Busy Hypocrisy

The criticism Jonson makes about religion, class, and society as a whole are harsh in Bartholomew Fair, and sometimes downright cruel. Through his language and verse Jonson reveals the true nature of Bartholomew's characters, each upholding to thier own foolishness and hyprocrisy in different ways and actions. Zeal-of-the-land Busy illistrates this technique of Jonsons in end of Act I. While the fair and all its glory is the heat of the conversation in Act I, Busy speaks against it and all its evils: "The place is not much, not very much; we may be religious in midst of the profane, so it be eaten with a reformed mouth, with sobriety and humbleness, not gorged in with gluttony or greediness" (Act I, scene I.6, lines 73-78). Busy is referring to the pig that Win is "craving," although she is only faking so her and Littlewit have an excuse to go to the fair. Although Busy belittles the fair, he himself succombs to the fair, perhaps due to his own personal desires to attend but is too proud to admit. In the end of Act I he says: "In the way of comfort of the weak, I will go, and eat...There may be good use made of it, too, not I think on 't: by the public eating of swine's flesh, to profess our hate and loathing of Judiasm, whereof the brethren stand taxed. I will thereofre eat, yea, I will eat exceedingly" (Act I, scene I.6, lines 95-100). Through this last declaration, Busy proves himself a hypocrite. He has made an excuse to "eat exceedingly" although he has previously denounced his hate for the fair. Jonson is also criticizing religion (Puritans) as well in this verse, for Busy hates on the Jews, but Busy does not even hold up to his own religious values and beliefs, which portrays his religion as destorted and undisplined, which are characteristics he says are of the Jews. Busy is no better than "fools" he speaks of at the fair, for he attends and plans to eat pig, which helps the fair make profit and continue their services. Through his language and actions Busy proves himself a hypocrite without ever intentionally trying to do so.