The Devil is an Ass

PREFACE

In _The Devil is an Ass_ Jonson may be studied, first, as a student; secondly, as an observer. Separated by only two years from the preceding play, _Bartholomew Fair_, and by nine from the following, _The Staple of News_, the present play marks the close of an epoch in the poet’s life, the period of his vigorous maturity. Its relations with the plays of his earlier periods a...