Ben Jonson's Life and Work

Ben Jonson was born on June 11, 1572 in London, England. His father a minister, died shortly before his birth and his mother remarried a bricklayer. He was raised in Westminster and attended St. Martin's parish school and Westminster school, where he came under the influence of the classical scholar William Camden. The left the Westminster school in 1589, and began working with his father who was a bricklayer. He eventually joined the army where he served in Flanders. After he served in the army he returned to England around 1592 and married Anne Lewis on November 14, 1594 and began to work as an actor and playwright. Jonson and Lewis had at least two children, but little else is known about their marriage.

A CHRONOLOGY OF BEN JONSON'S LIFE AND WORK: IAN DONALDSON

This a great web source to view a timeline of Ben Jonson's Life and Work-

http://universitypublishingonline.org/cambridge/benjonson/static/timeline/timeline.html

 

Ben Jonson joined the theatrical company of Philip Henslowe in London as an actor and playwright on or before 1597. In 1598 he was imprisoned in the "Fleet Prison" for killing a fellow actor, Gabriel Spencer, in a duel in the Fields at Shoreditch and was tried at Old Bailey for murder. He escaped death by pleading benefit of clergy and was imprisoned for only two weeks and released. He then performed his second known play, Every Man in His Humour,in 1598 (which had a cast including William Shakespeare). Followed by this play was, Every Man Out of His Humour in 1599 and he continued his acting performances from 1599 to 1614. It was nineyears before his next play, The Staple of News (1625), was produced. Instead of acting and playwright he turned his attention to writing masques. His later plays The New Inn (1629) and A Tale of a Tub (1633) were not great successes. Jonson had a circle of admirers and friends, who called themselves the "Tribe of Ben," gathered regularly at the "Mermaid Tavern". Some of his friends included William Shakespeare and John Donne. Jonson's last play "Sad Shepherd's Tale" was left unfinished at his death and published

posthumously in 1641.

             Shakespeare and Jonson debating at the "Mermaid Tavern".

Jonson also wrote comedies between the years of 1605 and 1614. The first of these, Volpone, or The Fox, performed in 1605-1605 is often regarded as his masterpiece. In 1618, when he was 45 years old, Jonson set out for Scotland, the home of his ancestors. He made the journey entirely by foot. After his return, he received and Honorary Master of Arts degree from Oxford University and lectured on rhetoric at Gresham College, London.

                   This website gives a great portrayal of Ben Jonson's walk by foot to Scotland.
                                          http://www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk/ben-jonsons-walk/

This a fun you tube video clip of Ben Jonson's comedy "Volpone."

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T_QMk_bHyOo