Ben Jonson and Shakespeare were the two great dramatists of the Elizabethan age.
They were contemporaries, but the two differed sharply from each other as dramatists. Indeed, Been Jonson has always provided the typical antithesis to Shakespeare. He has always been contrasted with Shakespeare and this has come in the way of his recognition and popularity. He was a great dramatist but the Shakespearean shadow has obscured his real greatness for one thing, he is more original than Shakespeare, Shakespeare always sailed with the popular wind, but Ben Jonson had the guts to stand up against the general current.