"Divided Amongst Themselves": Collaboration and Anxiety in Jonson's Volpone
2002; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 69; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/elh.2002.0001
ISSN1080-6547
Autores Tópico(s)Shakespeare, Adaptation, and Literary Criticism
ResumoLiterary critics often point to Volpone as a watershed in Ben Jonson's development as a dramatist--the play that marks the transition from his moderately successful comedies of humors and the failure of Sejanus to his great middle comedies. Explanations for this transformation are plentiful. Focusing on Jonson's dramaturgy, Anne Barton argues that "the influence of Aristophanes is central and shaping" in Volpone, and that it rescued Jonson from the artistic "impasse" of his earlier comedies. David Riggs's biography explains the transformation in psychological terms, suggesting that the play marks "the arrival of Jonson's maturity in a psychological, as well as an artistic, sense" and proves that he had successfully "confront[ed] and utiliz[ed] impulses that he had hitherto kept at bay." And in his study of rivalry among early modern playwrights, James Shapiro straddles the line between artistic and psychological development and claims that Volpone is the first play in which Jonson successfully deals with the anxiety of Marlowe's influence. 1 So while there is no consensus about why Volpone is such a pivotal work for Jonson, it clearly holds a strategic position in narratives of his development. To a significant degree, how we read Volpone and how we register its differences from Jonson's earlier drama determine how we construct Ben Jonson as dramatist and author.
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