New Mermaids Series

Volpone

by Ben Jonson

Published 1 January 1958

Renaissance comedy, first performed in 1605. Includes complete text in modernized English, critical and explanatory notes and Introduction. From the Yale Ben Jonson edition.

Every Man in his Humour

by Ben Jonson

Published December 1923

Renaissance comedy. Complete text, modernized English, critical and explanatory notes and Introduction. From the Yale ben Jonson edition.

This collaborative masterpiece of hilarious city comedy was performed by the Children of the Revels at the Blackfriars playhouse in 1605. The story is of an allegorical simplicity that lends itself to satire of civic mores and traditions as well as to parody of the sentimental, idealising London comedy presented at the amphitheatres in the suburbs: Goldsmith Touchstone, an upright London citizen, has one modest and one ambitious daughter, one righteous and one disreputable apprentice; virtue is rewarded, ruthlessness comes to grief - and receives a drenching in the muddy Thames. The introduction to this edition discusses various methods of establishing authorship and highlights the irony of the collaborators' comic vision of contemporary London life.

Bartholomew Fair

by Ben Jonson

Published 1 January 1960

Ben Jonson's comedy "Bartholomew Fair", which, after holding the stage for over a century, is now less well known, is offered here in an edition, based on the text of the first edition, which affords help to the modern producer and reader. In this play, written and acted in 1614, Jonson produced his first comedy since "The Alchemist" in 1610. Both that play and "Volpone" (1605) had presented an extraordinary variety of corrupt energies withing an intricate moral and aesthetic structure. To some critics, the looser construction and the less trenchant satire of "Bartholomew Fair" have seemed to show Jonson returning to the "loose multiplicity" of his earlier works. Horsman reconsiders this notion, illustrating how Jonson fills the play with "varied humours", which preserve the appearance of freedom while never actually losing control.

The Malcontent

by John Marston

Published 1 January 1967

A student edition of Marston's classic play The Malcontent is a tragicomedy deriving from the tradition of the revenge play. The verbal ingenuity of Malevole, the "malcontent", and the extravagance of the drama, push the relentlessness of intrigue to its logical conclusion, exposing the basically comic aspect of the genre. The conventional function of the climactic masque is inverted, leading to the essential resolution of the comedy.This edition comes with full commentary and notes, together with photos of Jonathan Miller's acclaimed 1973 production at the Nottingham Playhouse.

The Dutch Courtesan

by John Marston

Published 30 September 1997

Although it was written shortly before or after Queen Elizabeth's death in 1603 and performed by the boy company at Blackfriars, this play foreshadows the light ladies and callous gallants of Restoration comedy. Passion is a scourge, love is humiliation, and friends might as well be enemies. Freevill discards his concubine Franceschina and, for a joke, sets his straight-laced friend Malheureux on to her, who falls for her and promises to carry out her revenge on Freevill by killing him. The play in the theatre, which is fully imagined in the introduction to this edition, impresses on the audience the spuriousness of rigid moral persuasions, especially when they are tried by fits of sexual passion.

The Alchemist

by Ben Jonson

Published 3 January 1928

Jonson's comic masterpiece, recently revived at the National Theatre with Simon Callow in the title role.

Ben Jonson: Four Plays

by Ben Jonson

Published 31 July 2014

Bringing together four of the most popular and widely studied of Ben Jonson's plays, this anthology focuses on the city comedies for which Jonson is best known today: The Alchemist (edited by Elizabeth Cook), Volpone (edited by Robert N. Watson), Bartholmew Fair (edited by G.R. Hibbard) and Epicoene or The Silent Woman (edited by Roger Holdsworth).

Today Jonson's works are widely considered to be amongst the best produced in his period. The new introduction by Robert N. Watson explores the plays in the context of early modern theatre, culture and politics, as well as providing a guide to the language, characters and themes. On-page commentary notes gloss the text in greater detail, making this the ideal edition for study and classroom use.