Biography

Ben Jonson was born in London, England, June 11th, 1572.  Jonson had quite the interesting upbringing. He was raised in a poor family. His mother, a widow, struggled to provide until she would later marry. His father was a minister, who died before he was born.  His mother would go on to marry a brick layer. Jonson was raised in Westminster, England. He would attend the Westminster school where he studied under famous scholar William Camden. Jonson would go on to work as a bricklayer, serve in the military and eventually work as an actor and playwriter at a theatre company. 

Jonson would marry Anne Lewis; they had two children. Not much is known about their marriage. Jonson did, however, outlive all of his children.  He became an actor and wrote many plays and comedies. In the year 1598, Jonson wrote what is widely considered to be his first great play, Every Man in His Humor. In a reproduction, during the year 1616, the great William Shakespear played a lead role in the play. In the same year, Jonson killed a fellow actor in a duel and was able to escape being hung. Jonson was imprisoned for a short time but was able to claim the benefit of clergy, to avoid long term imprisonment. The murder did not seem to affect his reputation. 

Jonson had many admirers and royal followers. The Duke and Dutchess of Newcastle and King James I.  Jonson also assumed the responsibilities of  Poet Laureate, although it was not a formal appointment. From the years 1616 to 1625, he would write masques for presentation at court. Due to Jonsons influential works during the reign of King James I, his reign was known as the period of consummate masque. 

Jonson wrote many famous plays and comedies. Some of his most famous were Cynthias Revells and Poetaster (both in 1601), The Masque of Blackness (1605) and The Alchemist (1610). In the year 1616, Jonson published his Workes, the first English writer to dignify his writings and dramas by using the term "works".  Jonson is considered to be the father of English literary criticism. Jonson brought critical thinking and emphasized percepts of great thinkers such as, Aristotle and Horace.  His works heavily influenced what would come to be known as the Augustan Age. 

Jonsons later years, were filled with misfortune and struggle. In the year 1623, a fire would destroy Jonsons library. King James I, who was a loyal admirer of Jonsons, passed away in 1625. When this took place Jonson would lose much if his influence at court. Later in the year 1628, Jonson would suffer a stroke, the first of many, that would leave him bedridden. He would spend the rest of his life in retirement, while still writing and producing plays. Jonson would pass away on August 8th, 1637. After his death, two of his unfinished plays, were discovered. The cause of his death is not known. Jonson was buried in Westminster Abbey, in London. There is a story that states, Jonson asked King Charles I for 18 inches of square ground, in the Abbey. Jonson requested an upright burial, making him the only person in the Abbey, to be buried in that position. Jonson is to this day, considered by many to be, the second-most important literary figure of the Jacobean Era.