We're not going to lie. Ben Jonson is fun. Like Shakespeare, he wrote poems as well as plays. He is best known for his satires, but actually made his career creating masques.

Masques were elaborate, parade-like plays that included intricately designed sets, costumes, mini-plays, songs, and dances. They were often performed in honor of royalty. And they were often performed by the nobility. (Well, the courtiers had the non-speaking parts, anyway…)

In fact, the party that Romeo crashes at the beginning of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is a masque. What does that tell you about the Capulets' social standing? 

Volpone

Volpone is a satire and an animal allegory, kind of like Animal Farm. Once again, animals are making mischief. And this time, a greedy, evil fox gets embroiled in a courtroom drama with as many costume changes as a Shakespearean play. Despite displaying some pretty nasty personality traits, though, this play's characters act out a lot of concerns shared by their audiences. During the Renaissance, pretty much everyone would have been fretting over inheritances and rapacious old men.

"On My First Son"

Far from a satire or a backbone for colorful sets, "On My First Son" is a short, heartbreaking poem. It was penned in honor of his son's death. All that exists in this piece is a father's love, loss, and grief. So we think Jonson's work here reveals the most important thing about people during the English Renaissance: they were just like us.

Chew on This

"Slow, Slow, Fresh Fount" is a poem Jonson placed in one of his masques. In addition to doing some interesting things with allusion (he's pointing to the Echo and Narcissus myth here), he's playing with a major symbol from that myth. How do you think he's turning the original meaning of the flowers on its head?

Ready for more flowery symbols? What is Jonson trying to do when he compares nature to poetry in "Song to Celia"? How does nature interact with art? How does constructing something like a wreath (or a poem) add to or detract from natural beauty?