Jacobean Age

With a nation divided and civil war seeming inevitable, the Jacobean Age (1602-1625) was a time of great uncertainty. It was also a time of great literature, with writers like William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and Ben Jonson (1572-1637) writing their most famous works.

Jacobean Age: definition

The Jacobean Age was a period in British history that lasted during the reign of King James I (1566-1625). The period followed the successful Elizabethan era and encompassed 1603 to 1625, coinciding with James I's rule. The Jacobean Age describes the visual arts and literature produced during that time. It was also an influential period for architecture.

One of the most important developments of the Jacobean Age was the creation of the King James Version of the Bible, which came about in 1611. The King James Bible is considered the most successful English translation and proved highly influential for English literature. Many of the developments in visual art were influenced by the influx of foreign artists living in England at the time.

Fig 1. The King James Bible was a major development in the Jacobean Age.

The period saw a significant rise in literature which can be seen as a continuation of the Elizabethan era that preceded it, with many famous authors active across both ages. The literary style of the Jacobean Age is considered both dark and questioning. Shakespeare wrote many of his most famous tragedies during the period, and metaphysical poets also came to prominence. The Jacobean Age was a hugely influential and rich historical period in drama, prose, and poetry.

Jacobean Age: literature

The Jacobean Age was a highly productive period in English literature, particularly drama. Three prominent plays still produced today are from the pen of William Shakespeare. These include the plays King Lear (1605), Macbeth (1606), and Othello (1603). The plays are among William Shakespeare's most famous tragedies and hint towards the darker tones that became popular during the Jacobean Age.

Many other Jacobean writers produced dark plays and often concerned themselves with subjects of evil or tragedy. These include plays by Thomas Middleton (1580-1627), George Chapman (1559-1634), and John Webster (1580-1632). George Chapman also created the landmark translation of Homer's (c. 8th century BCE) The Illiad (1617) and The Odyssey (1617). It was the first time either book had been written in English verse.

Fig 2. William Shakespeare wrote some of his most famous tragedies in the Jacobean Age.

The playwright and poet Ben Jonson produced comic plays rich in satire and founded a new form of theatre known as 'the masque'. These were extravagant shows performed by a small group of actors wearing masks. The performances were highly technical and expensive to produce, so plays were often performed within the King's court.

Two main forms of poetry developed in the Jacobean Age. There were the works of the Cavalier poets, inspired by Ben Jonson, and metaphysical poetry. The Cavalier poets, such as Robert Herrick (1591-1674) and Richard Lovelace (1617-1657), were known for their support of King Charles I (1600-1649), but the form originated during the Jacobean Age. Cavalier poems were short and lyrical and usually on the subject of pleasure. Metaphysical poetry made great use of figurative language and conceits to present philosophical ideas. The most famous metaphysical poet was John Donne (1572-1631).

Jacobean Age: characteristics

Because of the range of literature produced during the Jacobean Age, it can be hard to define distinct characteristics. This section will look at some familiar features used in plays and techniques used in poetry.

Dark themes

Many works written in the Jacobean Age had dark themes and subjects. Tragedy was the most popular genre of play at the time. It was an uncertain time in British history, and the nation's fear of impending civil war was reflected in the plays of the Age. One such play is William Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Macbeth. The play explores the fatal corruption of ambition. The titular character kills many of his allies to gain power.

Fig 3. Many of the dramas of the Jacobean were dark in tone, and tragedy was a popular genre.

Questioning the social order

The uncertainty of the Jacobean Age had many people questioning the social order. It was a time when rebellions were frequent (though they usually failed). King James I's reign was constantly under threat. The nation was divided between the more puritanical and the cavalier, reflected by the writers of the Age and the two popular forms of poetry. Many satirical plays were produced during the Jacobean Age. Ben Jonson's play The Alchemist (1610) satirises almost all aspects of Jacobean society and the era's particular follies, most notably human greed.

Conceits

Coined from the Latin term for 'concept', conceits are a poetic technique that is a complex metaphor. Conceits were first made popular in the sonnets of Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) and Shakespeare. In the Jacobean Age, the use of conceits was adopted by metaphysical poets. Conceits in metaphysical poetry were often complex and abstract ways to present philosophical ideas. John Donne's poem 'The Sun Rising' (1633) uses the conceit of the Sun as a 'busy old fool'.

Jacobean Age: writers

This section will look at some of the more prominent writers of the Jacobean Age, including playwrights, poets, and prose writers.

William Shakespeare

Perhaps the most famous writer of any age, William Shakespeare is more commonly associated with the Elizabethan era. However, as mentioned previously, he wrote some of his most impressive tragedies during the Jacobean Age. Shakespeare and his company were incredibly prosperous at the time, writing plays for the King's court in the famous Globe Theatre. Shakespeare also published his sonnets in his Quarto (1609), though it is widely considered that the poems were written throughout his life.

George Chapman

Born in Hertfordshire in 1559, George Chapman was a playwright, poet, and translator. He was most famous for his translations of Homer's The Illiad and The Odyssey. Chapman also wrote many comedies during the Jacobean Age, becoming known for the experimental nature of his plays. He co-wrote the play Eastward Ho (1605) with Ben Jonson, which saw the pair imprisoned for offending a member of the King's court. Many of his later tragedies were successful but also courted trouble. The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles, Duke of Byron (1608) was banned from the stage, and his company had to leave London to perform it.

Ben Jonson

Ben Jonson was born on 17 June 1572 and was a highly influential poet and playwright. Jonson was friends with both Shakespeare and Chapman, with the former acting in some of Jonson's plays. Ben Jonson was also famous for his influence on the Cavalier poets. His short, lyrical poems often avoided using the more popular form of the time, the sonnet. His writing was well known for its satirical and comedic tone. Two of his more successful plays were The Alchemist (1610) and Bartholomew Fair (1614). Jonson's work is some of the few Jacobean plays (excluding Shakespeare) that are still performed today.

Jacobean Age: poets

As mentioned previously, there were two distinct strands of Jacobean poetry, the metaphysical and the cavalier. Practitioners of both forms were as unique and varied as their time period.

John Donne

Born on 22nd January 1572, John Donne was an English poet and scholar who later became a cleric for the Church of England. He was the most well-known of the metaphysical poets. His metaphorical style was used in many poetic forms, including sonnets, epigrams, and satires. Donne wrote erotic poems early in the Jacobean Age, but in 1610 he became increasingly ill, and his poetry became more serious in tone. One of his most famous poems is the holy sonnet known as 'Death be not Proud' (1633).

George Herbert

George Herbert was another English metaphysical poet who was also a priest of the Church of England. Born in 1593, Herbert was sometimes called a 'devotional lyricist'. George Herbert became a priest after the death of King James I and spent most of the Jacobean Age devoted to poetry. Many of Herbert's poems have a religious theme; like other metaphysical poets, he frequently uses conceits. George Herbert's most famous poem is 'Easter Wings' (1633), maybe because it is unusually shaped like a pair of wings.

Robert Herrick

Robert Herrick was born on 24 August 1591. Alongside Ben Jonson, he was an early pioneer of what became known as Cavalier poetry. Herrick was a lyric poet and also an Anglican cleric. Perhaps surprisingly for a cleric, Herrick's poetry was sometimes criticised for its perceived obscenity. Herrick wrote poetry throughout the Jacobean Age, but his only known collection of poems is Hesperides: Or, The Works Both Human and Divine (1648). One well-known Herrick poem is 'To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time' (1648).