jonson was brought before the Privy Council by his political enemy, Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton. The state suspected that the play's dark depiction of palace conspiracies, surveillance, and tyrannical governance under Emperor Tiberius was a covert satire of the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean court. This incident reinforced Jonson's reputation as a politically dangerous intellectual writer.

Correct answer: Catiline His Conspiracy

*Catiline His Conspiracy* was Jonson's second classical Roman tragedy, written with meticulous historical accuracy based on the writings of Sallust and Cicero. Unlike Shakespeare's fast-moving Roman plays, Jonson loaded *Catiline* with massive, literal translations of Cicero's orations against the conspirators, which contemporary audiences found tedious. It reflects Jonson's fierce commitment to historical truth over easy theatrical sensationalism.

Correct answer: He titled his plays Workes, a term reserved for classical literature.

In 1616, Jonson published his collected plays, masques, and poems in an elegant folio format under the title *The Workes of Benjamin Jonson*. Critics mocked him mercilessly for his arrogance, asking how mere popular theater pieces could be self-importantly classified as serious literature or 'Works.' This bold editorial act paved the intellectual way for the publication of Shakespeare's First Folio seven years later.

Correct answer: The Sons of Ben

The 'Sons of Ben' were a dedicated group of younger poets and dramatists who met with Jonson at the Devil Tavern in London to drink wine and debate classical aesthetics. They adopted Jonson's commitment to Roman poetic forms, structural discipline, and satirical wit, deeply shaping the course of Cavalier poetry and Caroline comedy. This artistic lineage cemented Jonson's position as the first informal literary dictator of England.

Correct answer: Playwrights John Marston and Thomas Dekker

The Poetomachia was a bitter theatrical feud where Jonson traded personal insults and aesthetic critiques with John Marston and Thomas Dekker across different playhouses. Jonson attacked them in plays like *The Poetaster*, caricaturing Marston as a writer who vomited up strange vocabulary words. The conflict was largely professional showmanship, as Jonson soon after collaborated peacefully with Marston on *Eastward Hoe* (1605).

Correct answer: The Silent Woman

*Epicene, or The Silent Woman* is a tightly constructed farce that revolves entirely around Morose's obsession with absolute silence. He is tricked into marrying Epicene, a woman who appears completely mute but reveals herself to be loud and talkative immediately after the wedding ceremony. In a famous final plot twist, Epicene is unmasked as a boy actor in disguise, exposing the foolishness of Morose's patriarchal control.

Correct answer: Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones was the legendary royal architect and stage designer who brought Italian-style perspective staging, moving scenery, and elaborate machinery to the Stuart court masques. Jonson and Jones enjoyed a long, highly successful partnership until they clashed over whether the poet's words or the architect's spectacles were more important to the genre. Jonson bitterly lampooned Jones in several late poems and comedies, calling him a mere mechanic.

Correct answer: The Antimasque

Jonson invented the 'antimasque' to provide a necessary foil of chaos, darkness, and monstrosity before the main masque restored harmony and divine right. In *The Masque of Queens*, the antimasque featured a coven of grotesque hags representing social vices, who danced wildly before being banished by the sudden entrance of Heroic Virtue. This dual structure allowed Jonson to deepen the political and moral allegories of his court entertainments.

Correct answer: Jonson's Dotages

John Dryden famously referred to Jonson's late Caroline comedies as his 'dotages,' suggesting that the aging playwright had lost his sharp satirical edge and structural mastery after suffering a stroke in 1628. While plays like *The New Inn* (1629) were notorious stage flops, modern critics have re-evaluated them as fascinating, experimental tragicomedies that reflect a shifting Caroline theatrical climate.

Correct answer: He was not of an age, but for all time!

Jonson's prefatory poem 'To the Memory of My Beloved, the Author Mr. William Shakespeare' contains some of the most famous literary praise in history, including the declaration that Shakespeare 'was not of an age, but for all time!' Despite their aesthetic differences and professional rivalry, Jonson recognized Shakespeare's supreme poetic mastery, securing his status as a timeless universal writer.

Correct answer: The Isle of Dogs

*The Isle of Dogs* was a highly controversial topical satire that provoked an immediate government crackdown due to its offensive political slander against privy councilors. The state closed all London theaters for the summer, raided Jonson's lodgings, and imprisoned him in Marshalsea prison for several months, while Thomas Nashe fled to Yarmouth to escape arrest. No copies of the play survived this rigorous censorship.

Correct answer: Gabriel Spencer

Jonson fought a deadly duel with Gabriel Spencer, an actor from Philip Henslowe’s company, and stabbed him to death in Hogsden Fields. Jonson was imprisoned at Newgate and faced execution, but he successfully escaped the gallows by claiming 'benefit of clergy'—proving he could read and write Latin sentences. His property was confiscated, and his thumb was permanently branded with a 'Tyburn T' for manslaughter.