ome near the Shakespearean characters, Cordelia, Imogen,
and Desdemona. His limitations are nowhere more marked than in his
inability to portray a noble woman.

Another reason why he fails to present life completely is shown in
these lines, in which he defines his mission:--

"My strict hand
Was made to seize on vice, and with a gripe
Squeeze out the humor of such spongy souls
As lick up every idle vanity."

Since the world needs building up rather than tearing down, a remedy
for an ailment rather than fault-finding, the greatest of men cannot
be mere satirists. Shakespeare displays some fellow feeling for the
object of his satire, but Jonson's satire is cold and devoid of
sympathy.

Jonson deliberately took his stand in opposition to the romantic
spirit of the age. Marlowe and Shakespeare had disregarded the
classical unities and had developed the drama on romantic lines.
Jonson resolved to follow classical traditions and to adhere to unity
of time and place in the construction of his plots. The action in the
play of _The Silent Woman_, for instance, occupies only twelve hours.

General Characteristics.--Jonson's plays show the touch of a
conscientious artist with great intellectual ability. His vast
erudition is constantly apparent. He is the satiric historian of his
time, and he exhibits the follies and the humors of the age under a
powerful lens. He is also the author of dainty lyrics, and forcible
prose criticism.

Among the shortcomings of his plays, we may specially note lack of
feeling and of universality. He fails to comprehend the nature of
woman. He is not a sympathetic observer of manifold life, but presents
only what is perceived through the frosted glass of intellect. His art
is self-conscious. He defiantly opposed the romantic spirit of the age
and weakened the drama by making it bear the burden of the classical
unities.

MINOR DRAMATISTS

Beaumont and Fletcher.--Next to Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Ben
Jonson, the two most influential dramatists were Francis Beaumont
(1584-1616) and John Fletcher (1579-1625). They are usually mentioned
together because they collaborated in writing plays. Fletcher had the
great advantage of working with Shakespeare in producing _Henry VIII_.
Beaumont died nine years before Fletcher, and it is doubtful whether
he collaborated with Fletcher in more than fifteen of the fifty plays
published under their joint names.

Two of their greatest plays, _Philaster_