Björn David Herzig 
The Moral Stage? 
Theatricality, Ethics and the Problem of Judgment in Ben Jonson’s ‘Bartholomew Fair’

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject Didactics – English – History of Literature, Eras, grade: sehr gut (1, 0), Free University of Berlin (Anglistisches Seminar), language: English, abstract:
In the course of this essay, I shall focus upon the English playwright Ben Jonson’s (1572 – 1637) complex relation to questions of theatricality, aesthetic judgment and the ethical value of dramatic production as expressed in his later prose-comedy ‘Bartholomew Fair’ (1614). By way of a close reading of the most relevant passages of the play, I will try to provide a detailed investigation into his moral criticism of contemporary society, his conception of theatricality as a vehicle for moral education, and the role of distanced intellectual judgment as a crucial factor in this process.