Ben JohnsonBen Jonson was an English poet and actor who lived from June 11, 1572, to August 6, 1637. Jonson's skill as an artist had a long effect on English poetry and stage comedy. The comedy of humours became famous because of him. He is best known for his stirical plays Every Man in His Humour (1598), Volpone, or The Fox (1606), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fair (1614), as well as his lyric and epigrammatic poetry. "He is generally regarded as the second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I." Jonson was a man of the English Renaissance who was classically educated, well-read, and cultured. He liked controversy in all areas of his life, including personal and political issues, as well as artistic and intellectual ones. Jonson had a huge impact on the playwrights and poets of the Jacobean (1603–1625) and Caroline (1625–1642) eras. Jonson's father lost his land, went to jail, and was punished by Queen Mary for being a Protestant. After getting out of prison, he became a minister, but he died a month before his son was born. Two years after he died, his wife married a master bricklayer. Read More Read Less