Ben Jonson’s Baroque in A Tale of a Tub: Chance as Fate and Melancholy
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Thinking of a cross-cultural exploration through approaching Jonson via Benjamin’s German ideas about the baroque opens new spaces to argue the complexities of baroque. In this sense, Jonson’s last play, A Tale of a Tub, as a case study, helps us better understand Benjamin’s reading of baroque. The main feature in this reading could be the presence of chance incorporating temporality and transience in Jonson's play. This paper argues that while this presence has shaped the fate of the villagers in Jonson’s play Benjamin's idea of melancholy brings a change into their life.
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