Description

Book Synopsis
This edition brings together Jonson''s four great comedies in one volume. Volpone, which was first performed in 1606, dramatizes the corrupting nature of greed in an exuberant satire set in contemporary Venice. The first production of Epicene marked the end of a year long closure of the theatres because of an epidemic of the plague in 1609; its comedy affirms the consolatory power of laughter at such a time. The Alchemist (1610) deploys the metaphors of alchemical transformation to emphasize the mutability of the characters and their relationships. In Bartholomew Fair (1614) Jonson embroils the visitors to the fair in its myriad tempations, exposing the materialistic impulses beneath the apparent godliness of Jacobean Puritans. Under the General Editorship of Michael Cordner of the University of York the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. Stage directions hvae been added to facilitate the reconstruction of the plays''

Table of Contents
Volpone, or The Fox ; Epicene, or The Silent Woman ; The Alchemist ; Bartholemew Fair

The Alchemist and Other Plays

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    A Paperback / softback by Ben Jonson, Gordon Campbell

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      Book details

      Publisher Oxford University Press
      Published 11 September 2008
      ISBN-13 9780199537310
      978-0199537310
      ISBN-10 0199537313
      Also in:
      Poetry ELT & Literary Studies Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800 Literary studies: plays and playwrights

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      This edition brings together Jonson''s four great comedies in one volume. Volpone, which was first performed in 1606, dramatizes the corrupting nature of greed in an exuberant satire set in contemporary Venice. The first production of Epicene marked the end of a year long closure of the theatres because of an epidemic of the plague in 1609; its comedy affirms the consolatory power of laughter at such a time. The Alchemist (1610) deploys the metaphors of alchemical transformation to emphasize the mutability of the characters and their relationships. In Bartholomew Fair (1614) Jonson embroils the visitors to the fair in its myriad tempations, exposing the materialistic impulses beneath the apparent godliness of Jacobean Puritans. Under the General Editorship of Michael Cordner of the University of York the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. Stage directions hvae been added to facilitate the reconstruction of the plays''

      Table of Contents
      Volpone, or The Fox ; Epicene, or The Silent Woman ; The Alchemist ; Bartholemew Fair

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