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Satire
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Act 1, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis:
The setting of the play is the city of London in the early 17th century. In the decades before the play was written, the population of London rose tremendously, making it one of the largest cities in Europe. Jonson presents the city as a bustling urban center where individuals from various social classes and professions interact, compete, and butt heads. The setting of the play is clearly established in a short speech by Face, who explains why he is able to use the home of his master, Lovewit, so freely:
Sub. Who's that? one rings. To the window, Dol [...] —pray heaven,
The master do not trouble us this quarter.Fac. O, fear not him. While there dies one a week
O' the plague, he's safe, from thinking toward London.
Beside, he's busy at his hop-yards now;
I had a letter from him. If he do,
He'll send such word, for airing of the house,
As you shall have sufficient time to quit it:
Though we break up a fortnight, 'tis no matter.
London, Face reveals, is experiencing a plague. Throughout the early modern period, London faced various waves of the deadly plague, though none were as devastating or destructive as the late medieval Black Death. Lovewit, Face reveals, leaves the city whenever it is afflicted by the plague, fleeing to the countryside to avoid it. In the play, then, the wealthy and powerful have fled, allowing figures such as Face, Doll, and Subtle to assume control of Lovewit’s home and run their various schemes without interference by the authorities.
