= Stage
directions
at the beginning of a scene.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
Fitzdottrel's equal in years, in
fashion (1. 6. 124-5), and in blood (1. 6. 168). For Jonson to say this
to Lady Hatton would have been preposterous.
=Justice Eitherside. = Only the desire to prove a theory at all costs
could have prevented Fleay from seeing that Coke's counterpart is
not Fitzdottrel, but Justice Eitherside. In obstinacy, bigotry, and
vanity this character represents the class of judges with which
Coke identified himself in the Overbury trial. Nor are these merely
class-traits. They are distinctly the faults which marred Coke's career
from the beginning. It is certain that Coke is partially responsible
for this portraiture. Overbury was a personal friend of the poet, and
the trial, begun in the previous year, had extended into 1616. Jonson
must have followed it eagerly. On the other hand, it is improbable that
the picture was aimed exclusively at Coke. He merely furnished traits
for a typical and not uncommon character. As we have seen, it is in
line with Jonson's usual practise to confine personal satire to the
lesser characters.
=Merecraft. = Fleay's identification with Sir Giles Mompesson has very
little to commend it. Mompesson was connected by marriage with James
I. 's powerful favorite, George Villiers, later Duke of Buckingham. In
1616 he suggested to Villiers the creation of a special commission for
the purpose of granting licenses to keepers of inns and ale-houses.
The suggestion was adopted by Villiers; Mompesson was appointed to the
Commission in October, 1616, and knighted on November 18 of that year.
The patent was not sealed until March, 1617. His high-handed conduct
soon became unpopular, but he continued in favor with Villiers and
James, and his disgrace did not come until 1621.
It will readily be seen that Mompesson's position and career conform
in no particular to those of Merecraft in the present play. Mompesson
was a knight, a friend of the king's favorite, and in favor with
the king. Merecraft is a mere needy adventurer without influence at
court, and the associate of ruffians, who frequent the 'Straits' and
the 'Bermudas'. Mompesson was himself the recipient of a patent (see
section III. 2). Merecraft is merely the projector who devises clever
projects for more powerful patrons. Mompesson's project bears no
resemblance to those suggested by Merecraft, and he could hardly have
attracted any popular dislike at the time when _The Devil is an Ass_
was presented, since, as we have seen, his patent was not even sealed
until the following year. Finally, Jonson would hardly have attacked a
man who stood so high at court as did Mompesson in 1616.
It is evident that Jonson had particularly in mind those projectors
whose object it was to drain the fens of Lincolnshire. The attempts, as
we have seen, were numerous, and it is highly improbable that Jonson
wished to satirize any one of them more severely than another. In a
single passage, however, it seems possible that Sir John Popham (see
page lx) is referred to. In Act 4. Sc. 1 Merecraft speaks of a Sir John
Monie-man as a projector who was able to 'jump a business quickly'
because 'he had great friends'. That Popham is referred to seems not
unlikely from the fact that he was the most important personage who
had embarked upon an enterprise of this sort, that his scheme was one
of the earliest, that he was not a strict contemporary (d. 1607), and
that his scheme had been very unpopular. This is proved by an anonymous
letter to the king, in which complaint is made that 'the "covetous
bloody Popham" will ruin many poor men by his offer to drain the fens'
(_Cal. State Papers_, Mar. 14? , 1606).
=Plutarchus Guilthead. = Fleay's identification with Edmund Howes I am
prepared to accept, although biographical data are very meagre. Fleay
says: 'Plutarchus Gilthead, who is writing the lives of the great
men in the city; the captain who writes of the Artillery Garden "to
train the youth", etc. [3. 2. 45], is, I think, Edmond Howes, whose
continuation of Stow's Chronicle was published in 1615. '
Howes' undertaking was a matter of considerable ridicule to his
acquaintances. In his 1631 edition he speaks of the heavy blows and
great discouragements he received from his friends. He was in the habit
of signing himself 'Gentleman' and this seems to be satirized in 3. 1,
where Guilthead says repeatedly: 'This is to make you a Gentleman' (see
_N. & Q. _ 1st Ser. 6. 199. ).
=The Noble House. = Two proposed identifications of the 'noble house',
which pretends to a duke's title, mentioned at 2. 4. 15-6. have been
made. The expenditure of much energy in the attempt to fix so veiled
an allusion is hardly worth while. Jonson of course depended upon
contemporary rumor, for which we have no data.
Cunningham's suggestion that Buckingham is referred to is not
convincing. Buckingham's father was Sir George Villiers of Brooksby in
Leicestershire. He was not himself raised to the nobility until August
27, 1616, when he was created Viscount Villiers and Baron Waddon. It
was not until January 5, 1617 (not 1616, as Cunningham says), that he
became Earl of Buckingham, and it is unlikely that before this time
any allusion to Villiers' aspiration to a dukedom would have been
intelligible to Jonson's audience.
Fleay's theory that the 'noble house' was that of Stuart may be
accepted provisionally. Lodowick was made Earl of Richmond in 1613, and
Duke in 1623. He was acceptable to king and people, and in this very
year was made steward of the household.
[86] See Dedication to _The Fox_, Second Prologue to _The Silent
Woman_, Induction to _Bartholomew Fair_, _Staple of News_
(Second Intermean), _Magnetic Lady_ (Second Intermean).
[87] See the note prefixed to _Staple of News_, Act 3, and
the second Prologue for _The Silent Woman_.
[88] _Ev. Man in. _
[89] _Case is Altered. _
[90] _Staple of News. _
[91] Dedication to _The Fox_.
[92] The passage from the _Gipsies_ especially finds a close parallel
in the fragment of a song in Marston's _Dutch Courtezan_, 1605, _Wks. _
2. 46:
Purest lips, soft banks of blisses,
Self alone deserving kisses.
Are not these lines from Jonson's hand? This was the year of his
collaboration with Marston in _Eastward Ho_.
D. AFTER-INFLUENCE OF THE DEVIL IS AN ASS
A few instances of the subsequent rehandling of certain motives in
this play are too striking to be completely overlooked. John Wilson,
1627-c 1696, a faithful student and close imitator of Jonson, produced
in 1690 a drama called _Belphegor_, or _The Marriage of the Devil,
a Tragi-comedy_. While it is founded on the English translation of
Machiavelli's novella, which appeared in 1674, and closely adheres
to the lines of the original, it shows clear evidence of Jonson's
influence. The subject has been fully investigated by Hollstein (cf.
_Verhaltnis_, pp. 22-24, 28-30, 35, 43, 50).
_The Cheats_, 1662, apparently refers to _The Devil is an Ass_ in
the _Prologue_. The characters of Bilboe and Titere Tu belong to the
same class of low bullies as Merecraft and Everill, but the evident
prototypes of these characters are Subtle and Face in _The Alchemist_.
A third play of Wilson's, _The Projectors_, 1664, shows unmistakable
influence of _The Devil is an Ass_. The chief object of satire is
of course the same, and the character of Sir Gudgeon Credulous is
modeled after that of Fitzdottrel. The scenes in which the projects are
explained, 2. 1 and 3. 1, are similar to the corresponding passages in
Jonson. The _Aulularia_ of Plautus is a partial source, so that the
play in some features resembles _The Case is Altered_. In 2. 1 Wilson
imitates the passage in the _Aulularia_, which closes Act 2. Sc. 1 of
_The Devil is an Ass_ (see note 2. 1. 168).
Brome, Jonson's old servant and friend, also handled the subject of
monopolies (see page lxi). Jonson's influence is especially marked in
_The Court Beggar_. The project of perukes (_Wks. _ 1. 192) should be
compared with Merecraft's project of toothpicks.
Mrs. Susanna Centlivre's _Busie Body_ uses the motives borrowed from
Boccaccio (see pp. xlv ff. ). The scenes in which these appear must have
been suggested by Jonson's play (Genest 2. 419), though the author
seems to have been acquainted with the _Decameron_ also. In Act. 1.
Sc. 1 Sir George Airy makes a bargain with Sir Francis Gripe similar
to Wittipol's bargain with Fitzdottrel. In exchange for the sum of a
hundred guineas he is admitted into the house for the purpose of moving
his suit to Miranda. 'for the space of ten minutes, without lett or
molestation', provided Sir Francis remain in the same room, though out
of ear shot (2d ed. , p. 8). In Act 2. Sc. 1 the bargain is carried out
in much the same way as in Boccaccio and in Jonson. Miranda remaining
dumb and Sir George answering for her.
In Act 3. Sc. 4 (2d ed. , p. 38) Miranda in the presence of her
guardian sends a message by Marplot not to saunter at the garden gate
about eight o'clock as he has been accustomed to do, thus making an
assignation with him (compare _DA. _ 2. 2. 52).
Other motives which seem to show some influence of _The Devil is an
Ass_ are Miranda's trick to have the estate settled upon her, Charles'
disguise as a Spaniard, and Traffick's jealous care of Isabinda. The
character of Marplot as comic butt resembles that of Pug.
The song in _The Devil is an Ass_ 2. 6. 94 (see note) was imitated by
Sir John Suckling.
APPENDIX EXTRACTS FROM THE CRITICS
GIFFORD: There is much good writing in this comedy. All the speeches
of Satan are replete with the most biting satire, delivered with an
appropriate degree of spirit. Fitzdottrel is one of those characters
which Jonson delighted to draw, and in which he stood unrivalled, a
_gull_, i. e. , a confident coxcomb, selfish, cunning, and conceited.
Mrs. Fitzdottrel possesses somewhat more interest than the generality
of our author's females, and is indeed a well sustained character. In
action the principal amusement of the scene (exclusive of the admirable
burlesque of witchery in the conclusion) was probably derived from the
mortification of poor Pug, whose stupid stare of amazement at finding
himself made an _ass_ of on every possible occasion must, if portrayed
as some then on the stage were well able to portray it, have been
exquisitely comic.
This play is strictly moral in its conception and conduct. Knavery and
folly are shamed and corrected, virtue is strengthened and rewarded,
and the ends of dramatic justice are sufficiently answered by the
simple exposure of those whose errors are merely subservient to the
minor interests of the piece.
HERFORD (_Studies in the Literary Relations of England and Germany_,
pp. 318-20): Jonson had in fact so far the Aristophanic quality of
genius, that he was at once a most elaborate and minute student of the
actual world, and a poet of the airiest and boldest fancy, and that he
loved to bring the two roles into the closest possible combination. No
one so capable of holding up the mirror to contemporary society without
distorting the slenderest thread of its complex tissue of usages; no
one, on the other hand, who so keenly delighted in startling away
the illusion or carefully undermining it by some palpably fantastic
invention. His most elaborate reproductions of the everyday world are
hardly ever without an infusion of equally elaborate caprice,--a leaven
of recondite and fantastic legend and grotesque myth, redolent of old
libraries and antique scholarship, furtively planted, as it were, in
the heart of that everyday world of London life, and so subtly blending
with it that the whole motley throng of merchants and apprentices,
gulls and gallants, discover nothing unusual in it, and engage with the
most perfectly matter of fact air in the business of working it out.
The purging of Crispinus in the _Poetaster_, the Aristophanic motive
of the _Magnetic Lady_, even the farcical horror of noise which is the
mainspring of the _Epicoene_, are only less elaborate and sustained
examples of this fantastic realism than the adventure of a Stupid
Devil in the play before us. Nothing more anomalous in the London of
Jonson's day could be conceived; yet it is so managed that it loses
all its strangeness. So perfectly is the supernatural element welded
with the human, that it almost ceases to appear supernatural. Pug, the
hero of the adventure, is a pretty, petulant boy, more human by many
degrees than the half fairy Puck of Shakespeare, which doubtless helped
to suggest him, and the arch-fiend Satan is a bluff old politician,
anxious to ward off the perils of London from his young simpleton of a
son, who is equally eager to plunge into them. The old savage horror
fades away before Jonson's humanising touch, the infernal world loses
all its privilege of peculiar terror and strength, and sinks to the
footing of a mere rival state, whose merchandise can be kept out of the
market and its citizens put in the Counter or carted to Tyburn.
A. W. WARD (_Eng. Dram. Lit. _, pp. 372-3): The oddly-named comedy
of _The Devil is an Ass_, acted in 1616, seems already to exhibit a
certain degree of decay in the dramatic powers which had so signally
called forth its predecessor. Yet this comedy possesses a considerable
literary interest, as adapting both to Jonson's dramatic method, and
to the general moral atmosphere of his age, a theme connecting itself
with some of the most notable creations of the earlier Elizabethan
drama. . . . The idea of the play is as healthy as its plot is ingenious;
but apart from the circumstance that the latter is rather slow in
preparation, and by no means, I think, gains in perspicuousness as it
proceeds, the design itself suffers from one radical mistake. Pug's
intelligence is so much below par that he suffers as largely on account
of his clumsiness as on account of his viciousness, while remaining
absolutely without influence upon the course of the action. The comedy
is at the same time full of humor, particularly in the entire character
of Fitzdottrel.
SWINBURNE (_Study of Ben Jonson_, pp. 65-7): If _The Devil is an Ass_
cannot be ranked among the crowning masterpieces of its author, it is
not because the play shows any sign of decadence in literary power or
in humorous invention. The writing is admirable, the wealth of comic
matter is only too copious, the characters are as firm in outline or as
rich in color as any but the most triumphant examples of his satirical
or sympathetic skill in finished delineation and demarcation of humors.
On the other hand, it is of all Ben Jonson's comedies since the date
of _Cynthia's Revels_ the most obsolete in subject of satire, the most
temporary in its allusions and applications: the want of fusion or even
connection (except of the most mechanical or casual kind) between the
various parts of its structure and the alternate topics of its ridicule
makes the action more difficult to follow than that of many more
complicated plots: and, finally, the admixture of serious sentiment and
noble emotion is not so skilfully managed as to evade the imputation of
incongruity. [The dialogue between Lady Tailbush and Lady Eitherside
in Act 4. Sc. 1 has some touches 'worthy of Moliere himself. ' In Act
4. Sc. 3 Mrs. Fitzdottrel's speech possesses a 'a noble and natural
eloquence,' but the character of her husband is 'almost too loathsome
to be ridiculous,' and unfit 'for the leading part in a comedy of
ethics as well as of morals. '] The prodigality of elaboration lavished
on such a multitude of subordinate characters, at the expense of all
continuous interest and to the sacrifice of all dramatic harmony, may
tempt the reader to apostrophize the poet in his own words:
You are so covetous still to embrace
More than you can, that you lose all.
Yet a word of parting praise must be given to Satan: a small part as
far as extent goes, but a splendid example of high comic imagination
after the order of Aristophanes, admirably relieved by the low comedy
of the asinine Pug and the voluble doggrel by the antiquated Vice.
TEXT
EDITOR'S NOTE
The text here adopted is that of the original edition of 1631.
No changes of reading have been made; spelling, punctuation,
capitalization, and italics are reproduced. The original pagination
is inserted in brackets; the book-holder's marginal notes are inserted
where 1716 and Whalley placed them. In a few instances modern type has
been substituted for archaic characters. The spacing of the contracted
words has been normalized.
1641 = Pamphlet folio of 1641.
1692 = The Third Folio, 1692.
1716 = Edition of 1716 (17).
W = Whalley's edition, 1756.
G = Gifford's edition, 1816.
SD.
= Stage directions at the beginning of a scene.
SN. = Side note, or book-holder's note.
om. = omitted.
ret. = retained.
f. = and all later editions.
G? = a regular change. After a single citation only
exceptions are noted. See Introduction, page xvi.
Mere changes of spelling have not been noted in the variants.
All changes of form and all suggestive changes of punctuation have
been recorded.
THE DIUELL IS AN ASSE:
A COMEDIE ACTED IN THE YEARE, 1616.
_BY HIS MAIESTIES_ SERVANTS.
The Author BEN: IONSON.
HOR. _de_ ART. POET.
_Ficta voluptatis Cau? a, ? int proxima veris. _
[DEVICE OF A GRIFFIN'S HEAD ERASED]
_LONDON_.
Printed by _I. B. _ for ROBERT ALLOT, and are
to be ? old at the ? igne of the _Beare_, in _Pauls_
Church-yard. 1631.
THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY.
SATAN. _The great diuell. _ [93]
PVG. _The le? ? e diuell. _
INIQVITY. _The Vice. _
FITZ-DOTTRELL. _A Squire of_ Norfolk.
Mi? tre? ? e FRANCES. _His wife. _ 5
MEERE-CRAFT. _The Proiector. _
EVERILL. _His champion. _
WITTIPOL. _A young Gallant. _
MANLY. _His friend. _
INGINE. _A Broaker. _ 10
TRAINES. _The Proiectors man. _
GVILT-HEAD. _A Gold-? mith. _
PLVTARCHVS. _His ? onne. _
Sir POVLE EITHER-SIDE. _A Lawyer, and Iu? tice. _
Lady EITHER-SIDE. _His wife. _ 15
Lady TAILE-BVSH. _The Lady Proiectre? ? e. _
PIT-FALL. _Her woman. _
AMBLER. _Her Gentlemanv? her. _
SLEDGE. _A Smith, the con? table. _
SHACKLES. _Keeper of Newgate. _ 20
SERIEANTS.
_The Scene_, LONDON.
The Prologue.
_The_ DIVELL _is an_ A? ? e. _That is, to day,
The name of what you are met for, a new Play.
Yet, Grandee's, would you were not come to grace
Our matter, with allowing vs no place.
Though you pre? ume_ SATAN _a ? ubtill thing, 5
And may haue heard hee's worne in a thumbe-ring;
Doe not on the? e pre? umptions, force vs act,
In compa? ? e of a chee? e-trencher. This tract
Will ne'er admit our_ vice, _becau? e of yours.
Anone, who, wor? e then you, the fault endures 10
That your ? elues make? when you will thru? t and ? purne,
And knocke vs o' the elbowes, and bid, turne;
As if, when wee had ? poke, wee mu? t be gone,
Or, till wee ? peake, mu? t all runne in, to one,
Like the young adders, at the old ones mouth? 15
Would wee could ? tand due_ North; _or had no_ South,
_If that offend: or were_ Mu? couy _gla? ? e,
That you might looke our_ Scenes _through as they pa? ? e.
We know not how to affect you. If you'll come
To ? ee new Playes, pray you affoord vs roome, 20
And ? hew this, but the ? ame face you haue done
Your deare delight, the_ Diuell _of_ Edmunton.
_Or, if, for want of roome it mu? t mi? -carry,
'Twill be but Iu? tice, that your cen? ure tarry,
Till you giue ? ome. And when ? ixe times you ha' ? een't, 25
If this_ Play _doe not like, the Diuell is in't. _
[93] Dramatis Personae 1716, f. G places the women's names after those
of the men.
[94] 1, 2 Devil 1692, f.
[95] 4 Fabian Fitzdottrel G
[96] 5 Mrs. Frances Fitzdottrel G || His wife] om. G
[97] 9 Eustace Manly G
[98] 10 Engine 1716, f.
[99] 12 Thomas Gilthead G
[100] 15 His wife] om. G
[101] 18 Gentleman-usher to lady Tailbush G
[102] 21 Serjeants, officers, servants, underkeepers, &c. G
[103] 22 The] om. 1716, W
[104] The Prologue. ] follows the title-page 1716, W
[105] 5 _subtle_ 1692 f.
[106] 10 than 1692, f. passim in this sense. Anon 1692, f.
[107] 12 o'] on G?
[108] 14 till] 'till 1716
[109] 25 ha'] have G?
THE DIVELL IS AN ASSE. [95]
ACT. I. SCENE. I.
DIVELL. PVG. INIQVITY.
Hoh, hoh, hoh, hoh, hoh, hoh, hoh, hoh, &c.
To earth? and, why to earth, thou foooli? h Spirit?
What wold'? t thou do on earth?
PVG. For that, great Chiefe!
As time ? hal work. I do but ask my mon'th.
Which euery petty _pui'nee Diuell_ has; 5
Within that terme, the Court of _Hell_ will heare
Some thing, may gaine a longer grant, perhaps.
SAT. For what? the laming a poore Cow, or two?
Entring a Sow, to make her ca? t her farrow?
Or cro? ? ing of a Mercat-womans Mare, 10
Twixt this, and _Totnam_? the? e were wont to be
Your maine atchieuements, _Pug_, You haue ? ome plot, now,
Vpon a tonning of Ale, to ? tale the ye? t,
Or keepe the churne ? o, that the buttter come not;
Spight o' the hou? ewiues cord, or her hot ? pit? 15
Or ? ome good Ribibe, about _Kenti? h_ Towne,
Or _Hog? den_, you would hang now, for a witch,
Becau? e ? hee will not let you play round _Robbin_:
And you'll goe ? owre the Citizens Creame 'gain? t Sunday?
That ? he may be accus'd for't, and condemn'd, 20
By a _Middle? ex_ Iury, to the ? atisfaction
Of their offended friends, the _Londiners_ wiues
Who? e teeth were ? et on edge with it? Fooli? h feind,
Stay i' your place, know your owne ?
fashion (1. 6. 124-5), and in blood (1. 6. 168). For Jonson to say this
to Lady Hatton would have been preposterous.
=Justice Eitherside. = Only the desire to prove a theory at all costs
could have prevented Fleay from seeing that Coke's counterpart is
not Fitzdottrel, but Justice Eitherside. In obstinacy, bigotry, and
vanity this character represents the class of judges with which
Coke identified himself in the Overbury trial. Nor are these merely
class-traits. They are distinctly the faults which marred Coke's career
from the beginning. It is certain that Coke is partially responsible
for this portraiture. Overbury was a personal friend of the poet, and
the trial, begun in the previous year, had extended into 1616. Jonson
must have followed it eagerly. On the other hand, it is improbable that
the picture was aimed exclusively at Coke. He merely furnished traits
for a typical and not uncommon character. As we have seen, it is in
line with Jonson's usual practise to confine personal satire to the
lesser characters.
=Merecraft. = Fleay's identification with Sir Giles Mompesson has very
little to commend it. Mompesson was connected by marriage with James
I. 's powerful favorite, George Villiers, later Duke of Buckingham. In
1616 he suggested to Villiers the creation of a special commission for
the purpose of granting licenses to keepers of inns and ale-houses.
The suggestion was adopted by Villiers; Mompesson was appointed to the
Commission in October, 1616, and knighted on November 18 of that year.
The patent was not sealed until March, 1617. His high-handed conduct
soon became unpopular, but he continued in favor with Villiers and
James, and his disgrace did not come until 1621.
It will readily be seen that Mompesson's position and career conform
in no particular to those of Merecraft in the present play. Mompesson
was a knight, a friend of the king's favorite, and in favor with
the king. Merecraft is a mere needy adventurer without influence at
court, and the associate of ruffians, who frequent the 'Straits' and
the 'Bermudas'. Mompesson was himself the recipient of a patent (see
section III. 2). Merecraft is merely the projector who devises clever
projects for more powerful patrons. Mompesson's project bears no
resemblance to those suggested by Merecraft, and he could hardly have
attracted any popular dislike at the time when _The Devil is an Ass_
was presented, since, as we have seen, his patent was not even sealed
until the following year. Finally, Jonson would hardly have attacked a
man who stood so high at court as did Mompesson in 1616.
It is evident that Jonson had particularly in mind those projectors
whose object it was to drain the fens of Lincolnshire. The attempts, as
we have seen, were numerous, and it is highly improbable that Jonson
wished to satirize any one of them more severely than another. In a
single passage, however, it seems possible that Sir John Popham (see
page lx) is referred to. In Act 4. Sc. 1 Merecraft speaks of a Sir John
Monie-man as a projector who was able to 'jump a business quickly'
because 'he had great friends'. That Popham is referred to seems not
unlikely from the fact that he was the most important personage who
had embarked upon an enterprise of this sort, that his scheme was one
of the earliest, that he was not a strict contemporary (d. 1607), and
that his scheme had been very unpopular. This is proved by an anonymous
letter to the king, in which complaint is made that 'the "covetous
bloody Popham" will ruin many poor men by his offer to drain the fens'
(_Cal. State Papers_, Mar. 14? , 1606).
=Plutarchus Guilthead. = Fleay's identification with Edmund Howes I am
prepared to accept, although biographical data are very meagre. Fleay
says: 'Plutarchus Gilthead, who is writing the lives of the great
men in the city; the captain who writes of the Artillery Garden "to
train the youth", etc. [3. 2. 45], is, I think, Edmond Howes, whose
continuation of Stow's Chronicle was published in 1615. '
Howes' undertaking was a matter of considerable ridicule to his
acquaintances. In his 1631 edition he speaks of the heavy blows and
great discouragements he received from his friends. He was in the habit
of signing himself 'Gentleman' and this seems to be satirized in 3. 1,
where Guilthead says repeatedly: 'This is to make you a Gentleman' (see
_N. & Q. _ 1st Ser. 6. 199. ).
=The Noble House. = Two proposed identifications of the 'noble house',
which pretends to a duke's title, mentioned at 2. 4. 15-6. have been
made. The expenditure of much energy in the attempt to fix so veiled
an allusion is hardly worth while. Jonson of course depended upon
contemporary rumor, for which we have no data.
Cunningham's suggestion that Buckingham is referred to is not
convincing. Buckingham's father was Sir George Villiers of Brooksby in
Leicestershire. He was not himself raised to the nobility until August
27, 1616, when he was created Viscount Villiers and Baron Waddon. It
was not until January 5, 1617 (not 1616, as Cunningham says), that he
became Earl of Buckingham, and it is unlikely that before this time
any allusion to Villiers' aspiration to a dukedom would have been
intelligible to Jonson's audience.
Fleay's theory that the 'noble house' was that of Stuart may be
accepted provisionally. Lodowick was made Earl of Richmond in 1613, and
Duke in 1623. He was acceptable to king and people, and in this very
year was made steward of the household.
[86] See Dedication to _The Fox_, Second Prologue to _The Silent
Woman_, Induction to _Bartholomew Fair_, _Staple of News_
(Second Intermean), _Magnetic Lady_ (Second Intermean).
[87] See the note prefixed to _Staple of News_, Act 3, and
the second Prologue for _The Silent Woman_.
[88] _Ev. Man in. _
[89] _Case is Altered. _
[90] _Staple of News. _
[91] Dedication to _The Fox_.
[92] The passage from the _Gipsies_ especially finds a close parallel
in the fragment of a song in Marston's _Dutch Courtezan_, 1605, _Wks. _
2. 46:
Purest lips, soft banks of blisses,
Self alone deserving kisses.
Are not these lines from Jonson's hand? This was the year of his
collaboration with Marston in _Eastward Ho_.
D. AFTER-INFLUENCE OF THE DEVIL IS AN ASS
A few instances of the subsequent rehandling of certain motives in
this play are too striking to be completely overlooked. John Wilson,
1627-c 1696, a faithful student and close imitator of Jonson, produced
in 1690 a drama called _Belphegor_, or _The Marriage of the Devil,
a Tragi-comedy_. While it is founded on the English translation of
Machiavelli's novella, which appeared in 1674, and closely adheres
to the lines of the original, it shows clear evidence of Jonson's
influence. The subject has been fully investigated by Hollstein (cf.
_Verhaltnis_, pp. 22-24, 28-30, 35, 43, 50).
_The Cheats_, 1662, apparently refers to _The Devil is an Ass_ in
the _Prologue_. The characters of Bilboe and Titere Tu belong to the
same class of low bullies as Merecraft and Everill, but the evident
prototypes of these characters are Subtle and Face in _The Alchemist_.
A third play of Wilson's, _The Projectors_, 1664, shows unmistakable
influence of _The Devil is an Ass_. The chief object of satire is
of course the same, and the character of Sir Gudgeon Credulous is
modeled after that of Fitzdottrel. The scenes in which the projects are
explained, 2. 1 and 3. 1, are similar to the corresponding passages in
Jonson. The _Aulularia_ of Plautus is a partial source, so that the
play in some features resembles _The Case is Altered_. In 2. 1 Wilson
imitates the passage in the _Aulularia_, which closes Act 2. Sc. 1 of
_The Devil is an Ass_ (see note 2. 1. 168).
Brome, Jonson's old servant and friend, also handled the subject of
monopolies (see page lxi). Jonson's influence is especially marked in
_The Court Beggar_. The project of perukes (_Wks. _ 1. 192) should be
compared with Merecraft's project of toothpicks.
Mrs. Susanna Centlivre's _Busie Body_ uses the motives borrowed from
Boccaccio (see pp. xlv ff. ). The scenes in which these appear must have
been suggested by Jonson's play (Genest 2. 419), though the author
seems to have been acquainted with the _Decameron_ also. In Act. 1.
Sc. 1 Sir George Airy makes a bargain with Sir Francis Gripe similar
to Wittipol's bargain with Fitzdottrel. In exchange for the sum of a
hundred guineas he is admitted into the house for the purpose of moving
his suit to Miranda. 'for the space of ten minutes, without lett or
molestation', provided Sir Francis remain in the same room, though out
of ear shot (2d ed. , p. 8). In Act 2. Sc. 1 the bargain is carried out
in much the same way as in Boccaccio and in Jonson. Miranda remaining
dumb and Sir George answering for her.
In Act 3. Sc. 4 (2d ed. , p. 38) Miranda in the presence of her
guardian sends a message by Marplot not to saunter at the garden gate
about eight o'clock as he has been accustomed to do, thus making an
assignation with him (compare _DA. _ 2. 2. 52).
Other motives which seem to show some influence of _The Devil is an
Ass_ are Miranda's trick to have the estate settled upon her, Charles'
disguise as a Spaniard, and Traffick's jealous care of Isabinda. The
character of Marplot as comic butt resembles that of Pug.
The song in _The Devil is an Ass_ 2. 6. 94 (see note) was imitated by
Sir John Suckling.
APPENDIX EXTRACTS FROM THE CRITICS
GIFFORD: There is much good writing in this comedy. All the speeches
of Satan are replete with the most biting satire, delivered with an
appropriate degree of spirit. Fitzdottrel is one of those characters
which Jonson delighted to draw, and in which he stood unrivalled, a
_gull_, i. e. , a confident coxcomb, selfish, cunning, and conceited.
Mrs. Fitzdottrel possesses somewhat more interest than the generality
of our author's females, and is indeed a well sustained character. In
action the principal amusement of the scene (exclusive of the admirable
burlesque of witchery in the conclusion) was probably derived from the
mortification of poor Pug, whose stupid stare of amazement at finding
himself made an _ass_ of on every possible occasion must, if portrayed
as some then on the stage were well able to portray it, have been
exquisitely comic.
This play is strictly moral in its conception and conduct. Knavery and
folly are shamed and corrected, virtue is strengthened and rewarded,
and the ends of dramatic justice are sufficiently answered by the
simple exposure of those whose errors are merely subservient to the
minor interests of the piece.
HERFORD (_Studies in the Literary Relations of England and Germany_,
pp. 318-20): Jonson had in fact so far the Aristophanic quality of
genius, that he was at once a most elaborate and minute student of the
actual world, and a poet of the airiest and boldest fancy, and that he
loved to bring the two roles into the closest possible combination. No
one so capable of holding up the mirror to contemporary society without
distorting the slenderest thread of its complex tissue of usages; no
one, on the other hand, who so keenly delighted in startling away
the illusion or carefully undermining it by some palpably fantastic
invention. His most elaborate reproductions of the everyday world are
hardly ever without an infusion of equally elaborate caprice,--a leaven
of recondite and fantastic legend and grotesque myth, redolent of old
libraries and antique scholarship, furtively planted, as it were, in
the heart of that everyday world of London life, and so subtly blending
with it that the whole motley throng of merchants and apprentices,
gulls and gallants, discover nothing unusual in it, and engage with the
most perfectly matter of fact air in the business of working it out.
The purging of Crispinus in the _Poetaster_, the Aristophanic motive
of the _Magnetic Lady_, even the farcical horror of noise which is the
mainspring of the _Epicoene_, are only less elaborate and sustained
examples of this fantastic realism than the adventure of a Stupid
Devil in the play before us. Nothing more anomalous in the London of
Jonson's day could be conceived; yet it is so managed that it loses
all its strangeness. So perfectly is the supernatural element welded
with the human, that it almost ceases to appear supernatural. Pug, the
hero of the adventure, is a pretty, petulant boy, more human by many
degrees than the half fairy Puck of Shakespeare, which doubtless helped
to suggest him, and the arch-fiend Satan is a bluff old politician,
anxious to ward off the perils of London from his young simpleton of a
son, who is equally eager to plunge into them. The old savage horror
fades away before Jonson's humanising touch, the infernal world loses
all its privilege of peculiar terror and strength, and sinks to the
footing of a mere rival state, whose merchandise can be kept out of the
market and its citizens put in the Counter or carted to Tyburn.
A. W. WARD (_Eng. Dram. Lit. _, pp. 372-3): The oddly-named comedy
of _The Devil is an Ass_, acted in 1616, seems already to exhibit a
certain degree of decay in the dramatic powers which had so signally
called forth its predecessor. Yet this comedy possesses a considerable
literary interest, as adapting both to Jonson's dramatic method, and
to the general moral atmosphere of his age, a theme connecting itself
with some of the most notable creations of the earlier Elizabethan
drama. . . . The idea of the play is as healthy as its plot is ingenious;
but apart from the circumstance that the latter is rather slow in
preparation, and by no means, I think, gains in perspicuousness as it
proceeds, the design itself suffers from one radical mistake. Pug's
intelligence is so much below par that he suffers as largely on account
of his clumsiness as on account of his viciousness, while remaining
absolutely without influence upon the course of the action. The comedy
is at the same time full of humor, particularly in the entire character
of Fitzdottrel.
SWINBURNE (_Study of Ben Jonson_, pp. 65-7): If _The Devil is an Ass_
cannot be ranked among the crowning masterpieces of its author, it is
not because the play shows any sign of decadence in literary power or
in humorous invention. The writing is admirable, the wealth of comic
matter is only too copious, the characters are as firm in outline or as
rich in color as any but the most triumphant examples of his satirical
or sympathetic skill in finished delineation and demarcation of humors.
On the other hand, it is of all Ben Jonson's comedies since the date
of _Cynthia's Revels_ the most obsolete in subject of satire, the most
temporary in its allusions and applications: the want of fusion or even
connection (except of the most mechanical or casual kind) between the
various parts of its structure and the alternate topics of its ridicule
makes the action more difficult to follow than that of many more
complicated plots: and, finally, the admixture of serious sentiment and
noble emotion is not so skilfully managed as to evade the imputation of
incongruity. [The dialogue between Lady Tailbush and Lady Eitherside
in Act 4. Sc. 1 has some touches 'worthy of Moliere himself. ' In Act
4. Sc. 3 Mrs. Fitzdottrel's speech possesses a 'a noble and natural
eloquence,' but the character of her husband is 'almost too loathsome
to be ridiculous,' and unfit 'for the leading part in a comedy of
ethics as well as of morals. '] The prodigality of elaboration lavished
on such a multitude of subordinate characters, at the expense of all
continuous interest and to the sacrifice of all dramatic harmony, may
tempt the reader to apostrophize the poet in his own words:
You are so covetous still to embrace
More than you can, that you lose all.
Yet a word of parting praise must be given to Satan: a small part as
far as extent goes, but a splendid example of high comic imagination
after the order of Aristophanes, admirably relieved by the low comedy
of the asinine Pug and the voluble doggrel by the antiquated Vice.
TEXT
EDITOR'S NOTE
The text here adopted is that of the original edition of 1631.
No changes of reading have been made; spelling, punctuation,
capitalization, and italics are reproduced. The original pagination
is inserted in brackets; the book-holder's marginal notes are inserted
where 1716 and Whalley placed them. In a few instances modern type has
been substituted for archaic characters. The spacing of the contracted
words has been normalized.
1641 = Pamphlet folio of 1641.
1692 = The Third Folio, 1692.
1716 = Edition of 1716 (17).
W = Whalley's edition, 1756.
G = Gifford's edition, 1816.
SD.
= Stage directions at the beginning of a scene.
SN. = Side note, or book-holder's note.
om. = omitted.
ret. = retained.
f. = and all later editions.
G? = a regular change. After a single citation only
exceptions are noted. See Introduction, page xvi.
Mere changes of spelling have not been noted in the variants.
All changes of form and all suggestive changes of punctuation have
been recorded.
THE DIUELL IS AN ASSE:
A COMEDIE ACTED IN THE YEARE, 1616.
_BY HIS MAIESTIES_ SERVANTS.
The Author BEN: IONSON.
HOR. _de_ ART. POET.
_Ficta voluptatis Cau? a, ? int proxima veris. _
[DEVICE OF A GRIFFIN'S HEAD ERASED]
_LONDON_.
Printed by _I. B. _ for ROBERT ALLOT, and are
to be ? old at the ? igne of the _Beare_, in _Pauls_
Church-yard. 1631.
THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY.
SATAN. _The great diuell. _ [93]
PVG. _The le? ? e diuell. _
INIQVITY. _The Vice. _
FITZ-DOTTRELL. _A Squire of_ Norfolk.
Mi? tre? ? e FRANCES. _His wife. _ 5
MEERE-CRAFT. _The Proiector. _
EVERILL. _His champion. _
WITTIPOL. _A young Gallant. _
MANLY. _His friend. _
INGINE. _A Broaker. _ 10
TRAINES. _The Proiectors man. _
GVILT-HEAD. _A Gold-? mith. _
PLVTARCHVS. _His ? onne. _
Sir POVLE EITHER-SIDE. _A Lawyer, and Iu? tice. _
Lady EITHER-SIDE. _His wife. _ 15
Lady TAILE-BVSH. _The Lady Proiectre? ? e. _
PIT-FALL. _Her woman. _
AMBLER. _Her Gentlemanv? her. _
SLEDGE. _A Smith, the con? table. _
SHACKLES. _Keeper of Newgate. _ 20
SERIEANTS.
_The Scene_, LONDON.
The Prologue.
_The_ DIVELL _is an_ A? ? e. _That is, to day,
The name of what you are met for, a new Play.
Yet, Grandee's, would you were not come to grace
Our matter, with allowing vs no place.
Though you pre? ume_ SATAN _a ? ubtill thing, 5
And may haue heard hee's worne in a thumbe-ring;
Doe not on the? e pre? umptions, force vs act,
In compa? ? e of a chee? e-trencher. This tract
Will ne'er admit our_ vice, _becau? e of yours.
Anone, who, wor? e then you, the fault endures 10
That your ? elues make? when you will thru? t and ? purne,
And knocke vs o' the elbowes, and bid, turne;
As if, when wee had ? poke, wee mu? t be gone,
Or, till wee ? peake, mu? t all runne in, to one,
Like the young adders, at the old ones mouth? 15
Would wee could ? tand due_ North; _or had no_ South,
_If that offend: or were_ Mu? couy _gla? ? e,
That you might looke our_ Scenes _through as they pa? ? e.
We know not how to affect you. If you'll come
To ? ee new Playes, pray you affoord vs roome, 20
And ? hew this, but the ? ame face you haue done
Your deare delight, the_ Diuell _of_ Edmunton.
_Or, if, for want of roome it mu? t mi? -carry,
'Twill be but Iu? tice, that your cen? ure tarry,
Till you giue ? ome. And when ? ixe times you ha' ? een't, 25
If this_ Play _doe not like, the Diuell is in't. _
[93] Dramatis Personae 1716, f. G places the women's names after those
of the men.
[94] 1, 2 Devil 1692, f.
[95] 4 Fabian Fitzdottrel G
[96] 5 Mrs. Frances Fitzdottrel G || His wife] om. G
[97] 9 Eustace Manly G
[98] 10 Engine 1716, f.
[99] 12 Thomas Gilthead G
[100] 15 His wife] om. G
[101] 18 Gentleman-usher to lady Tailbush G
[102] 21 Serjeants, officers, servants, underkeepers, &c. G
[103] 22 The] om. 1716, W
[104] The Prologue. ] follows the title-page 1716, W
[105] 5 _subtle_ 1692 f.
[106] 10 than 1692, f. passim in this sense. Anon 1692, f.
[107] 12 o'] on G?
[108] 14 till] 'till 1716
[109] 25 ha'] have G?
THE DIVELL IS AN ASSE. [95]
ACT. I. SCENE. I.
DIVELL. PVG. INIQVITY.
Hoh, hoh, hoh, hoh, hoh, hoh, hoh, hoh, &c.
To earth? and, why to earth, thou foooli? h Spirit?
What wold'? t thou do on earth?
PVG. For that, great Chiefe!
As time ? hal work. I do but ask my mon'th.
Which euery petty _pui'nee Diuell_ has; 5
Within that terme, the Court of _Hell_ will heare
Some thing, may gaine a longer grant, perhaps.
SAT. For what? the laming a poore Cow, or two?
Entring a Sow, to make her ca? t her farrow?
Or cro? ? ing of a Mercat-womans Mare, 10
Twixt this, and _Totnam_? the? e were wont to be
Your maine atchieuements, _Pug_, You haue ? ome plot, now,
Vpon a tonning of Ale, to ? tale the ye? t,
Or keepe the churne ? o, that the buttter come not;
Spight o' the hou? ewiues cord, or her hot ? pit? 15
Or ? ome good Ribibe, about _Kenti? h_ Towne,
Or _Hog? den_, you would hang now, for a witch,
Becau? e ? hee will not let you play round _Robbin_:
And you'll goe ? owre the Citizens Creame 'gain? t Sunday?
That ? he may be accus'd for't, and condemn'd, 20
By a _Middle? ex_ Iury, to the ? atisfaction
Of their offended friends, the _Londiners_ wiues
Who? e teeth were ? et on edge with it? Fooli? h feind,
Stay i' your place, know your owne ?
