The Central Literary Themes of the English Jocobean Era

The Renaissance in English literature was a period of re-birth and exploration into old and new literary forms. A flowering of ideas developed, giving rise to much more passionate and complex works, centering around a plethora of themes. Yet in a time of great social and political upheaval, namely the Jacobean period, certain themes became more abundant in authorship. This gave credence to the turbulent nature of the times while providing audiences with an insight into the author’s own era.
Particularly in the Jacobean era a pessimistic and mistrusting outlook developed. The author Ben Johnson does an excellent job of providing audiences with a theme centering on such a view. In his dark satire, Volpone, Johnson confronts the cynical nature of humanity, in particular human greed. He protests immoral greedy persons, while also confronting laws that precipitate more greed. During the play the health of Volpone is failing, and from his own words men and women “…bring me presen...