Review
"...intelligently conservative, mistrustful of fads and grandiose gestures, plain but commanding in its use of language, teaching the present with respect for the past--in other words, a very suitable companion for Ben Jonson." Ben Jonson Journal

"This volume in the Cambridge Companion series is a helpful aid in achieving a truer picture of what [Jonson] was about.... The Cambridge contributors have effectively balanced a review of basic issues and themes with an array of particular insights which will be profitable for further discussion." Sixteenth Century Journal

"An exemplary student guide." Studies in English Literature


Book Description
Ben Jonson is, in many ways, the figure of greatest centrality to literary study of the Elizabethan and Jacobean period. He wrote in virtually every literary genre: in drama, comedy, tragedy and masque; in poetry, epigram, and lyric; in prose, literary criticism and English grammar. This Companion brings together leading scholars from both sides of the Atlantic to provide an accessible, up-to-date introduction to Jonson's life and works. It represents an invaluable guide to current critical perspectives, providing generous coverage not only of his plays but also his non dramatic works.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Ben Jonson is, in many ways, the figure of greatest centrality to literary study of the Elizabethan and Jacobean period. He wrote in virtually every literary genre: in drama, comedy, tragedy and masque; in poetry, epigram, and lyric; in prose, literary criticism and English grammar. This Companion brings together leading scholars from both sides of the Atlantic to provide an accessible, up-to-date introduction to Jonson's life and works. It represents an invaluable guide to current critical perspectives, providing generous coverage not only of his plays but also his nondramatic works.