Ben Jonson's 'Volpone'
from On Satire Hosted by London Review of Books
What did English satirists do after the archbishop of Canterbury banned the printing of satires in June 1599? They turned to the stage. Within months of the crackdown, the same satirical tricks Elizabethans had read in verse could be enjoyed in theatres. At the heart of the scene was Ben Jonson, who for many centuries has maintained a reputation as the refined, classical alternative to Shakespeare, with his diligent observance of the rules extracted from Roman comedy. In this episode, Colin and Clare argue that this reputation is almost entirely false, that Jonson was as embroiled in the volatile and unruly energies of late Elizabethan London as any other dramatist, and nowhere is this more on display than in his finest play, Volpone. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings Read more in the LRB: Blair Worden: The Tribe of Ben https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v34/n19/blair-worden/the-tribe-of-ben Terence Hawkes: Jonson and digestion https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v20/n10/terence-hawkes/lore-and-ordure Colin Burrow and Clare Bucknell are both fellows of All Souls College, Oxford. Get in touch: [email protected]
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