{"product_id":"ben-jonson-a-life-9780198129769","title":"Ben Jonson: A Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Ian Donaldson\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Literary Figures\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBen Jonson was the greatest of Shakespeare's contemporaries. His fame rests not only on the numerous plays he had written, but on his achievements over three decades as principal masque-writer to the early Stuart court, where he had worked in creative, if at times stormy, collaboration with Inigo Jones. One of the most accomplished poets of the age, he was--in fact if not in title--the first Poet Laureate in England. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIan Donaldson's new biography draws on freshly discovered writings by and about Ben Jonson, and locates his work within the social and intellectual contexts of his time. Donaldson depicts a life full of drama. Jonson's early satirical play, \u003cem\u003eThe Isle of Dogs\u003c\/em\u003e, landed him in prison, and brought all theatrical activity in London to a temporary--and very nearly permanent--standstill. He was \"almost at the gallows\" for killing a fellow actor after a quarrel, and converted to Catholicism while awaiting execution. He supped with the Gunpowder conspirators on the eve of their planned coup at Westminster. After satirizing the Scots in \u003cem\u003eEastward Ho!\u003c\/em\u003e he was imprisoned again, and throughout his career was repeatedly interrogated about plays and poems thought to contain seditious or slanderous material. Throughout this lively biography, Donaldson provides the fullest picture available of Jonson's personal, political, spiritual, and intellectual interests, and he insightfully discusses all of Jonson's\u003cbr\u003emajor poetry and drama, plus some newly discovered works. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJonson emerges from this study as a more complex and volatile character than previously depicted, and as a writer whose work strikingly foresees the modern age.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press, USA","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47969647788183,"sku":"9780198129769","price":4411.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9780198129769.webp?v=1782923062","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/ben-jonson-a-life-9780198129769","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}