BEN JONSON
VOLPONE/THE ALCHEMIST
BARTHOLOMEW FAIR
EDITED BY MICHAEL JAMIESON
Jonson with skill dissected human kind,
And show'd their faults that they their faults might find
- John Dryden
As Shakespeare's nearest rival on the English stage, Ben Jonson has both gained and suffered. Productions of recent years have, as it were, rediscovered him as a comic dramatist of genius and a master of language. This volume contains his best-known comedies.
Volpone, which is perhaps his greatest, and The Alchemist are both tours de force of brilliant knavery, unflagging in wit and comic invention. Bartholomew Fair, an earthier work, portrays Jonson's fellow Londoners in festive mood - bawdy, energetic, and never at a loss tor words.