Ben Jonson was born in 1572 in London and was raised by his mother and stepfather. Though the family was poor, Jonson received an extensive education at the prestigious Westminster School, where he grew to love classic drama. Jonson began contributing to playwrighting in 1597 with The Case is Altered, and he wrote his first major solo work, Every Man in His Humor, a year later. Jonson was a younger contemporary of Shakespeare, whose acting troupe, The King’s Men, performed many of Jonson’s plays. Jonson occasionally wrote tragic plays, but he is best known for comedies like Volpone, The Alchemist, Bartholomew Fair, and Epicene. Jonson developed a reputation for his intellect, wit, and satirical character sketches (Campbell, Gordon. Introduction. Ben Jonson: The Alchemist and Other Plays, edited by Campbell, Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. vii-xxi).

Jonson became embroiled in a famous period of rivalry known as the War of the Theatres. The rivalry broke out in 1599, when Jonson took offense to a character in John Marston’s play Histriomastix, which Marston intended to be “a flattering representation of [Jonson]” (Cook, David. Introduction. Volpone, by Ben Jonson, Methuen & Co.