George Chapman and Ben Jonson: a Conflict in Theory.

Abstract

The fundamental conflict between the dramatic theory of George Chapman and Ben Jonson centered around the difference between Neo-Platonic and Aristotelian concepts of theatre. Chapman's final poem, "An Invective Against Ben Jonson," is the culmination of that conflict. Chapman's Neo-Platonic theory is based on his allegorical approach to poetry. This theory holds three principles. First, he felt that poetry is not only divinely inspired but divinely created and understood. Second, he assumed that the truth of poetry is communicated through an obscure form to a limited audience. Third, he believed that the audience's ability to underst and and the poet's ability to create are based on ethical considerations. He advocated this approach for the dramatic form in one of his earliest poetic works, Ovid's Banquet of Sense, and subsequently applied it in his first two plays, The Blind Beggar of Alex and ria and An Humorous Day's Mirth. Although some of Jonson's early plays indicate that he tried to apply some of Chapman's techniques to his drama, by the time Volpone was written in 1606 he had become a strong advocate of his own Aristotelian principles. In contrast, his theory held that the dramatic poet should imitate nature or hold a mirror up to reflect a man's life. The objective of his approach was to present truth in a clear style to an immediate audience based in their commonplace notions. He felt the poet was a master craftsman who made his craft out of nothing. To him the truth lay in the world that surrounded him and portraying that truth depended on the "rules" and verisimilitude. As Chapman's status diminished, Jonson's position as an intellectual literary leader increased. Jonson continued to advocate the superiority of his theoretical approach. When his plays began to fail on the stage after 1625, Chapman used one of these failures, The New Inn, to attack Jonson's theoretical approach in his "Invective Against Ben Jonson." While advocating his own theoretical position, Chapman attacked Jonson's lack of ethics and ability to create. It is this unpublished assault that sums up Chapman's private thoughts on Jonson and his poetic theory.