Ben Jonson's 'The Devil is an Ass' is a wild ride through 17th-century London, packed with scams, social climbing, and a devil who's frankly not up to the job.

The Story

The plot kicks off with a man named Fitzdottrel. He's wealthy, vain, and has one burning desire: to become a duke. So, he makes a pact with what he believes is a powerful devil. In return for his soul, he gets an assistant—a minor demon named Pug. The problem is, Pug is hilariously incompetent. He's sent to Earth to cause chaos, but he's immediately outmatched by the professional human con artists already at work. The real mastermind is a man named Meercraft, who weaves elaborate schemes to separate fools like Fitzdottrel from their money. As Pug stumbles from one failure to the next, Fitzdottrel gets deeper into Meercraft's traps, and we're left watching a comedy of errors where the supposed forces of evil are the biggest jokes of all.

Why You Should Read It

Forget gloomy Gothic tales; this devil is a punchline. Jonson's genius is in flipping the script. The supernatural isn't scary—it's pathetic. The real danger and comedy come from human greed and stupidity. Fitzdottrel is so blinded by ambition he'll believe anything, and Meercraft is so slick he could sell ice in winter. Reading this play, you're not just getting jokes from 400 years ago (though there are plenty that still land). You're getting a mirror held up to our own world of get-rich-quick schemes and the people who fall for them. The characters feel familiar, and that's what makes it so enduringly funny and sharp.

Final Verdict

This is a perfect pick for anyone who loves classic comedy with bite. If you enjoy the clever wordplay of Shakespeare's comedies but want something a bit more grounded in street-level satire, Jonson is your guy. It's also great for readers curious about the Jacobean era who don't want to wade through heavier tragedies. 'The Devil is an Ass' proves that the best way to critique society is often to laugh at it, and that sometimes the most foolish character on stage is the one we recognize in ourselves.