Every Man Out of His Humour

Every Man out of His Humour is a satirical comedy written by English playwright Ben Jonson, acted in 1599 by the Lord Chamberlain's Men. It is a conceptual sequel to his 1598 comedy Every Man in His Humour. It was much less successful on stage than its predecessor, though it was published in quarto three times in 1600 alone; it was also performed at Court on 8 January 1605. Every Man Out contains an allusion to John Marston's Histriomastix in Act III, scene i, a play that was acted in the autumn of 1599; the clown character Clove speaks "fustian" in mimicry of Marston's style. This is one instance of Jonson's involvement in the War of the Theatres. Individual scholars and critics have searched Every Man Out for allusions to or covert portraits of William Shakespeare, Samuel Daniel, Michael Drayton, George Chapman, and other figures of the theatre scene, though their hypotheses have not won general acceptance. Others have found references to Sir Walter Raleigh and Gabriel Harvey. With less uncertainty, the characters Fastidious Brisk and Carlo Buffone in Every Man Out-like Hedon and Anaides in Cynthia's Revels and Crispinus and Demeter in The Poetaster-are representations of Marston and Thomas Dekker.