Page "Every Man out of His Humour" Paragraph 3

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.