Ben Jonson Research Paper

Ben Jonson was an English dramatist and poet, born in 1572 and whose classical learning, gift for satire, and brilliant style made him one of the great figures of English literature. Although he had very little formal education he had a vast knowledge of Latin and Greek literature. His work became popular and he wrote entertaining plays for the court of King James I. These plays displayed his erudition, wit, and versatility and contained some of his best lyric poetry. Although Ben Jonson lived during the middle 1600's, when people were at most times trying to put on genteel airs, he developed a more earthy view of existence. He lived a violent life at times and had a few run-ins with the law. By all appearances it may have seem he was a brutish rogue but underneath it all he had the heart of a romantic.

Ben Jonson wrote many lyrical poems and he was keenly adept at illustrating and portraying contemporary people. The poems, Song: To Celia and
He had the knack of breaking through the veneer to get to the core of the person he wrote about. No one was spared his astute observations because he even wrote satirical pieces about his friends and himself. He could poke fun at his good friend, Shakespeare, and get away with it. He had a rough life physically and emotionally as well. Although much is not known about his wife, it is a fact that both of his children lived for only a short time. The emotional lose of the people he loved may have given him the gift to get past all deceit in life and understand what really mattered. At the time of his writings the popular writers leaned more toward intellectual subjects, like theology and history. Their works were considered serious while his light, but he soon changed the minds of the critics. With short and direct verses he made the literary world understand that poems can be serious works of