Interest in Ben Jonson is higher today than at any time since his death. This new collection offers detailed readings of all the major plays - Volpone, Epicene, The Alchemist and Bartholomew Fair - and the poems. It also provides significant insights into the court masques and the later plays which have only recently been rediscovered as genuinely engaging stage pieces.

Acknowledgements vi
1 Introduction 1
2 D o n E. W a y n e Drama and Society in the Age of Jonson:
An Alternative View 26
3 J o h n G . Sw e e n e y III Sejanus and the People's Beastly Rage 5 0
4 J o n a t h a n G o l d b e r g State Secrets 70
5 St a n l e y F i s h Authors-Readers: Jonson's Community
of the Same 83
6 Ia n D o n a l d s o n Unknown Ends: Volpone 118
7 M a r y B e t h R o s e The Expense of Spirit 136
8 C h e r y l L y n n Ross The Plague of The Alchemist 149
9 J o n a t h a n H a y n e s Festivity and the Dramatic Economy
of Jonson's Bartholomew Fair 167
10 M a r t i n B u t l e r Late Jonson 189
Further Reading 210
Index