Another
function
of the office is mentioned by Ford in _Fancies Chaste
and Noble_, _Wks.
and Noble_, _Wks.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
39; 5.
8.
40).
Similarly, Somers performed many of his
tricks 'under a coverlet' (_Detection_, p. 104). Sir Paul Eitherside
then enters and 'interprets all'. This is imitated directly from
Harsnet, where we read: 'So. [Somers] acting those gestures M. Dar.
did expound them very learnedlye, to signify this or that sinne that
raigned in Nott. [Nottingham]. ' Paul's first words are: 'This is the
_Diuell_ speakes and laughes in him'. So Harsnet tells us that 'M. Dar.
vpon his first comming vnto Som. affirmed that it was not So. that
spake in his fitts, but the diuell by him'. Both Fitzdottrel (Text, 5.
8. 115) and Somers (_Narration_, p. 182) talk in Greek. The devil in
Fitzdottrel proposes to 'break his necke in jest' (Text, 5. 8. 117),
and a little later to borrow money (5. 8. 119). The same threat is
twice made in the _True Narration_ (pp. 178 and 180). In the second of
these passages Somers is met by an old woman, who tries to frighten him
into giving her money. Otherwise, she declares, 'I will throwe thee
into this pit, and breake thy neck'. The mouse 'that should ha' come
forth' (Text, 5. 8. 144) is mentioned by both narrators (_Detection_,
p. 140; _Narration_, p. 184), and the pricking of the body with
pins and needles (Text, 5. 8. 49) is found in slightly altered form
(_Detection_, p. 135; _Narration_, p. 174). Finally the clapping of the
hands (Text. 5. 8. 76) is a common feature (_Narration_, p. 182). The
last mentioned passage finds a still closer parallel in a couplet from
the contemporary ballad, which Gifford quotes from Hutchinson (p. 249):
And by the clapping of his Hands
He shew'd the starching of our Bands.
Of the apparatus supplied by Merecraft for the imposture, the soap,
nutshell, tow, and touchwood (Text, 5. 3. 3-5), the bladders and
bellows (Text, 5. 5. 48), some are doubtless taken from Harsnet's
_Discovery_, though Darrel does not quote these passages in the
_Detection_. We find, however, that Darrel was accused of supplying
Somers with black lead to foam with (_Detection_, p. 160), and Gifford
says that the _soap_ and _bellows_ are also mentioned in the 'Bishop's
book'.
Though Jonson drew so largely upon this source, many details are
supplied by his own imagination. Ridiculous as much of it may seem to
the modern reader, it is by no means overdrawn. In fact it may safely
be affirmed that no such realistic depiction of witchcraft exists
elsewhere in the whole range of dramatic literature.
[56] Langbaine, _Eng. Dram. Poets_, p. 289.
[57] _Quellen Studien_, p. 15.
[58] 2. 2. 69.
[59] Mentioned by Koeppel, p. 15.
[60] So spelled in 1573 ed. In earlier editions 'palafreno'.
[61] _Studien_, p. 232.
[62] See note 2. 1. 168 f.
[63] Gifford points out the general resemblance. He uses Hutchinson's
book for comparison.
[64] This book, so far as I know, is not to be found in any American
library. My knowledge of its contents is derived wholly from
Darrel's answer, _A Detection of that sinnful, shamful, lying and
ridiculous Discours, of Samuel Harshnet, entituled: A Discoverie,
etc. . . . Imprinted 1600_, which apparently cites all of Harsnet's more
important points for refutation. It has been lent me through the
kindness of Professor George L. Burr from the Cornell Library. The
quotations from Harsnet in the following pages are accordingly taken
from the excerpts in the _Detection_.
3. _Prototypes of the leading Characters_
The position of the leading characters has already been indicated. Pug,
as the comic butt and innocent gull, is allied to Master Stephen and
Master Matthew of _Every Man in his Humor_, Dapper of _The Alchemist_,
and Cokes of _Bartholomew Fair_. Fitzdottrel, another type of the gull,
is more closely related to _Tribulation Wholesome_ in _The Alchemist_,
and even in some respects to Corvino and Voltore in _The Fox_. Wittipol
and Manly, the chief intriguers, hold approximately the same position
as Wellbred and Knowell in _Every Man in his Humor_, Winwife and
Quarlous in _Bartholomew Fair_, and Dauphine, Clerimont, and Truewit in
_The Silent Woman_. Merecraft is related in his character of swindler
to Subtle in _The Alchemist_, and in his character of projector to Sir
Politick Wouldbe in _The Fox_.
The contemptible 'lady of spirit and woman of fashion' is one of
Jonson's favorite types. She first appears in the persons of Fallace
and Saviolina in _Every Man out of his Humor_; then in _Cynthia's
Revels_, where Moria and her friends play the part; then as Cytheris in
_Poetaster_, Lady Politick in _The Alchemist_, the collegiate ladies
in _The Silent Woman_, and Fulvia and Sempronia in _Catiline_. The same
affectations and vices are satirized repeatedly. An evident prototype
of Justice Eitherside is found in the person of Adam Overdo in
_Bartholomew Fair_. Both are justices of the peace, both are officious,
puritanical, and obstinate. Justice Eitherside's denunciation of the
devotees of tobacco finds its counterpart in a speech in _Bartholomew
Fair_, and his repeated 'I do detest it' reminds one of Overdo's
frequent expressions of horror at the enormities which he constantly
discovers.
4. _Minor Sources_
_The Devil is an Ass_ is not deeply indebted to the classics. Jonson
borrows twice from Horace, 1. 6. 131, and 2. 4. 27 f. The half dozen
lines in which the former passage occurs (1. 6. 126-132) are written in
evident imitation of the Horatian style. Two passages are also borrowed
from Plautus, 2. 1. 168 f. , already mentioned, and 3. 6. 38-9. A single
passage (2. 6. 104 f. ) shows the influence of Martial. These passages
are all quoted in the notes.
The source of Wittipol's description of the 'Cioppino', and the mishap
attendant upon its use, was probably taken from a contemporary book
of travels. A passage in Coryat's _Crudities_ furnishes the necessary
information and a similar anecdote, and was doubtless used by Jonson
(see note 4. 4. 69). Coryat was patronized by the poet. Similarly,
another passage in the _Crudities_ seems to have suggested the project
of the forks (see note 5. 4. 17).
A curious resemblance is further to be noted between several passages
in _The Devil is an Ass_ and _Underwoods 62_. The first draft of this
poem may have been written not long before the present play (see Fleay,
_Chron. _ 1. 329-30) and so have been still fresh in the poet's mind.
The passage _DA. _ 3. 2. 44-6 shows unmistakably that the play was
the borrower, and not the poem. Gifford suggests that both passages
were quoted from a contemporary posture-book, but the passage in the
epigram gives no indication of being a quotation.
The chief parallels are as follows: _U. 62. _ 10-14 and _DA. _ 3. 3.
165-6; _U. 62. _ 21-2 and _DA. _ 3. 3. 169-72; _U. 62. _ 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. Not long after this change in weapons
fencing-schools began to be established and were soon very popular.
Donald Lupton, in his _London and the Countrey carbonadoed_, 1632,
says they were usually set up by 'some low-country soldier, who to
keep himself honest from further inconveniences, as also to maintain
himself, thought upon this course and practises it'. [67]
The etiquette of the duel was a matter of especial concern. The two
chief authorities seem to have been Jerome Carranza, the author of a
book entitled _Filosofia de las Armas_,[68] and Vincentio Saviolo,
whose _Practise_ was translated into English in 1595. It contained two
parts, the first 'intreating of the vse of the rapier and dagger', the
second 'of honor and honorable quarrels'. The rules laid down in these
books were mercilessly ridiculed by the dramatists; and the duello was
a frequent subject of satire. [69]
By 1616 dueling must have become very common. Frequent references
to the subject are found about this time in the _Calendar of State
Papers_. Under date of December 9, 1613, we read that all persons who
go abroad to fight duels are to be censured in the Star Chamber. On
February 17, 1614, 'a proclamation, with a book annexed', was issued
against duels, and on February 13, 1617, the King made a Star Chamber
speech against dueling, 'on which he before published a sharp edict'.
The passion for dueling was turned to advantage by a set of improvident
bravos, who styled themselves 'sword-men' or 'masters of dependencies,'
a _dependence_ being the accepted name for an impending quarrel. These
men undertook to examine into the causes of a duel, and to settle or
'take it up' according to the rules laid down by the authorities on
this subject. Their prey were the young men of fashion in the city,
and especially 'country gulls', who were newly come to town and
were anxious to become sophisticated. The profession must have been
profitable, for we hear of their methods being employed by the 'roaring
boys'[70] and the masters of the fencing schools. [71] Fletcher in _The
Elder Brother_, _Wks. _ 10. 283, speaks of
. . . the masters of dependencies
That by compounding differences 'tween others
Supply their own necessities,
and Massinger makes similar comment in _The Guardian_, _Wks. _, p. 343:
When two heirs quarrel,
The swordsmen of the city shortly after
Appear in plush, for their grave consultations
In taking up the difference; some, I know,
Make a set living on't.
Another function of the office is mentioned by Ford in _Fancies Chaste
and Noble_, _Wks. _ 2. 241. The master would upon occasion 'brave' a
quarrel with the novice for the sake of 'gilding his reputation', and
Massinger in _The Maid of Honor_, _Wks. _, p. 190, asserts that he would
even consent 'for a cloak with thrice-died velvet, and a cast suit' to
be 'kick'd down the stairs'. In _A King and No King_, B. & Fl. , _Wks. _
2. 310 f. , Bessus consults with two of these 'Gentlemen of the Sword'
in a ridiculous scene, in which the sword-men profess the greatest
scrupulousness in examining every word and phrase, affirming that they
cannot be 'too subtle in this business'.
Jonson never loses an opportunity of satirizing these despicable
bullies, who were not only ridiculous in their affectations, but who
proved by their 'fomenting bloody quarrels' to be no small danger
to the state. Bobadill, who is described as a Paul's Man, was in
addition a pretender to this craft. Matthew complains that Downright
has threatened him with the bastinado, whereupon Bobadill cries out
immediately that it is 'a most proper and sufficient dependence' and
adds: 'Come hither, you shall chartel him; I'll shew you a trick or
two, you shall kill him with at pleasure'. [72] Cavalier Shift, in
_Every Man out of his Humor_, among various other occupations has the
reputation of being able to 'manage a quarrel the best that ever you
saw, for terms and circumstances'. We have an excellent picture of
the ambitious novice in the person of Kastrill in _The Alchemist_.
Kastrill, who is described as an 'angry boy', comes to consult Subtle
as to how to 'carry a business, manage a quarrel fairly'. Face assures
him that Dr. Subtle is able to 'take the height' of any quarrel
whatsoever, to tell 'in what degree of safety it lies', 'how it may be
borne', etc.
From this description of the 'master of dependencies' the exquisite
humor of the passage in _The Devil is an Ass_ (3. 3. 60 f. ) can be
appreciated. Merecraft assures Fitzdottrel that this occupation, in
reality the refuge only of the Shifts and Bobadills of the city, is a
new and important office about to be formally established by the state.
In spite of all their speaking against dueling, he says, they have
come to see the evident necessity of a public tribunal to which all
quarrels may be referred. It is by means of this pretended office that
Merecraft attempts to swindle Fitzdottrel out of his entire estate,
from which disaster he is saved only by the clever interposition of
Wittipol.
[67] Cf. also Gosson, _School of Abuse_, 1579; Dekker, _A Knight's
Conjuring_, 1607; Overbury, _Characters_, ed. Morley, p. 66.
[68] See _New Inn_ 2. 2; _Every Man in_ 1. 5; B. & Fl. ,
_Love's Pilgrimage_, _Wks. _ 11. 317, 320.
[69] Cf. _Albumazar_, _O. Pl. _ 7. 185-6; _Rom. and Jul. _ 2. 4.
26; _Twelfth Night_ 3. 4. 335; _L. L. L. _ 1. 2. 183; Massinger,
_Guardian_, _Wks. _, p. 346. Mercutio evidently refers to Saviolo's
book and the use of the rapier in _Rom. and Jul. _ 3. 1. 93. Here the
expression, 'fight by the book', first occurs, used again by B. &
Fl. , _Elder Brother_, _Wks. _ 10. 284; Dekker, _Guls Horne-booke_, ch.
4; _As You Like it_ 5. 4. Dekker speaks of Saviolo, _Non-dram.
Wks. _ 1. 120.
[70] Overbury, ed. Morley, p. 72.
[71] _Ibid. _, p. 66.
[72] _Every Man in_, _Wks. _ 1. 35.
2. _The Monopoly System_
Jonson's severest satire in _The Devil is an Ass_ is directed against
the projector. Through him the whole system of Monopolies is indirectly
criticised. To understand the importance and timeliness of this attack,
as well as the poet's own attitude on the subject, it is necessary to
give a brief historical discussion of the system as it had developed
and then existed.
Royal grants with the avowed intention of instructing the English in
a new industry had been made as early as the fourteenth century,[73]
and the system had become gradually modified during the Tudor dynasty.
In the sixteenth century a capitalist middle class rose to wealth and
political influence. During the reign of Elizabeth a large part of
Cecil's energies was directed toward the economic development of the
country. This was most effectually accomplished by granting patents to
men who had enterprise enough to introduce a new art or manufacture,
whether an importation from a foreign country or their own invention.
The capitalist was encouraged to make this attempt by the grant of
special privileges of manufacture for a limited period. [74] The
condition of monopoly did not belong to the mediaeval system, but was
first introduced under Elizabeth. So far the system had its economic
justification, but unfortunately it did not stop here. Abuses began to
creep in. Not only the manufacture, but the exclusive trade in certain
articles, was given over to grantees, and commodities of the most
common utility were 'ingrossed into the hands of these blood-suckers
of the commonwealth. [75] A remonstrance of Parliament was made to
Elizabeth in 1597, and again in 1601, and in consequence the Queen
thought best to promise the annulling of all monopolies then existing,
a promise which she in large measure fulfilled. But the immense growth
of commerce under Elizabeth made it necessary for her successor, James
I. , to establish a system of delegation, and he accordingly adapted
the system of granting patents to the existing needs. [76] Many new
monopolies were granted during the early years of his reign, but in
1607 Parliament again protested, and he followed Elizabeth's example by
revoking them all. After the suspension of Parliamentary government in
1614 the system grew up again, and the old abuses became more obnoxious
than ever. In 1621 Parliament addressed a second remonstrance to James.
The king professed ignorance, but promised redress, and in 1624 all the
existing monopolies were abolished by the Statute 21 James I. c. 3. In
Parliament's address to James 'the tender point of prerogative' was
not disturbed, and it was contrived that all the blame and punishment
should fall on the patentees. [77]
Of all the patents granted during this time, that which seems to have
most attracted the attention of the dramatists was one for draining the
Fens of Lincolnshire. Similar projects had frequently been attempted
during the sixteenth century. In the list of patents before 1597,
catalogued by Hulme, seven deal with water drainage in some form or
other. The low lands on the east coast of England are exposed to
inundation. [78] During the Roman occupation large embankments had been
built, and during the Middle Ages these had been kept up partly through
a commission appointed by the Crown, and partly through the efforts of
the monasteries at Ramsey and Crowland. After the dissolution of these
monasteries it became necessary to take up anew the work of reclaiming
the fen-land. An abortive attempt by the Earl of Lincoln had already
been made when the Statute 43 Eliz. c. 10. 11. was passed in the year
1601. This made legal the action of projectors in the recovery of marsh
land. Many difficulties, however, such as lack of funds and opposition
on the part of the inhabitants and neighbors of the fens, still stood
in their way. In 1605 Sir John Popham and Sir Thomas Fleming headed a
company which undertook to drain the Great Level of the Cambridgeshire
fens, consisting of more than 300,000 acres, at their own cost, on the
understanding that 130,000 acres of the reclaimed land should fall
to their share. The project was a complete failure. Another statute
granting a patent for draining the fens is found in the seventh year of
Jac. I. c. 20, and the attempt was renewed from time to time throughout
the reigns of James and Charles I. It was not, however, until the
Restoration that these efforts were finally crowned with success.
When the remonstrance was made to James in 1621, the object of the
petitioners was gained, as we have seen, by throwing all the blame upon
the patentees and projectors. Similarly, the dramatists often prefer
to make their attack, not by assailing the institution of monopolies,
but by ridicule of the offending subjects. [79] Two agents are regularly
distinguished. There is the patentee, sometimes also called the
projector, whose part it is to supply the funds for the establishment
of the monopoly, and, if possible, the necessary influence at Court;
and the actual projector or inventor, who undertakes to furnish his
patron with various projects of his own device.
Jonson's is probably the earliest dramatic representation of the
projector. Merecraft is a swindler, pure and simple, whose schemes are
directed not so much against the people whom he aims to plunder by the
establishment of a monopoly as against the adventurer who furnishes
the funds for putting the project into operation:
. . . Wee poore Gentlemen, that want acres,
Must for our needs, turne fooles vp and plough _Ladies_.
Both Fitzdottrel and Lady Tailbush are drawn into these schemes so
far as to part with their money. Merecraft himself pretends that he
possesses sufficient influence at Court. He flatters Fitzdottrel, who
is persuaded by the mere display of projects in a buckram bag, by
demanding of him 'his count'nance, t'appeare in't to great men'
(2. 1. 39). Lady Tailbush is not so easily fooled, and Merecraft has
some difficulty in persuading her of the power of his friends at Court
(Act 4. Sc. 1).
Merecraft's chief project, the recovery of the drowned lands, is also
satirized by Randolph:
I have a rare device to set Dutch windmills
Upon Newmarket Heath, and Salisbury Plain,
To drain the fens. [80]
and in _Holland's Leaguer_, Act 1. Sc. 5 (cited by Gifford):
Our projector
Will undertake the making of bay salt,
For a penny a bushel, to serve all the state;
Another dreams of building waterworkes,
Drying of fenns and marshes, like the Dutchmen.
In the later drama the figure of the projector appears several times,
but it lacks the timeliness of Jonson's satire, and the conception
must have been largely derived from literary sources. Jonson's
influence is often apparent. In Brome's _Court Beggar_ the patentee is
Mendicant, a country gentleman who has left his rustic life and sold
his property, in order to raise his state by court-suits. The projects
which he presents at court are the invention of three projectors. Like
Merecraft, they promise to make Mendicant a lord, and succeed only in
reducing him to poverty. The character of the Court Beggar is given in
these words: 'He is a Knight that hanckers about the court ambitious
to make himselfe a Lord by begging. His braine is all Projects, and
his soule nothing but Court-suits. He has begun more Knavish suits at
Court, then ever the Kings Taylor honestly finish'd, but never thriv'd
by any: so that now hee's almost fallen from a Palace Begger to a
Spittle one'.
In the _Antipodes_ Brome introduces 'a States-man studious for the
Commonwealth, solicited by Projectors of the Country'. Brome's list of
projects (quoted in Gifford's edition) is a broad caricature. Wilson,
in the Restoration drama, produced a play called _The Projectors_, in
which Jonson's influence is apparent (see Introduction, p. lxxv).
Among the _characters_, of which the seventeenth century writers were
so fond, the projector is a favorite figure. John Taylor,[81] the
water-poet, furnishes us with a cartoon entitled 'The complaint of M.
Tenterhooke the _Projector_ and Sir _T_homas Dodger the Patentee'. In
the rimes beneath the picture the distinction between the projector,
who 'had the Art to cheat the Common-weale', and the patentee, who
was possessed of 'tricks and slights to pass the seale', is brought
out with especial distinctness. Samuel Butler's character[82] of the
projector is of less importance, since it was not published until
1759. The real importance of Jonson's satire lies in the fact that it
appeared in the midst of the most active discussion on the subject of
monopolies. Drummond says that he was 'accused upon' the play, and that
the King 'desired him to conceal it'. [83] Whether the subject which
gave offense was the one which we have been considering or that of
witchcraft, it is, however, impossible to determine.
[73] Letters to John Kempe, 1331, Rymer's _Foedera_; Hulme, _Law
Quarterly Rev. _, vol. 12.
[74] Cunningham, _Eng. Industry_, Part I, p. 75.
[75] D'Ewes, _Complete Journal of the Houses of Lords and Commons_,
p. 646.
[76] Cunningham, p. 21.
[77] Craik 2. 24. Rushworth, _Collection_ 1. 24.
[78] For a more detailed account of the drainage of the Lincolnshire
fens see Cunningham, pp. 112-119.
[79] Cf. Dekker, _Non-dram. Wks. _ 3. 367.
[80] _Muse's Looking Glass_, _O. Pl. _ 9. 180 (cited by Gifford).
[81] _Works_, 1641, reprinted by the Spenser Society.
[82] _Character Writings_, ed. Morley, p. 350.
[83] See p. xix.
3. _Witchcraft_
Witchcraft in Jonson's time was not an outworn belief, but a living
issue. It is remarkable that the persecutions which followed upon this
terrible delusion were comparatively infrequent during the Middle
Ages, and reached their maximum only in the seventeenth century.
The first English Act against witchcraft after the Norman Conquest was
passed in 1541 (33 Hen. VIII.
tricks 'under a coverlet' (_Detection_, p. 104). Sir Paul Eitherside
then enters and 'interprets all'. This is imitated directly from
Harsnet, where we read: 'So. [Somers] acting those gestures M. Dar.
did expound them very learnedlye, to signify this or that sinne that
raigned in Nott. [Nottingham]. ' Paul's first words are: 'This is the
_Diuell_ speakes and laughes in him'. So Harsnet tells us that 'M. Dar.
vpon his first comming vnto Som. affirmed that it was not So. that
spake in his fitts, but the diuell by him'. Both Fitzdottrel (Text, 5.
8. 115) and Somers (_Narration_, p. 182) talk in Greek. The devil in
Fitzdottrel proposes to 'break his necke in jest' (Text, 5. 8. 117),
and a little later to borrow money (5. 8. 119). The same threat is
twice made in the _True Narration_ (pp. 178 and 180). In the second of
these passages Somers is met by an old woman, who tries to frighten him
into giving her money. Otherwise, she declares, 'I will throwe thee
into this pit, and breake thy neck'. The mouse 'that should ha' come
forth' (Text, 5. 8. 144) is mentioned by both narrators (_Detection_,
p. 140; _Narration_, p. 184), and the pricking of the body with
pins and needles (Text, 5. 8. 49) is found in slightly altered form
(_Detection_, p. 135; _Narration_, p. 174). Finally the clapping of the
hands (Text. 5. 8. 76) is a common feature (_Narration_, p. 182). The
last mentioned passage finds a still closer parallel in a couplet from
the contemporary ballad, which Gifford quotes from Hutchinson (p. 249):
And by the clapping of his Hands
He shew'd the starching of our Bands.
Of the apparatus supplied by Merecraft for the imposture, the soap,
nutshell, tow, and touchwood (Text, 5. 3. 3-5), the bladders and
bellows (Text, 5. 5. 48), some are doubtless taken from Harsnet's
_Discovery_, though Darrel does not quote these passages in the
_Detection_. We find, however, that Darrel was accused of supplying
Somers with black lead to foam with (_Detection_, p. 160), and Gifford
says that the _soap_ and _bellows_ are also mentioned in the 'Bishop's
book'.
Though Jonson drew so largely upon this source, many details are
supplied by his own imagination. Ridiculous as much of it may seem to
the modern reader, it is by no means overdrawn. In fact it may safely
be affirmed that no such realistic depiction of witchcraft exists
elsewhere in the whole range of dramatic literature.
[56] Langbaine, _Eng. Dram. Poets_, p. 289.
[57] _Quellen Studien_, p. 15.
[58] 2. 2. 69.
[59] Mentioned by Koeppel, p. 15.
[60] So spelled in 1573 ed. In earlier editions 'palafreno'.
[61] _Studien_, p. 232.
[62] See note 2. 1. 168 f.
[63] Gifford points out the general resemblance. He uses Hutchinson's
book for comparison.
[64] This book, so far as I know, is not to be found in any American
library. My knowledge of its contents is derived wholly from
Darrel's answer, _A Detection of that sinnful, shamful, lying and
ridiculous Discours, of Samuel Harshnet, entituled: A Discoverie,
etc. . . . Imprinted 1600_, which apparently cites all of Harsnet's more
important points for refutation. It has been lent me through the
kindness of Professor George L. Burr from the Cornell Library. The
quotations from Harsnet in the following pages are accordingly taken
from the excerpts in the _Detection_.
3. _Prototypes of the leading Characters_
The position of the leading characters has already been indicated. Pug,
as the comic butt and innocent gull, is allied to Master Stephen and
Master Matthew of _Every Man in his Humor_, Dapper of _The Alchemist_,
and Cokes of _Bartholomew Fair_. Fitzdottrel, another type of the gull,
is more closely related to _Tribulation Wholesome_ in _The Alchemist_,
and even in some respects to Corvino and Voltore in _The Fox_. Wittipol
and Manly, the chief intriguers, hold approximately the same position
as Wellbred and Knowell in _Every Man in his Humor_, Winwife and
Quarlous in _Bartholomew Fair_, and Dauphine, Clerimont, and Truewit in
_The Silent Woman_. Merecraft is related in his character of swindler
to Subtle in _The Alchemist_, and in his character of projector to Sir
Politick Wouldbe in _The Fox_.
The contemptible 'lady of spirit and woman of fashion' is one of
Jonson's favorite types. She first appears in the persons of Fallace
and Saviolina in _Every Man out of his Humor_; then in _Cynthia's
Revels_, where Moria and her friends play the part; then as Cytheris in
_Poetaster_, Lady Politick in _The Alchemist_, the collegiate ladies
in _The Silent Woman_, and Fulvia and Sempronia in _Catiline_. The same
affectations and vices are satirized repeatedly. An evident prototype
of Justice Eitherside is found in the person of Adam Overdo in
_Bartholomew Fair_. Both are justices of the peace, both are officious,
puritanical, and obstinate. Justice Eitherside's denunciation of the
devotees of tobacco finds its counterpart in a speech in _Bartholomew
Fair_, and his repeated 'I do detest it' reminds one of Overdo's
frequent expressions of horror at the enormities which he constantly
discovers.
4. _Minor Sources_
_The Devil is an Ass_ is not deeply indebted to the classics. Jonson
borrows twice from Horace, 1. 6. 131, and 2. 4. 27 f. The half dozen
lines in which the former passage occurs (1. 6. 126-132) are written in
evident imitation of the Horatian style. Two passages are also borrowed
from Plautus, 2. 1. 168 f. , already mentioned, and 3. 6. 38-9. A single
passage (2. 6. 104 f. ) shows the influence of Martial. These passages
are all quoted in the notes.
The source of Wittipol's description of the 'Cioppino', and the mishap
attendant upon its use, was probably taken from a contemporary book
of travels. A passage in Coryat's _Crudities_ furnishes the necessary
information and a similar anecdote, and was doubtless used by Jonson
(see note 4. 4. 69). Coryat was patronized by the poet. Similarly,
another passage in the _Crudities_ seems to have suggested the project
of the forks (see note 5. 4. 17).
A curious resemblance is further to be noted between several passages
in _The Devil is an Ass_ and _Underwoods 62_. The first draft of this
poem may have been written not long before the present play (see Fleay,
_Chron. _ 1. 329-30) and so have been still fresh in the poet's mind.
The passage _DA. _ 3. 2. 44-6 shows unmistakably that the play was
the borrower, and not the poem. Gifford suggests that both passages
were quoted from a contemporary posture-book, but the passage in the
epigram gives no indication of being a quotation.
The chief parallels are as follows: _U. 62. _ 10-14 and _DA. _ 3. 3.
165-6; _U. 62. _ 21-2 and _DA. _ 3. 3. 169-72; _U. 62. _ 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. Not long after this change in weapons
fencing-schools began to be established and were soon very popular.
Donald Lupton, in his _London and the Countrey carbonadoed_, 1632,
says they were usually set up by 'some low-country soldier, who to
keep himself honest from further inconveniences, as also to maintain
himself, thought upon this course and practises it'. [67]
The etiquette of the duel was a matter of especial concern. The two
chief authorities seem to have been Jerome Carranza, the author of a
book entitled _Filosofia de las Armas_,[68] and Vincentio Saviolo,
whose _Practise_ was translated into English in 1595. It contained two
parts, the first 'intreating of the vse of the rapier and dagger', the
second 'of honor and honorable quarrels'. The rules laid down in these
books were mercilessly ridiculed by the dramatists; and the duello was
a frequent subject of satire. [69]
By 1616 dueling must have become very common. Frequent references
to the subject are found about this time in the _Calendar of State
Papers_. Under date of December 9, 1613, we read that all persons who
go abroad to fight duels are to be censured in the Star Chamber. On
February 17, 1614, 'a proclamation, with a book annexed', was issued
against duels, and on February 13, 1617, the King made a Star Chamber
speech against dueling, 'on which he before published a sharp edict'.
The passion for dueling was turned to advantage by a set of improvident
bravos, who styled themselves 'sword-men' or 'masters of dependencies,'
a _dependence_ being the accepted name for an impending quarrel. These
men undertook to examine into the causes of a duel, and to settle or
'take it up' according to the rules laid down by the authorities on
this subject. Their prey were the young men of fashion in the city,
and especially 'country gulls', who were newly come to town and
were anxious to become sophisticated. The profession must have been
profitable, for we hear of their methods being employed by the 'roaring
boys'[70] and the masters of the fencing schools. [71] Fletcher in _The
Elder Brother_, _Wks. _ 10. 283, speaks of
. . . the masters of dependencies
That by compounding differences 'tween others
Supply their own necessities,
and Massinger makes similar comment in _The Guardian_, _Wks. _, p. 343:
When two heirs quarrel,
The swordsmen of the city shortly after
Appear in plush, for their grave consultations
In taking up the difference; some, I know,
Make a set living on't.
Another function of the office is mentioned by Ford in _Fancies Chaste
and Noble_, _Wks. _ 2. 241. The master would upon occasion 'brave' a
quarrel with the novice for the sake of 'gilding his reputation', and
Massinger in _The Maid of Honor_, _Wks. _, p. 190, asserts that he would
even consent 'for a cloak with thrice-died velvet, and a cast suit' to
be 'kick'd down the stairs'. In _A King and No King_, B. & Fl. , _Wks. _
2. 310 f. , Bessus consults with two of these 'Gentlemen of the Sword'
in a ridiculous scene, in which the sword-men profess the greatest
scrupulousness in examining every word and phrase, affirming that they
cannot be 'too subtle in this business'.
Jonson never loses an opportunity of satirizing these despicable
bullies, who were not only ridiculous in their affectations, but who
proved by their 'fomenting bloody quarrels' to be no small danger
to the state. Bobadill, who is described as a Paul's Man, was in
addition a pretender to this craft. Matthew complains that Downright
has threatened him with the bastinado, whereupon Bobadill cries out
immediately that it is 'a most proper and sufficient dependence' and
adds: 'Come hither, you shall chartel him; I'll shew you a trick or
two, you shall kill him with at pleasure'. [72] Cavalier Shift, in
_Every Man out of his Humor_, among various other occupations has the
reputation of being able to 'manage a quarrel the best that ever you
saw, for terms and circumstances'. We have an excellent picture of
the ambitious novice in the person of Kastrill in _The Alchemist_.
Kastrill, who is described as an 'angry boy', comes to consult Subtle
as to how to 'carry a business, manage a quarrel fairly'. Face assures
him that Dr. Subtle is able to 'take the height' of any quarrel
whatsoever, to tell 'in what degree of safety it lies', 'how it may be
borne', etc.
From this description of the 'master of dependencies' the exquisite
humor of the passage in _The Devil is an Ass_ (3. 3. 60 f. ) can be
appreciated. Merecraft assures Fitzdottrel that this occupation, in
reality the refuge only of the Shifts and Bobadills of the city, is a
new and important office about to be formally established by the state.
In spite of all their speaking against dueling, he says, they have
come to see the evident necessity of a public tribunal to which all
quarrels may be referred. It is by means of this pretended office that
Merecraft attempts to swindle Fitzdottrel out of his entire estate,
from which disaster he is saved only by the clever interposition of
Wittipol.
[67] Cf. also Gosson, _School of Abuse_, 1579; Dekker, _A Knight's
Conjuring_, 1607; Overbury, _Characters_, ed. Morley, p. 66.
[68] See _New Inn_ 2. 2; _Every Man in_ 1. 5; B. & Fl. ,
_Love's Pilgrimage_, _Wks. _ 11. 317, 320.
[69] Cf. _Albumazar_, _O. Pl. _ 7. 185-6; _Rom. and Jul. _ 2. 4.
26; _Twelfth Night_ 3. 4. 335; _L. L. L. _ 1. 2. 183; Massinger,
_Guardian_, _Wks. _, p. 346. Mercutio evidently refers to Saviolo's
book and the use of the rapier in _Rom. and Jul. _ 3. 1. 93. Here the
expression, 'fight by the book', first occurs, used again by B. &
Fl. , _Elder Brother_, _Wks. _ 10. 284; Dekker, _Guls Horne-booke_, ch.
4; _As You Like it_ 5. 4. Dekker speaks of Saviolo, _Non-dram.
Wks. _ 1. 120.
[70] Overbury, ed. Morley, p. 72.
[71] _Ibid. _, p. 66.
[72] _Every Man in_, _Wks. _ 1. 35.
2. _The Monopoly System_
Jonson's severest satire in _The Devil is an Ass_ is directed against
the projector. Through him the whole system of Monopolies is indirectly
criticised. To understand the importance and timeliness of this attack,
as well as the poet's own attitude on the subject, it is necessary to
give a brief historical discussion of the system as it had developed
and then existed.
Royal grants with the avowed intention of instructing the English in
a new industry had been made as early as the fourteenth century,[73]
and the system had become gradually modified during the Tudor dynasty.
In the sixteenth century a capitalist middle class rose to wealth and
political influence. During the reign of Elizabeth a large part of
Cecil's energies was directed toward the economic development of the
country. This was most effectually accomplished by granting patents to
men who had enterprise enough to introduce a new art or manufacture,
whether an importation from a foreign country or their own invention.
The capitalist was encouraged to make this attempt by the grant of
special privileges of manufacture for a limited period. [74] The
condition of monopoly did not belong to the mediaeval system, but was
first introduced under Elizabeth. So far the system had its economic
justification, but unfortunately it did not stop here. Abuses began to
creep in. Not only the manufacture, but the exclusive trade in certain
articles, was given over to grantees, and commodities of the most
common utility were 'ingrossed into the hands of these blood-suckers
of the commonwealth. [75] A remonstrance of Parliament was made to
Elizabeth in 1597, and again in 1601, and in consequence the Queen
thought best to promise the annulling of all monopolies then existing,
a promise which she in large measure fulfilled. But the immense growth
of commerce under Elizabeth made it necessary for her successor, James
I. , to establish a system of delegation, and he accordingly adapted
the system of granting patents to the existing needs. [76] Many new
monopolies were granted during the early years of his reign, but in
1607 Parliament again protested, and he followed Elizabeth's example by
revoking them all. After the suspension of Parliamentary government in
1614 the system grew up again, and the old abuses became more obnoxious
than ever. In 1621 Parliament addressed a second remonstrance to James.
The king professed ignorance, but promised redress, and in 1624 all the
existing monopolies were abolished by the Statute 21 James I. c. 3. In
Parliament's address to James 'the tender point of prerogative' was
not disturbed, and it was contrived that all the blame and punishment
should fall on the patentees. [77]
Of all the patents granted during this time, that which seems to have
most attracted the attention of the dramatists was one for draining the
Fens of Lincolnshire. Similar projects had frequently been attempted
during the sixteenth century. In the list of patents before 1597,
catalogued by Hulme, seven deal with water drainage in some form or
other. The low lands on the east coast of England are exposed to
inundation. [78] During the Roman occupation large embankments had been
built, and during the Middle Ages these had been kept up partly through
a commission appointed by the Crown, and partly through the efforts of
the monasteries at Ramsey and Crowland. After the dissolution of these
monasteries it became necessary to take up anew the work of reclaiming
the fen-land. An abortive attempt by the Earl of Lincoln had already
been made when the Statute 43 Eliz. c. 10. 11. was passed in the year
1601. This made legal the action of projectors in the recovery of marsh
land. Many difficulties, however, such as lack of funds and opposition
on the part of the inhabitants and neighbors of the fens, still stood
in their way. In 1605 Sir John Popham and Sir Thomas Fleming headed a
company which undertook to drain the Great Level of the Cambridgeshire
fens, consisting of more than 300,000 acres, at their own cost, on the
understanding that 130,000 acres of the reclaimed land should fall
to their share. The project was a complete failure. Another statute
granting a patent for draining the fens is found in the seventh year of
Jac. I. c. 20, and the attempt was renewed from time to time throughout
the reigns of James and Charles I. It was not, however, until the
Restoration that these efforts were finally crowned with success.
When the remonstrance was made to James in 1621, the object of the
petitioners was gained, as we have seen, by throwing all the blame upon
the patentees and projectors. Similarly, the dramatists often prefer
to make their attack, not by assailing the institution of monopolies,
but by ridicule of the offending subjects. [79] Two agents are regularly
distinguished. There is the patentee, sometimes also called the
projector, whose part it is to supply the funds for the establishment
of the monopoly, and, if possible, the necessary influence at Court;
and the actual projector or inventor, who undertakes to furnish his
patron with various projects of his own device.
Jonson's is probably the earliest dramatic representation of the
projector. Merecraft is a swindler, pure and simple, whose schemes are
directed not so much against the people whom he aims to plunder by the
establishment of a monopoly as against the adventurer who furnishes
the funds for putting the project into operation:
. . . Wee poore Gentlemen, that want acres,
Must for our needs, turne fooles vp and plough _Ladies_.
Both Fitzdottrel and Lady Tailbush are drawn into these schemes so
far as to part with their money. Merecraft himself pretends that he
possesses sufficient influence at Court. He flatters Fitzdottrel, who
is persuaded by the mere display of projects in a buckram bag, by
demanding of him 'his count'nance, t'appeare in't to great men'
(2. 1. 39). Lady Tailbush is not so easily fooled, and Merecraft has
some difficulty in persuading her of the power of his friends at Court
(Act 4. Sc. 1).
Merecraft's chief project, the recovery of the drowned lands, is also
satirized by Randolph:
I have a rare device to set Dutch windmills
Upon Newmarket Heath, and Salisbury Plain,
To drain the fens. [80]
and in _Holland's Leaguer_, Act 1. Sc. 5 (cited by Gifford):
Our projector
Will undertake the making of bay salt,
For a penny a bushel, to serve all the state;
Another dreams of building waterworkes,
Drying of fenns and marshes, like the Dutchmen.
In the later drama the figure of the projector appears several times,
but it lacks the timeliness of Jonson's satire, and the conception
must have been largely derived from literary sources. Jonson's
influence is often apparent. In Brome's _Court Beggar_ the patentee is
Mendicant, a country gentleman who has left his rustic life and sold
his property, in order to raise his state by court-suits. The projects
which he presents at court are the invention of three projectors. Like
Merecraft, they promise to make Mendicant a lord, and succeed only in
reducing him to poverty. The character of the Court Beggar is given in
these words: 'He is a Knight that hanckers about the court ambitious
to make himselfe a Lord by begging. His braine is all Projects, and
his soule nothing but Court-suits. He has begun more Knavish suits at
Court, then ever the Kings Taylor honestly finish'd, but never thriv'd
by any: so that now hee's almost fallen from a Palace Begger to a
Spittle one'.
In the _Antipodes_ Brome introduces 'a States-man studious for the
Commonwealth, solicited by Projectors of the Country'. Brome's list of
projects (quoted in Gifford's edition) is a broad caricature. Wilson,
in the Restoration drama, produced a play called _The Projectors_, in
which Jonson's influence is apparent (see Introduction, p. lxxv).
Among the _characters_, of which the seventeenth century writers were
so fond, the projector is a favorite figure. John Taylor,[81] the
water-poet, furnishes us with a cartoon entitled 'The complaint of M.
Tenterhooke the _Projector_ and Sir _T_homas Dodger the Patentee'. In
the rimes beneath the picture the distinction between the projector,
who 'had the Art to cheat the Common-weale', and the patentee, who
was possessed of 'tricks and slights to pass the seale', is brought
out with especial distinctness. Samuel Butler's character[82] of the
projector is of less importance, since it was not published until
1759. The real importance of Jonson's satire lies in the fact that it
appeared in the midst of the most active discussion on the subject of
monopolies. Drummond says that he was 'accused upon' the play, and that
the King 'desired him to conceal it'. [83] Whether the subject which
gave offense was the one which we have been considering or that of
witchcraft, it is, however, impossible to determine.
[73] Letters to John Kempe, 1331, Rymer's _Foedera_; Hulme, _Law
Quarterly Rev. _, vol. 12.
[74] Cunningham, _Eng. Industry_, Part I, p. 75.
[75] D'Ewes, _Complete Journal of the Houses of Lords and Commons_,
p. 646.
[76] Cunningham, p. 21.
[77] Craik 2. 24. Rushworth, _Collection_ 1. 24.
[78] For a more detailed account of the drainage of the Lincolnshire
fens see Cunningham, pp. 112-119.
[79] Cf. Dekker, _Non-dram. Wks. _ 3. 367.
[80] _Muse's Looking Glass_, _O. Pl. _ 9. 180 (cited by Gifford).
[81] _Works_, 1641, reprinted by the Spenser Society.
[82] _Character Writings_, ed. Morley, p. 350.
[83] See p. xix.
3. _Witchcraft_
Witchcraft in Jonson's time was not an outworn belief, but a living
issue. It is remarkable that the persecutions which followed upon this
terrible delusion were comparatively infrequent during the Middle
Ages, and reached their maximum only in the seventeenth century.
The first English Act against witchcraft after the Norman Conquest was
passed in 1541 (33 Hen. VIII.
