Ben Jonson's The Devil is an Ass is a comedy that feels surprisingly modern in its cynicism and humor. Set in a vividly drawn Jacobean London, it's a play where ambition, fraud, and sheer foolishness collide.

The Story

The plot kicks off with Fitzdottrel, a man of means but little sense, who dreams of power. He manages to conjure a minor devil named Pug, who is thrilled for his first Earthly assignment. Pug's mission? To cause some proper human wickedness. The problem is, Pug is terrible at his job. He's immediately outmatched by the real professionals: the human con artists. The master manipulator, Meercraft, is already weaving a web around Fitzdottrel, promoting absurd investment projects like draining fenland for profit or selling fancy clothes for dogs. As Pug bumbles from one failure to the next, he gets tangled in plots involving disguised wives, jealous husbands, and legal chicanery, discovering that human society is a confusing maze of vice he simply can't navigate.

Why You Should Read It

What makes this play so much fun is its complete reversal of expectations. The supernatural element isn't scary; it's pathetic. The real horror and humor come from the perfectly ordinary greed and vanity of the people on stage. Jonson isn't just writing jokes; he's holding up a mirror to the scams and social climbing of his own time—and, by extension, ours. The dialogue crackles with wit, and characters like the vain Fitzdottrel and the sly Meercraft are timeless. You'll find yourself laughing at the devil's frustration as he realizes that in a world of human ambition, he's just an amateur.

Final Verdict

This is a perfect pick for anyone who enjoys classic comedy with a sharp, satirical edge. If you like the clever plots of Shakespeare's comedies but wish they were a bit more biting and cynical about human nature, Jonson is your guy. It's also a great, accessible entry point into Renaissance drama that isn't Shakespeare. You don't need a history degree; you just need an appreciation for a well-crafted joke about a hopeless devil and the foolish men who are far more dangerous than he could ever be.