The play is a
colossal
expose of social abuses.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
_ 25-6 and _DA.
_ 3.
2. 44-6; _U. 62. _ 45-8 and _DA. _ 2. 8. 19-22. These passages are all
quoted in the notes. In addition, there are a few striking words and
phrases that occur in both productions, but the important likenesses
are all noted above. In no other poem except _Charis_, _The Gipsies_,
and _Underwoods 36_,[65] where the borrowings are unmistakably
intentional, is there any thing like the same reworking of material as
in this instance.
III. SPECIFIC OBJECTS OF SATIRE
_The Devil is an Ass_ has been called of all Jonson's plays since
_Cynthia's Revels_ the most obsolete in the subjects of its satire. [66]
The criticism is true, and it is only with some knowledge of the abuses
which Jonson assails that we can appreciate the keenness and precision
of his thrusts.
The play is a colossal expose of social abuses. It
attacks the aping of foreign fashions, the vices of society, and above
all the cheats and impositions of the unscrupulous swindler. But we
miss its point if we fail to see that Jonson's arraignment of the
society which permitted itself to be gulled is no less severe than that
of the swindler who practised upon its credulity. Three institutions
especially demand an explanation both for their own sake and for their
bearing upon the plot. These are the duello, the monopoly, and the
pretended demoniacal possession.
[65] See Introduction, Section C. IV.
[66] Swinburne, p. 65.
1. _The Duello_
The origin of private dueling is a matter of some obscurity. It was
formerly supposed to be merely a development of the judicial duel or
combat, but this is uncertain. Dueling flourished on the Continent,
and was especially prevalent in France during the reign of Henry III.
Jonson speaks of the frequency of the practice in France in _The
Magnetic Lady_.
No private duel seems to have occurred in England before the sixteenth
century, and the custom was comparatively rare until the reign of
James I. Its introduction was largely due to the substitution of the
rapier for the broadsword.
2. 44-6; _U. 62. _ 45-8 and _DA. _ 2. 8. 19-22. These passages are all
quoted in the notes. In addition, there are a few striking words and
phrases that occur in both productions, but the important likenesses
are all noted above. In no other poem except _Charis_, _The Gipsies_,
and _Underwoods 36_,[65] where the borrowings are unmistakably
intentional, is there any thing like the same reworking of material as
in this instance.
III. SPECIFIC OBJECTS OF SATIRE
_The Devil is an Ass_ has been called of all Jonson's plays since
_Cynthia's Revels_ the most obsolete in the subjects of its satire. [66]
The criticism is true, and it is only with some knowledge of the abuses
which Jonson assails that we can appreciate the keenness and precision
of his thrusts.
The play is a colossal expose of social abuses. It
attacks the aping of foreign fashions, the vices of society, and above
all the cheats and impositions of the unscrupulous swindler. But we
miss its point if we fail to see that Jonson's arraignment of the
society which permitted itself to be gulled is no less severe than that
of the swindler who practised upon its credulity. Three institutions
especially demand an explanation both for their own sake and for their
bearing upon the plot. These are the duello, the monopoly, and the
pretended demoniacal possession.
[65] See Introduction, Section C. IV.
[66] Swinburne, p. 65.
1. _The Duello_
The origin of private dueling is a matter of some obscurity. It was
formerly supposed to be merely a development of the judicial duel or
combat, but this is uncertain. Dueling flourished on the Continent,
and was especially prevalent in France during the reign of Henry III.
Jonson speaks of the frequency of the practice in France in _The
Magnetic Lady_.
No private duel seems to have occurred in England before the sixteenth
century, and the custom was comparatively rare until the reign of
James I. Its introduction was largely due to the substitution of the
rapier for the broadsword.
