The Magnetic Lady
The Magnetic Lady, or Humours Reconciled, is Ben Jonson’s last Humours comedy from the Caroline era. It was licensed for performance on 12 October 1632 by Sir Henry Herbert and published in 1641 in Jonson’s second folio.
It was first staged by the King’s Men at the Blackfriars Theatre. It wasn’t a total failure, but it wasn’t a big hit either, and it drew criticism from Jonson’s enemies, including Inigo Jones.
The play is a Humours comedy and includes an Induction and Intermeans, where a Boy from the Poetic Shop explains what’s happening to Probee and the ignorant Damplay.
The story centers on Lady Loadstone and her young niece Placentia Steel. Placentia attracts several would-be lovers: Parson Palate, Doctor Rut, Bias, Practice the lawyer, and Sir Diaphanous Silkworm. Lady Loadstone’s brother, Sir Moth Interest, controls her dowry. Two steady characters, Compass (the loyal steward) and Captain Ironside, balance the scheming.
Inside the house, it seems female authority rules, though Lady Loadstone still relies on Compass for guidance. The governess Mistress Polish and other female servants cause trouble, a recurring theme for Jonson. Polish is one of the play’s most interesting female roles.
A dinner party that isn’t shown onstage leads to a quarrel between Sir Diaphanous Silkworm and Captain Ironside, and Placentia goes into premature labor. This reveals she is pregnant out of wedlock.
The plot is ultimately untangled: fourteen years earlier Polish swapped her own baby with Placentia. Placentia is really Pleasance, Polish’s daughter, and the maid posing as Placentia is the true heir.
The two good men, Captain Ironside and Compass, prove to be right matches for the aunt and niece.
The play was attacked by Jonson’s enemies and faded from performance for a long time. It reappeared in 1987 as a BBC Radio 3 adaptation, and its first modern stage production was in Autumn 2010 at the White Bear Theatre as part of Lost Classics.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 10:59 (CET).