The Later Masks

THE masks have so far been taken as incidents in Jonson’s career as a poet and dramatist with a livelihood to secure. They have also served to show that the “ supposèdly rugged old bard ” could be light, ingenious and merry, when his mood and company permitted, or stagger the world with his learning and logic when he so desired. The later masks reveal more completely the depth and variety of his genius and the environment in which he worked as the first laureate of England.