The Power of Appearance in Ben Johnsons Plays Essay -- Physical Appea

The Power of Appearance in Ben Johnsons PlaysThe very notion of bid depends in part upon the idea that when people dress up in different clothes, it is easier to imagine them as different people. Jonson commonly utilizes this device inwardly his plays for, when a character pretends to be some iodin else, he or she just puts on the other persons clothes. In Volp one(a), when Volpone puts on the dress out of a comwork forcedatore, Mosca, a clarissimo, they are treated as such. When Volpone asks, Am I then like him? Mosca replies O, sir, you are he no man fuck sever you (Jonson, Volpone, 5.5, l. 1-2). By putting on the other mans garment, Volpone essentially becomes the commendatore whose cloak he has put on. Jonson is not suggesting that the sense of hearing rattling believes that the pseudos have become their characters. However, he is making fun of this idea that because actors dress up in someone elses clothing, the audience tummy accept the illusion of a group of lo wer- screen men playing women and kings. In The Devil Is an Ass, and The New Inn Jonson takes the power of appearances one timber further. These plays accept as self-evident the idea that social class is defined by appearance. However, men like Fitzdottrel and Ambler who do not properly respect their rights to aristocratic dress, prove themselves less than aristocratic. Women like Prudence, who date and respect the power of dress to mold appearances, are allowed to assume the enjoyment for which they have been costumed. Jonson seems to be suggesting that those characters who know that social class can very be manipulated by appearance, and thus place the proper value on their appearances, are the true aristocrats whether they are born to the rank or not.... ... This rendition of Jonsons exploration of the conditions upon nobility leads to an interesting conclusion concerning Jonsons proclaim life. While Jonson sought to rise within the courtly world, he neer achieved nobility. Under this interpretation, Jonsons failure would have been more satisfying to him than a token title bestowed as a favor by force James or King Charles, for Jonson appears to have considered preserving the worth of nobility to be far more important than his own social station. If actually immersion the world of aristocracy meant cheapening it in any way (and one can hardly fail to acknowledge that Jonsons character left something to be desired by way of a noble heart), then one could argue that Jonson would have preferred to stay always one step away from the aristocracy -- preserving its value both with his desire and with his failure.