ABSTRACT
In Ben Jonson’s induction to Bartholomew Fair, most critics interpret the Scrivener’s mention of “Tempests” to refer specifi cally to Shakespeare’s Tempest, and the “servant-monster” to Caliban, called that name by both Stephano and Trinculo (3.2.4-5).1 Jonson’s Scrivener seems to fi xate specifi cally on Trinculo’s wish, never realized within the play, to show Caliban at a fair for money (2.2.28-32) as a metonym for The Tempest, designed with similar “drolleries” and lower class “jigs” to appeal to the lowest denominator of taste. This fi xation suggests more about Jonson’s concerns for his own play, titled as a “fair” and featuring a memorable episode of puppets, than it does about Shakespeare. Jonson’s apparent hesitation in lowering himself to employ Shakespeare’s alleged strategies for appealing broadly even to the lower sorts-apprentices, thieves, idle women-is wittily exposed as a futile posture.
