Ben Jonson (1573 – 1637 is a critic known for his vigorous and energetic
nature during the period of Renaissance. He attracted and influenced a large
number of friends and followers during his life time and people used to take
pride in being included in “the tribe of Ben”. He is the first in the line of
great poet-critics like Dryden, Coleridge, Arnold and Eliot.
Ben Jonson’s critical remarks on art and literature are
in a host of prefaces, prologues and dedications which he has written for his
plays. He also translated Horace’s ‘Ars Poetica’. However, his most important
contribution to English literary criticism is found in his ‘Timber’ or
‘Discoveries’ which was published posthumously in 1641. ‘Discoveries’ is the
collection of the thoughts, impressions and comments which he had written all
through his career as a poet and dramatist. Regarding his contribution to
literary criticism, Spingarn avers:
“With Jonson, the study of the art of poetry becomes an
inseparable guide to creation; it is this element of self-conscious art which
distinguishes him from his predecessors.”
Atkins compares Ben Jonson with the preceding critics and
concludes:
“Before him there had been ‘snarling pedants and courtly
eulogists’; but apart from Sidney, with his reaction to Chevy Chase, Jonson is
the first to introduce effectively the personal touch into critical
appreciation.”
NATURE AND FUNCTIONS OF POETRY:
Like Sidney, Ben Jonson too had a high respect for poets
and poetry. He considers the poet as a Maker and remarks:
“A poet is … a maker, feigner; his art, an art of
imitation or feigning, expressing the life of men in fit measure, umbers and
harmony.”
Thus, poetry, according to Ben Jonson, is an art of
imitation, an art wherein the poet expresses the human life with the use of his
imagination. This life is presented in such a realistic manner that this
“feigned” or unreal life looks real and lively. Moreover, he says that this
poetry must have proper structure and harmony to create this specialized
effect.
Regarding the functions of poetry, Ben Jonson seems to
follow Sidney he comments:
“It nourishes and instructs our youth; delights our age;
adorns our prosperity; comforts our adversity; entertains us at home.”
True poetry delights and instructs the reader. It is for
all ages. In good times, it adorns our life and in bad times, it consoles us.
QUALIFICATIONS OF A GOOD POET:
According to Ben Jonson, the true poet has “a God in
him.” He lists the following qualities of a true poet.
1. POET
– A VIRTUOUS SOUL: To be a good
poet, it is important to be a good man first. Knowledge of versification and
style only does not make him a good poet. He must have ability to distinguish
between the virtues and vices. The poet must himself be a virtual soul.
2. PRECTICE: In order to be a successful poet, he has to bring
perfection in his art by practice and exercise. Extempore writing makes a
rhymer, not a poet. Here, he distinguishes the poet from a rhymer. The poet has
to write and re-write his works until he achieves perfection.
3. IMITATION: The third requirement of the poet is the art of imitation
of the ideals, especially from the ancient masters. A good poet must keep the
qualities of some great masters in his mind and must try to imitate or follow
their art.
4. KNOWLEDGE: The true poet must also be a well read and learned
fellow. Wide reading enriched his knowledge not only in terms of understanding
human life and nature, but also in terms of acquiring style and techniques of
the great writers.
IMITATION OF THE ANCIENTS:
According to Ben Jonson, poetry is an art of imitation
which expresses the human life. For this he advises the poets to follow and
imitate the ancient masters and their rules. The poets can find never failing
guidance in the rules of classical critics like Aristotle. But Jonson also
gives equal importance to the individual talent. He remarks, “The ancients are
to be regarded as guides, not the commanders.” He admires Aristotle for giving
rules of writing poetry, but he adds that rules without natural talent are
useless. The poets must be given liberty and they cannot be bound by the
principles formed by the grammarians and philosophers.
JONSON’S VIEWS ON STYLE:
Jonson believed that words carry thoughts in poetry and
so the poet must be choosy and careful while using the words in poetry. The use
of words requires three necessities – to read the best authors, to observe the
best speakers and exercise of his own. Reading great authors and listening to
the great speakers sharpens the mind and memory of the poet. Having written his
first draft, the poet must re-write and do much exercise of revising his poetry
to arrive at the best. Jonson also asks the poets to use the words from ancient
literature which are majestic.
JONSON’S VIEWS ON DRAMA:
During the times of Ben Jonson, the most of the
dramatists and critics preferred following the Aristotelian laws. Jonson too
follows the ancient norms of classical critics and believes that drama, whether
tragedy or comedy, must be divided in parts or acts. Drama must have moderate
number of characters and chorus and must also follow the three classical
unities of time, place and action. But at the same time, Jonson does not insist
on strict observance of these rules. Every new age gives birth to new talents
and masters who have the courage to alter the traditions and set rules of the
ancient times. Jonson welcomes such new masters and gives them enough freedom
to make changes in the rules to fit in their own times.
JONSON’S VIEWS ON BACON AND SHAKESPEARE:
Jonson has written critical comments on various
contemporary writers like - Montaigne, Spenser, Marlowe, Bacon, and Shakespeare
and so on. He judges them with an eye of classical standards of order and
restraint. He appreciates Bacon for the worldly wisdom presented in neat and
clear language condensed in his essays. Jonson writes, “No man ever spake more
neatly, more precisely, more weightily”. About Shakespeare, Jonson’s writes,
“He was honest, and of an open and free nature: had an excellent phantasy, brave
notions, and gentle expressions. His wit was in his own power. There was ever
more in him to be praised than to be pardoned”. Jonson criticized the writers
for violating the classical order but at the same time he is liberal in his
classical approach and praises Shakespeare for his innovations and experiments
in drama.
CONCLUSION:
In this way, Ben Jonson seems to be a mixture of a
classicist and romanticist. His criticism is an attempt to impose order and
discipline on the ardent and disordered romanticism of the Elizabethans. So we
may call Ben Jonson “a liberal classicist”. He had high conception of poetry
and he says that mere genius or inspiration is not enough to make a successful
poet. Natural gifts must be guided by exercise, wide reading and by imitating
the classical masters. Jonson was man of critical insights. Atkins rightly
avers:
“In him appeared, in short, the first great English
critic, one who gave to criticism a definite place in literary activities, and
who did much in diffusing a critical atmosphere and in conveying his love of
letters to his own and later generations….”
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