The under -rated Ben Jonson.... a very amusing and brilliantly written play, should be far better known. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. Chicago citation Something went wrong. Meanwhile, Meercraft is making progress with his intended mark by tempting Fitzdottrel with various get-rich-quick schemes, like raising "drowned land," harvesting dogs' skins, or making wine from raisins. The Devil is an Ass is no exception. (Return to main page: index.html) The above engraving of a Catholic exorcism is by Jaques Callot, in 1630 (France/Italy). Appealing to Wittipol to put his "noble parts" that have impressed her "To a right use," she seeks his aid in resolving her dilemma: Influenced by Manly and his own better nature, Wittipol puts aside his lustful quest to help Mistress Fitzdottrel out of her difficulties. This edition of "The Devil is an Ass" (1616) aims to provide an insight into Jonson's life and work, the theatrical qualities of the play, its political background and its textual history. In the sympathetic court of Sir Paul Eitherside, Meercraft plans to get the legal documents dismissed and restore Fitzdottrel to the control of his own estate, so the cheating can continue. The Devil Is an Ass - The Persons of the Play Lyrics. However just or unjust may be the characterisation of Jonson's later plays as his "dotages," there would be no more great works after Bartholomew Fair, and a full decade would elapse between The Devil Is an Ass and Jonson's next play, The Staple of News. The Devil is an Ass! "The Devil is an Ass" is a mildly satirical play, in which a lesser devil named Pug is allowed by Satan to travel to London and entrap innocent souls. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays; Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, and his equally accomplished lyric poems. The Devil is an Ass furnishes a better basis of study than Bartholomew Fair , for the devil offers no chance of confusing the actualities of life with the conventionalities of literature , and , except for an element of folk superstition , we The devil is an ass ; The staple of news ; The new inn: or, The light heart ; Ode (to himself) ; An answer to the ode (by Owen Feltham) ; An answer to Ben Jonson's ode (by T. Randolph) ; To Ben Jonson (by T. Carew) ; Ode to Ben Jonson (by J. Cleveland) The 1616 production was by the King's Men; the play probably received its première at the Blackfriars Theatre in October or November of the year. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free. The initial publication of the play was somewhat irregular, in that Jonson intended to include it in a second folio collection of his works in 1631, but scrapped the plan when he was dissatisfied with the printing. The Devil is an Ass: This mildly satirical play, like Bartholomew Fair, abounds with unscrupulous characters, con men, and gullible dupes. Meercraft's trial before Sir Paul is warming up, with Fitzdottrel giving a bravura performance as a bewitched victim. Sign in to Purchase Instantly. Meaning of devil, the, is an ass. The Devil Is an Ass is a Jacobean comedy by Ben Jonson, first performed in 1616 and first published in 1631.[1]. Nay, made an Instrument! by Ben Jonson . and beaten! The Devil is an Ass is no exception. The Devil is an Ass;Ben Jonson's 1616 comedy about a junior demon who persuades his master Satan to let him spend a day in London. Well, since yo' have shewn the malice of a VVoman, No less then her true VVit and Learning, Mistris, I'll try, if little Pug have the malignity To recompence it, and so save his danger. The devil is an ass User Review - Not Available - Book Verdict. The Devil is an Ass, Rose Playhouse Enthusiastic little devil Pug wants a crack at antagonizing mortals, but big man Satan isn’t sure he’s ready. This edition of "The Devil is an Ass" (1616) aims to provide an insight into Jonson's life and work, the theatrical qualities of the play, its political background and its textual history. Wittipol wins the role of the Spanish woman, and in this disguise he penetrates Fitzdottrel's watch to reach his wife. To train Mistress Fitzdottrel in the manners of the upper class, Meercraft persuades his victim to solicit, with a present of a diamond ring, the aid of an Englishwoman who has lived in Spain and is fluent in courtly manners. Ben Jonson, The Devil is an Ass (1616), and exorcism. THE DEVIL IS AN ASS by Ben Jonson set design: Bunny Christie costumes: Laura Hopkins director: Matthew Warchus ~l-r: David Troughton (Fitzdottrel), Siobhan … Copies of this original edition were, in 1640–1, bound into the second volume of the First Folio of Jonson’s collected works. The Devil Is an Ass Ben Jonson. Several subplots involving deceit and trickery are successfully interwoven, creating an enjoyable comedy. The Devil has been produced successfully in modern times, while the more experimental Poetaster has remained largely in obscurity. This duo represent a hit and a miss by Jonson. This book was scanned by Google Books, archived at the Internet Archive, then proof-read and marked up by the Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders in 2005–2007. He is still entranced by Meercraft's con-game, however, and the central scenes in the play spin out a complex web of manipulation that includes rounds of Who's got the cloak? In addition to his main mania, Fitzdottrel has subsidiary obsessions: he dresses his beautiful young wife sumptuously, but clothes himself in second-hand garments, which he wheels and deals over with enthusiasm. This page describes my post-processing of The Devil is an Ass by Ben Jonson, Edited with Introduction, Notes, and Glossary by William Savage Johnson, Ph.D., 1905. $2.99. The Devil is an Ass, Issues 29-30 The Devil is an Ass, William Savage Johnson Volume 29 of Yale studies in English: Author: Ben Jonson: Editor: William Savage Johnson: Publisher: H. Holt, 1905: Length: 252 pages : Export Citation: BiBTeX EndNote RefMan This edition of "The Devil is an Ass" (1616) aims to provide an insight into Jonson's life and work, the theatrical qualities of the play, its political background and its textual history. Music: John Leach . But word arrives of the satanic doings at Newgate; and Fitzdottrel, realising that Pug, "Deville," had been a devil after all, is so beside himself that he abandons the pretense of bewitchment and spills the beans. Paperback. Synopsis Notes . After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Ben Jonson's mildly satirical plays abound with unscrupulous characters, con men, and gullible dupes. The Devil is an Ass was first printed in 1631, together with Bartholomew Fair and The Staple of News, as part of a plan to issue a companion volume to the 1616 folio of Jonson’s writings.But no publication materialized until 1640, when these three plays (each prefaced by its original 1631 title-page) were issued together under the general title of ‘THE WORKES OF BENIAMIN IONSON. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. D.)- … and Who's got the ring?, and a wealth of satirical commentary on various aspects of London life, such as the booming business of women's cosmetics. Login See the Introduction to the Johnson edition, pp. Fitzdottrel is most enthusiastic about the first, and Meercraft convinces his dupe that he will soon be elevated to the peerage as the Duke of the Drowned Lands. The Devil is an Ass was first printed in 1631, and was probably put into circulation at that time, either as a separate pamphlet or bound with Bartholomew Fair and The Staple of News. Benjamin "Ben" Jonson was born in June, 1572. She denounces Pug to Fitzdottrel, who beats the imp with a cudgel. When Fitzdottrel intends to see a play in Act I, the play in question is The Devil Is an Ass. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. Copies of the 1631 printed text were released, though whether they were sold publicly or circulated privately by Jonson is unclear. Ship This Item — Qualifies for Free Shipping Buy Online, Pick up in Store Check Availability at Nearby Stores. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Paperback $ 14.99. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. It was Damian’s pal Jonsel Gourkan who tweeted the picture. Jonson successfully interweaves several subplots involving deceit and trickery, creating an enjoyable comedy. A Private Entertainment of the King and Queen on May-Day, The Entertainment of the Kings of Great Britain and Denmark, News from the New World Discovered in the Moon, Time Vindicated to Himself and to His Honours, Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Devil_Is_an_Ass&oldid=961072491, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Another Entertaining, Mildly Satirical Comedy by Ben Jonson, Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2004. Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2016, thz the book was on time and nice fold it, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 12, 2014. $14.99. The Devil Is an Ass is a Jacobean comedy by Ben Jonson, first performed in 1616 and first published in 1631. His reputation for eccentric foolishness has made Fitzdottrel the target of a host of confidence men, who fall out into two groups: on the one hand, the young gallant Wittipol and his friend Manly, and on the other the "projector" Meercraft and his henchmen, Ingine the broker, Lady Tailbush, Guilthead the goldsmith, Everill and Train and others. (Reclaiming swamps and fens for agricultural use, via dykes and windmill-driven pumps, was a real and lucrative development of the time.) The play opens in Hell, with Satan and an inferior devil named Pug. Fitzdottrel tries to outwit the gallant by ordering his wife to remain silent; but when Wittipol finds that the young woman will not answer him, he answers for her, so aptly that the virtuous Mistress Fitzdottrel is impressed, almost against her will, with his "brain and spirit.". 1. View All Available Formats & Editions. One’s memory is continually being jogged by echoes of scenes, situations, climactic revelations, characters, even phrases that recall past successes. We have two accounts of the affair. Using Stephen Greenblatt (‘Shakespeare and the exorcists’ in Shakespearean Negotiations), Barbara Rosen (ed), Witchcraft in England 1558-1618, Keith Thomas, etc, a chronology of some of the relevant events: Search type:Within Lyrics Lyrics Exact Match Titles Exact Match. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by Project Gutenberg. Fitzdottrel is obsessed with the idea of meeting a devil; he has consorted with magicians and conjurers (Simon Forman among others) in hopes of encountering an imp who will aid him in the discovery of buried treasure. In the end, the con men are themselves conned, the witty enjoy the fruits of their wit, and virtue is preserved. Pug spent the entire play being so incompetent at being bad that it is funny. The devil is an ass by Jonson, Ben, 1573?-1637. Associate Director: Peter Barnes. Please try again. Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! Please try again. Performed at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, the Edinburgh Festival, the National Theatre and on a European tour . Once she has legal control of their estate, Mistress Fitzdottrel can prevent her husband's follies from bankrupting them. Thesis (Ph. Pug wants to be sent to Earth to do the Devil's work of tempting men to evil – but Satan thinks he isn't up to the job; the world has grown so sophisticated in its vices, especially in the moral cesspool of London, that a simple devil like Pug will be severely out of his depth. Publication date 1905 Topics Johnson, William Savage Publisher New York, H. Holt and company Collection library_of_congress; americana Digitizing sponsor Sloan Foundation Contributor The Library of Congress Language English. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. devil-servant of Ben Jonson’s The Devil Is an Ass, and explores the implications that ‘complete’ or ‘partial’ costume changes have for how an audience interprets the charac - ter, and how this apparent visual ambiguity may have been resolved by cosmetics and/ Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. Run sheet A great neglected comedy by the great Elizabethan/jacobean playwright. He is surprised, however, when his victims turn out to be more cunning and unscrupulous than expected. Ben Jonson - The Devil Is An Ass: "There is no greater hell than to be a prisoner of fear. When Meercraft and Ingine are looking for someone to play the "Spanish woman," they mention Richard Robinson, a real actor with the King's Men; Robinson played female parts as a boy, and had acted in the company's production of Jonson's Catiline in 1611. The Devil Is an Ass followed Bartholomew Fair (1614), one of the author's greatest works, and marks the start of the final phase of his dramatic career. NOOK Book. Please try your request again later. Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. fool'd off! There was a problem loading your book clubs. To this point, Wittipol and Manly have been co-operating with Meercraft and company, but now, in effect, they change sides. KING JAMES I AND THE DEVIL IS AN Ass 3 The case which Meercraft cites must be that of young Smith, of Husbands Bosworth, Leicestershire. Pug, looking for opportunities for villainy, tries to tempt Mistress Fitzdottrel into cheating on her husband with Wittipol; but his effort is inept, and she thinks he is a spy planted by her husband. Design: Robin Archer. Satan, triumphant in his prediction that 1616 London was more than Pug could handle, arrives to spirit Pug away, blasting a wall out of Newgate in the process, and leaving the thief's body behind. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. 2. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Mistress Fitzdottrel, however, surprises Wittipol and Manly with an effective plea to their nobler natures (Act IV, scene vi). Meercraft, now realising that he's been fooled, strikes back: he persuades Fitzdottrel (who is outraged at his wife's usurpation of authority) to pretend to be bewitched by his wife and her confederates. Nick Hern Books (London) publishes an extensive set of plays for students, actors, and theatregoers in their Drama Classics series. Available ebook formats: epub mobi pdf lrf pdb html. One, strictly contemporary, is embodied in a letter written on July 18, 1616, by Alderman Robert Heyrick, of Leicester, to his Running time: app 2h 45m. The Devil Is an Ass followed Bartholomew Fair (1614), one of the author's greatest works, and marks the start of the final phase of his dramatic career. The Devil is an Ass. 1 Intermission . Wittipol, the character in the play who does masquerade as the "Spanish woman," was most likely played by Robinson, creating another of the loops of self-reference that Jonson liked to generate in his plays. 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