13 h 3 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a devil comes to London to cause trouble—and finds people already know every trick?
In Ben Jonson’s stage comedy The Devil is an Ass, young Pug begs Satan for one day on earth to prove himself. London offers plenty of opportunity: swindlers, jealous husbands and fools hungry for money. But this eager devil enters a city where human greed needs little help.
Fitzdottrel dreams of wealth and rank while guarding his wife, Frances, as though she belongs to him. Meercraft offers wild business schemes, and Wittipol uses bargains and disguise to get close to Frances. Around them, fashionable gossips keep talk alive. Money, marriage and vanity feed a crowded plot in which everyone seems to want something.
What you’ll discover
- A devil among swindlers Follow Pug from hell into a city whose people make mischief their own specialty.
- Grand promises for sale Watch Meercraft turn foolish hopes into business schemes that always seem to need more money.
- A cloak and a bargain Discover how Wittipol bargains for a quarter hour with the closely guarded Frances.
- Fashion feeds the gossip Meet Lady Tailbush and Lady Eitherside, who love new styles and being talked about.
- Folly with a sharp edge See greed, jealousy and vanity drive characters through Jonson’s lively comedy of human weakness.
Who will love it
For readers who love satire, schemes that go wrong, and sharp talk about money and vanity, and for anyone curious about English theatre after Shakespeare.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Hell sends a young devil to London
- A greedy squire dreams of devils and dukedoms
- A cloak buys a quarter hour with a wife
- Fashion, gossip and disguise fill the city
- Human vice outdoes the devil
- How Jonson builds a comedy of folly
Who’s who
- PugA young devil who begs Satan for one day on earth to do mischief, and who learns far more than he teaches.
- FitzdottrelA vain Norfolk squire, greedy for money and rank, who guards his wife jealously and believes every grand promise.
- MeercraftA smooth projector who sells wild business schemes to fools and always has a new plan ready when the old one needs more money.
- WittipolA clever young gentleman who admires Frances and uses wit, bargains and disguise to get near her.
- ManlyWittipol's honest friend, plain in speech and wary of his schemes, who acts as the play's moral voice.
- Frances FitzdottrelThe young wife whom her husband treats as property, and who has her own mind and wishes.
- Lady TailbushA fashionable lady who loves gossip and new styles and wants to stay at the center of talk.
- SatanThe ruler of hell, who doubtfully lets Pug visit earth and expects little from the trip.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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The Devil is an Ass
by Ben Jonson · 1631
A young devil wins one day in London to cause mischief among swindlers, jealous husbands and fashionable gossips.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Devil is an Ass is a comedy for the stage by Ben Jonson, first performed in London in 1616 and printed in his collected works that same year. Jonson was the leading comic dramatist of his day after Shakespeare, and here he turns his sharp eye on the city he lived in.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Hell sends a young devil to London
The play opens in hell. Satan, the great devil, sits with his followers, and a minor devil named Pug asks for a chance to prove himself. He wants one day on earth to do some real wickedness. Satan is doubtful, but he allows it, and a figure called Iniquity, who stands for the old Vice of medieval morality plays, comments on the scene with rough humor.
There is a rule attached to the trip. Pug cannot simply appear as a devil. He must take the body of a human being, and the body he is given is that of a hanged thief. So the creature who comes to London does so wearing a dead criminal's shape. The joke starts at once, because Pug is meant to be the corrupter, yet he arrives as a simple newcomer with a borrowed body and no experience of city life.
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What is The Devil is an Ass about?
It is a comedy about a young devil named Pug who visits London for a day to cause mischief. He finds that greedy, vain and cunning people are already better at deceit than hell's own servants.
When was The Devil is an Ass written?
Ben Jonson's play was first staged in London in 1616 and printed in his collected works that same year. It is set in the London of its own time, so it is not based on a true story.
What does the title The Devil is an Ass mean?
The title says the devil is a fool. Pug comes to earth expecting to tempt and corrupt, but he is outwitted by human schemers, which suggests that people can be more wicked and more clever than any devil.
The author
Ben Jonson
1572–1637 · English playwright and poet
Ben Jonson (1572–1637) was an English playwright, poet, and actor who lived in London. He wrote Every Man in His Humour (1598), Volpone (1606), The Alchemist (1610), and The Devil Is an Ass (1616). A collection of his works appeared in 1616. He died in London in 1637.
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