William Shakespeare Vs. Ben Jonson: A Comparative Study

 

INTRODUCTION:

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and Ben Jonson (1572-1637) were the two most outstanding literary giants in the field of drama during the Elizabethan and Jacobean period of English literature. While they were contemporaries, there are notable differences in their writing styles, thematic concerns, and approaches to drama. Here's a comparison and contrast between Shakespeare and Jonson.

 

	SHAKESPEARE	BEN JONSON
1	Wrote 37 plays.	Wrote 18 plays.
2	Variety of plays like comedies, tragedies, tragi-comedies, historical romances etc.	Known for comedies only.
3	Borrowed most of his stories from foreign sources, imitated Italian, French and Scottish writers.	Never borrowed stories, always conceived his stories in his own style, from his fertile brain.
4	Develops the borrowed plots in the liveliest manner. His plays capture the attention of the audience. Example: A Midsummer Night’s Dream’	Does not care much about the development of plots. Focusses more on the character development.
5	A Romanticist	A realist and a satirist
6	Sympathizes with the human follies. Has a humanitarian approach.	A hard hearted satirist who doesn’t miss a single chance to expose and satirize the follies of mankind.
7	His plays have universal appeal.	Except ‘Volpone’ lacks in universal appeal.
8	A wide range of characters – Kings, queens, princes, warriors etc.	Middle and lower class characters – gamesters, rogues, cut-purses, gulls and bawds.
9	Popularized Romantic Comedies.	Popularized Comedy of Humours.
10	Height of poetic, philosophical expressions in soliloquies.	No poetry and no philosophical wisdom.

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