EVERY MAN IN His Humour and Every Man Out of His Humour reveal an extensive use of the word humour, it enters and detonates into everyday speech, describes and defines situations, behaviour and character. The concept enriches the language and becomes a synonym for a not yet invented word – psychology. ‘The Comedy of Humours is simply based on that response to humanity evinced when an Englishman says of another that “he is a character”; it is the expression of an instinctive relish for oddity and absurdity.’

In Humour

The title page of Every Man in His Humour contains two lines from Juvenal: Quod non dant proceres, dabit histrio (what no great men give, the actor will) and haud tamen invidias vati, quem pulpita pascunt (you need not envy the poet, whom the stage feeds). Shakespeare appeared on the cast list of the play. It is possible that Shakespeare rescued the play from oblivion when the still unknown Jonson attempted to present it to Shakespeare's theatre company: ‘Shakespeare luckily cast his eye upon it, and found something so well in it as to engage him first to read it through, and after this to recommend Mr Jonson and his writings to the publick.’

In the ‘Prologue’ Jonson sets down his focus; he is creating something new. The play has to have a contemporary setting, observe decorum, ridicule vices and follies as well as instruct and delight:

He defines and honours comedy as She but the glass of custom dictated that comedy was of a lower order than tragedy and the playwright should therefore only ‘sport with human follies, not with crimes’. He did both, foolish acts lead to crimes.