Bartholomew Fair: A Comedy

Name: Bartholomew Fair: A Comedy
Author: Ben Jonson
ISBN: 9781787367326

Author: Ben Jonson
Language: English
Length: 160 pages
ISBN: 9781787367326
Published: 20 August 2023
Imprint: Sovereign

Medieval fair
Satirical comedy
London society
Carnival atmosphere
Social satire
Human follies
Exaggeration
Farce
Morality
Absurdity

All titles

Description

"Bartholomew Fair: A Comedy" by Ben Jonson is set at the bustling Bartholomew Fair in London. It follows various characters, including Quarlous and Winwife, who vie for the hand of Grace Wellborn. The fair becomes a microcosm of society, with merchants, conmen, and gullible visitors. The play satirizes greed, hypocrisy, and the chaos of city life. Amidst the colorful chaos, Jonson explores themes of morality and human folly, creating a vivid portrait of 17th-century urban culture.

Author

Ben Jonson (1572–1637) was the great comic dramatist of Shakespeare's age — a poet of city intrigue, gullibility, and verbal fireworks. The Alchemist, Volpone, and Every Man in His Humour made London itself a stage of schemes and comeuppance. Scholar, satirist, and masque-maker to the court, Jonson wrote classical comedy with a street ear. His seven titles here open a door into Jacobean theatre at its sharpest and funniest.

More by Ben Jonson