Every Man in His Humour

About

Jonson's 1598 comedy — in which Shakespeare himself reportedly acted — introduced his theory of the 'humours' to the stage: each character is dominated by a single ruling passion that makes them simultaneously ridiculous and recognizable. The plot follows young Knowell's attempts to deceive his father about his literary and social adventures, generating a series of comic duels between various humour-types: the jealous husband, the braggart soldier, the water-carrier, the gulls. Jonson revised the play substantially for the 1616 Folio, relocating it from Florence to London. It is the foundational document of the comedy of manners and established a satirical mode that runs through Restoration comedy to the present day.