A Tale of a Tub is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Ben Jonson. The last of his plays to be staged during his lifetime, A Tale of a Tub was performed in 1633 and published in 1640 in the second folio of Jonson's works. This article is in need of attention. ... Comedy has a classical meaning (comical theatre) and a popular one (the use of humour with an intent to provoke[[ laughter in general). ... For other persons of the same name, see Ben Johnson (disambiguation). ... Events February 13 - Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition. ... Events December 1 - Portugal regains its independence from Spain and João IV of Portugal becomes king. ...

The play was licensed for publication by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on May 7, 1633, and acted by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre; it was the only one of Jonson's post-1614 plays not premiered by the King's Men. The play was also performed at Court on Jan. 14, 1634, before King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria—though it was not well received. Sir Henry Herbert (1595-1673) was Master of the Revels to both King Charles I and King Charles II of England. ... Master of the Revels was an office within the British royal household that originally had minor responsibilities for overseeing royal festivities. ... Queen Henriettas Men was a playing company or troupe of actors in the Caroline era, formed in 1625 at the start of the reign of King Charles I, by theatrical impressario Christopher Beeston, under royal patronage of the new queen, Henrietta Maria. ... These plans, drawn by Inigo Jones probably around 1616 to 1618, may be for the Cockpit Theatre. ... It has been suggested that Lord Chamberlains Men be merged into this article or section. ... Events Moses Amyrauts Traite de la predestination is published Curaçao captured by the Dutch Treaty of Polianovska First meeting of the Académie française The witchcraft affair at Loudun Jean Nicolet lands at Green Bay, Wisconsin Opening of Covent Garden Market in London English establish a settlement... Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. ... Queen Henrietta Maria (November 25, 1609 – September 10, 1669) was Queen Consort of England, Scotland and Ireland (June 13, 1625 - January 30, 1649) through her marriage to Charles I. The U.S. state of Maryland (in Latin, Terra Mariae) was so named in her honour by Cæcilius Calvert, son...

Scholars are divided on the date of authorship of the play. Most judge it to be an early work, first composed perhaps around 1596, that Jonson later revised not long before its 1633 production. A minority have held that the Jonson wrote the play in the era when it premiered, the early 1630s, and that its apparent archaic aspects are deliberate artistic choices on the author's part.^[1]

For modern critics and scholars, a primary focus of interest in the play is Jonson's ridicule of Inigo Jones as "In-and-In Medlay."^[2] (The 1633 license for the play states that passages ridiculing Jones as "Vitruvius Hoop" were to be struck out. Jonson seems to have complied...merely to replace the Hoop material with the Medlay material. Jonson further satirized Jones as "Colonel Iniquo Vitruvius" in his 1634 masque Love's Welcome at Bolsover.) Jonson had nourished a long-standing grudge against Jones, feeling that the architect had always received too much credit for the success of the Court masques that were written by Jonson but had their scenery, costumes, and stage effects designed by Jones. Inigo Jones, by Sir Anthony van Dyck Inigo Jones (July 15, 1573–June 21, 1652) is regarded as the first significant English architect. ... Costume for a Knight, by Inigo Jones: the plumed helmet, the heroic torso in armour and other conventions were still employed for opera seria in the 18th century. ...

In addition to the Medlay character, the play features Diogenes Scriben, a bad poet and a pretended descendant of the Classical Diogenes. Commentators have speculated on intended real-life identities for this satirical figure, though no scholarly consensus has been achieved. The play is largely written in dialect, though scholars have disputed the accuracy of Jonson's efforts in this regard. Diogenes by John William Waterhouse, depicting his lamp, tub and diet of onions. ...

The plot, which unfolds on St. Valentine's Day, concerns the inept attempts of a variety of suitors to win the hand of Audrey Turfe, the daughter of a Middlesex constable. To break Audrey's engagement to John Clay the tilemaker, Squire Tub, a romantic rival, has the man falsely accused of theft. As Constable Turfe pursues the innocent man, yet another suitor, Justice Preamble, plays a comparable ruse against Squire Tub. All told, Audrey is chased after by four separate suitors, and apparently she has no particular preference among them. (She hesitates to accept Squire Tub, however, because of the social gap between them: "He's too fine for me, and has a Lady / Tub to his mother.") Amid the disorder, Pol-Marten, Lady Tub's usher, marries Audrey before the others realize it. Their marriage is celebrated with a wedding masque, also titled "A Tale of a Tub," which retells the story of the play. (In the colloquial usage of the time, a "tale of a tub" is the same as "a cock and bull story.") Saint Valentines Day or Valentines Day is on February 14. ... The Middlesex Guildhall at Westminster Middlesex is one of the 39 historic counties of England and was the second smallest (after Rutland). ...

Jonson, here as often elsewhere in his plays, borrows elements from the Classical plays of Aristophanes and Plautus. The play was published with a motto from Catullus: Inficeto est inficetior rure. Sketch of Aristophanes Aristophanes (Greek: , ca. ... Titus Macchius Plautus, generally referred to simply as Plautus, was a playwright of Ancient Rome. ... Fresco from Herculaneum, presumably showing a love couple. ...

Notes

1. ^ Logan and Smith, pp. 82-3.
2. ^ "In-and-in" was a popular dice game of the era; Jonson mentions it in The New Inn, Act III, scene i.

References

• Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. The New Intellectuals: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama. Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1977.
• Loxley, James. The Complete Cricital Guide to Ben Jonson. London, Routledge, 2002.

External Link

• A Tale of a Tub online.