Comment on the importance of Ben Jonson’s
drama.
Answer:
Ben Jonson's
importance in the history of English drama is mainly due to his envisagement of
a new kind of comedy of which he gave excellent examples. He was a vigorous
crusader for good sense and rectitude. From the very beginning of his dramatic
career (the closing years of the sixteenth century) he undertook, what he
thought, the reform of Elizabethan drama, and particularly comedy.
He
appeared at a time when the University Wits such as Marlowe, Lyly, Greene, Kyd,
and Nashe were establishing upon the stage what is called "romantic
drama." To those like Ben Jonson who had any respect for classical drama
and its canons, as also moderation, sanity, and the moral and intellectual
well-being of man, the romantic comedies and histories offered much that was
abominably absurd and lawless. He was critical of romantic extravagance and the
egregious lack of realism as well as the general ignorance, or defiance, of the
classical rules sanctified by the theories and practice of the ancient Greeks
and Romans. Frequent changes of place, long duration of the time represented, absence
of a unified plan or coherent structure, mingling of farce and tragedy, of
clowns and kings, lack of definite aesthetic or ethical aims, and, in short an
easy disregard of precision and discipline appeared to Jonson as indefensible
errors. The themes treated were as objectionable as the treatment. The romantic
plays told simply impossible stories and did not imitate life or nature. They
dealt with idealised heroes, far-flung places, unbelievable adventures and
vicissitudes, and flamboyant situations. The drama before Ben Jonson was
romantic insofar as
(i)
it did not adhere to the theory and practice of the ancients and
(ii)
it did not attempt a representation of actuality.
Ben Jonson's
reformation of drama meant, in fact, his correction of these twin romantic
tendencies. He tried to establish, instead, a comic form and a tragic form
based on the classical practice and to bring drama nearer life. In the field of
tragedy he had no tangible success (he wrote only two tragedies), but in that
of comedy he succeeded in making himself the greatest figure of his age.
Jonson's Classicism:
We will consider
Jonson's achievement and contribution in the field of comedy with respect to
his following three tendencies:
(i)
Classicism
(ii)
Realism
(iii)
Moralism
