The Alchemist and Other Plays Volpone, or The Fox; Epicene, or The Silent Woman; The Alchemist; Bartholemew Fair - Softcover

Jonson, Ben

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199537313 ISBN 13: 9780199537310

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2008

Synopsis

This edition brings together Jonson's four great comedies in one volume. Volpone, which was first performed in 1606, dramatizes the corrupting nature of greed in an exuberant satire set in contemporary Venice. The first production of Epicene marked the end of a year long closure of the theatres because of an epidemic of the plague in 1609; its comedy affirms the consolatory power of laughter at such a time. The Alchemist (1610) deploys the metaphors of alchemical transformation to emphasize the mutability of the characters and their relationships. In Bartholomew Fair (1614) Jonson embroils the visitors to the fair in its myriad tempations, exposing the materialistic impulses beneath the apparent godliness of Jacobean Puritans.

Under the General Editorship of Michael Cordner of the University of York the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. Stage directions hvae been added to facilitate the reconstruction of the plays' performance, and there is a scholarly introduction, detailed annotation, and a glossary.
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Edition details

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199537313
• ISBN 13: 9780199537310
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 530
• Editor: Campbell Gordon