YALE STUDIES IN ENGLISH
ALBERT S. COOK, Editor

XXIX

THE DEVIL IS AN ASS

BY
BEN JONSON

Edited with Introduction, Notes, and Glossary

BY
WILLIAM SAVAGE JOHNSON,Ph.D.
Instructor in English in Yale University

A Thesis presented to
the Faculty of the Graduate School of Yale University
in Candidacy for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1905

Copyright by William Savage Johnson, 1905
PRESS OF THE TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR COMPANY

TO MY MOTHER

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PREFACE

In The Devil is an Ass Jonson may be studied, first, as astudent; secondly, as an observer. Separated by only two yearsfrom the preceding play, Bartholomew Fair, and by nine from thefollowing, The Staple of News, the present play marks the closeof an epoch in the poet’s life, the period of his vigorous maturity.Its relations with the plays of his earlier periods are therefore ofespecial interest.

The results of the present editor’s study of these and otherliterary connections are presented, partly in the Notes, and partlyin the Introduction to this book. After the discussion of thepurely technical problems in Sections A and B, the larger featuresare taken up in Section C, I and II. These involve a study of theauthor’s indebtedness to English, Italian, and classical sources, andespecially to the early English drama; as well as of his own dramaticmethods in previous plays. The more minute relations to contemporarydramatists and to his own former work, especially in regard tocurrent words and phrases, are dealt with in the Notes.

As an observer, Jonson appears as a student of London, and asatirist of its manners and vices; and, in a broader way, as a criticof contemporary England. The life and aspect of London are treated,for the most part, in the Notes; the issues of state involved inJonson’s satire are presented in historical discussions in Section C,III. Personal satire is treated in the division following.

I desire to express my sincere thanks to Professor Albert S. Cookfor advice in matters of form and for inspiration in the work; toProfessor Henry A. Beers for painstaking discussion of difficultquestions; to Dr. De Winter for help and criticism; to Dr. John M.Berdan for the privilege of consulting his copy of the Folio; to[viii]Mr. Andrew Keogh and to Mr. Henry A. Gruener, for aid inbibliographical matters; and to Professor George L. Burr for the loanof books from the Cornell Library.

A portion of the expense of printing this book has been borne bythe Modern Language Club of Yale University from funds placed at itsdisposal by the generosity of Mr. George E. Dimock of Elizabeth, NewJersey, a graduate of Yale in the Class of 1874.

W. S. J.

Yale University,
  August 30, 1905.

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