Every Man in His Humour Literary Elements

Comedy, Play

English

Late 16th-century England; a few different places such as houses, a tavern, the street; play is set all in one day

Because this is a play, there is no narrator and no point of view

Tone: funny, sarcastic, ironic, mirthful

Mood: playful, energetic, amused

Protagonists: Brainworm, Edward, Clement Antagonists: Stephen, Bobadil, Matthew

The major conflict is between Edward and his father, Knowell. Edward is a young man who wants to be independent and live his life while Knowell does everything he can to control his son’s life.

Everyone converges on Justice Clement's house, clangorously presenting their problems. Brainworm's true identity is revealed, and all the conflicts melt away.

Kitely's nervousness that Cash refuses to swear foreshadows Cash's eventual betrayal of Kitely—at least in Kitely's mind

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1. Hesperian dragon (13): the creature slain by Hercules in order to capture the golden apples
2. Drake's old ship (17): the Golden Hind, which circumnavigated the globe in 1577-1580
3. Gargantua (29): one of two giants in Francois Rabelais' work mid 16th century "Gargantua and Pantagruel"
4. Strigonium (41): the medieval Latin name for the city of Esztergom in Hungary
5. Morglay, Excalibur, Durindana (42): famous weapons from myth
6. Hannibal (51): a general who fought the Romans in the Second Punic War
7. Holofernes (64): a cruel Assyrian general, slain by Judith

Jonson's main imagery in the action of his play consists of Brainworm's different disguises and his duping of the people he comes into contact with, heated exchanges between characters, and ludicrous behavior and assertions on the part of many of the characters. This imagery reinforces the sense of absurdity and gentle satire.

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Many characters have parallel experiences with being duped by Brainworm. There is the same sort of self-righteousness and absurdity and haplessness in Stephen, Matthew, Bobadil, Kitely, and Knowell.

1. "But I perceive affection makes a fool / Of any man, too much the father" (Knowell, 13)
2. "it is my want speaks, not myself" (Brainworm, 33)
3. "age was authority against a buffoon" (Knowell, 34)
4. "Would the sparks would kindle once, and become / a fire amongst 'em, I might see self-love burn't for her / heresy" (Wellbred, 41)
5. Wellbred: "Rare! Your cousin's discourse is simply drawn out / with oaths!" Edward: "'Tis larded with 'em. A kind of French dressing, / if you love it" (55)
6. "Your honesty? dame, it flies too lightly from you" (Knowell, 82)

Jonson uses dramatic devices such as monologues and asides. He also uses hyperbole frequently, as well as irony, satire, metaphor and simile, and deux ex machina (the figure of Clement)