You ever read a line in an old play and think, "wait, did they just say that?" That's the feeling you get with when pigs fly in Ben Jonson's The Devil Is an Ass. So most people know the phrase from everyday sarcasm — meaning something will never happen. But its appearance in a 1616 comedy hits different once you see the context It's one of those things that adds up..
Here's the thing — Jonson wasn't just tossing around folk sayings for laughs. And yeah, the pigs-flying line is in there. He was building a whole world where the devil shows up on Earth and gets outsmarted by ordinary con men. Let's dig into why that matters and what the play is actually doing.
What Is The Devil Is an Ass by Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson wrote The Devil Is an Ass as a city comedy, staged in 1616. The short version is: a minor devil named Pug is sent to London by Satan to cause trouble and prove humans are easily corrupted. But turns out, Pug is bad at his job. The humans he meets are already so greedy and slippery that the devil can't keep up Most people skip this — try not to..
The title itself is a joke. The idea that the devil is an ass — a fool — flips the usual scary Satan story on its head. Jonson uses that inversion to mock both occult beliefs and the petty crooks of London society But it adds up..
Where "When Pigs Fly" Shows Up
The phrase when pigs fly (or close to it) lands in the dialogue as a way to say something is impossible or absurd. Here's the thing — in the play, characters use it the way we might today: to dismiss a ridiculous claim. It's one of those folk expressions Jonson loved to drop into sharp dialogue Small thing, real impact..
What's worth knowing is that the saying was already floating around in English speech before Jonson. But seeing it inside a polished Jacobean script tells us the phrase was common enough to feel natural on stage. That's a small detail, but it helps date how old our everyday sarcasm really is.
This is where a lot of people lose the thread.
The Plot Without the Fluff
Pug arrives thinking he'll ruin someone. Practically speaking, instead, he gets tangled in schemes run by a cheat named Fitzdottrel and a sharper named Merecraft. The humans lie better than the devil. By the end, Pug just wants to go back to hell because Earth is too much.
Look, it's not a deep theology lesson. It's a comedy about how human selfishness makes supernatural evil look amateur.
Why It Matters
Why does this matter? Consider this: because most people skip old plays thinking they're dusty and irrelevant. But The Devil Is an Ass speaks straight to how we treat scams, hype, and self-delusion now Worth keeping that in mind..
When you read Jonson's London, you see the same patterns: people pretending to be something they're not, suckers believing impossible promises, and a system where the real crooks wear nice clothes. The when pigs fly moment is a tiny flag saying, "yeah, we've always known when something's too good to be true."
And here's what most people miss — Jonson was commenting on his own era's obsession with witchcraft trials and devil panic. By making the devil a bumbling idiot, he quietly mocked the fear industry around evil spirits. That's braver than it looks for 1616 Surprisingly effective..
Why Readers Search for This Phrase
A lot of folks type "when pigs fly Ben Jonson the devil is an ass" because they heard the phrase in the play or saw it quoted. They want to know: is that really in there? What's the play about? Is it readable today?
Turns out, the play is very readable if you don't mind early modern slang. And the phrase connection is a fun entry point into a writer who shaped English comedy more than most realize.
How It Works
So how does a 400-year-old comedy actually function as a story? Let's break it down by pieces It's one of those things that adds up..
The Frame: Hell Sends a Trainee
Satan and his crew are overconfident. They think one junior demon can wreck London. Pug is that trainee. This setup lets Jonson show the gap between mythic evil and real-life pettiness Easy to understand, harder to ignore..
In practice, the opening scenes in hell are short and satirical. They establish that even demons have office politics.
The Con Men of London
Fitzdottrel is the mark — a wealthy fool who wants to be fashionable and occult-adjacent. Merecraft is the operator who strings him along with fake projects: a mine, a marriage, a monopoly. Pug tries to whisper bad ideas into Fitzdottrel's ear, but Merecraft is already there with better ones And that's really what it comes down to..
Real talk, this part of the play is where Jonson's genius shows. The scams are specific to 1616 — tobacco shops, alchemy, land grabs — but the mechanics are identical to modern crypto bros and influencer hustles.
The Pigs Flying Moment
When a character says something won't happen when pigs fly, it's usually aimed at one of these dumb schemes. The audience gets the joke because they've seen the scheme is impossible. Jonson uses the saying as a pressure release — a shared eye-roll between stage and crowd It's one of those things that adds up..
I know it sounds simple — but it's easy to miss how deliberate that is. He's not just being colloquial. He's timing the phrase to land on a lie Small thing, real impact..
The Ending: Devil Goes Home
Pug fails. Day to day, he's arrested, confused, and glad to leave. The humans win by being human — which in Jonson's view means being selfish and clever enough to scam each other without hell's help.
That's the engine of the whole thing. The devil is an ass because he underestimated how weird people already are Easy to understand, harder to ignore. No workaround needed..
Common Mistakes
Most guides get a few things wrong about this play and phrase. Let's clear them up.
Mistake 1: Thinking Jonson Invented "When Pigs Fly"
He didn't. The phrase is older. Jonson just recorded it in a lasting form. If you write that he coined it, you'll get corrected by someone with a dictionary of proverbs.
Mistake 2: Reading It as Serious Demon Lore
It's comedy. Here's the thing — the devil isn't scary here. That said, if you go in expecting Paradise Lost, you'll be bored. The point is mockery, not terror.
Mistake 3: Assuming It's Unreadable
Yeah, the language is old. But it's way more accessible than Marlowe or early Shakespeare for a modern reader. The slang is the only wall, and a footnote app knocks it down fast And it works..
Mistake 4: Ignoring the Social Critique
Some summaries say "it's just a silly devil play.On the flip side, " That's lazy. Practically speaking, jonson is slicing into London's greed economy. Skip that and you miss half the fun Still holds up..
Practical Tips
If you're actually going to read The Devil Is an Ass — or teach it, or write about it — here's what works.
Start with the phrase. Tell students or readers, "hey, when pigs fly is in here.Then show the con-man plot before the hell stuff. " That hook opens the door. The human greed is the relatable core.
Use a modern translation side-by-side if needed. There are decent annotated versions. Don't suffer through confusing text when a margin note solves it.
Watch a staged version if you can. The comedy lands harder with actors. The pacing of the pigs fly joke needs timing, like any sitcom.
And if you're blogging about it, don't over-explain the Jacobean context. Drop it in. Let readers stay with the story.
FAQ
Is "when pigs fly" actually in Ben Jonson's The Devil Is an Ass? Yes, the idea and close phrasing appear in the play as a colloquial way to call something impossible. Jonson used existing folk speech, not a brand-new coinage.
What is The Devil Is an Ass about in one sentence? A junior devil is sent to corrupt London but fails because the local humans are already better at cheating each other than he is Nothing fancy..
Is the play hard to read for a casual reader? Not really. The plot is straightforward and the humor is earthly; only some period slang gets in the way, and annotations fix that quickly.
Why did Jonson make the devil stupid? To mock the era's devil-panic and witch trials,
and to suggest that human vice needs no supernatural assistance to flourish. By deflating the devil into a bumbling apprentice, Jonson turns the fear of hell into a joke about hubris—both the devil's and the society's that takes such fears seriously.
Where to Go Next
If this play hooked you, don't stop at Jonson. Read Volpone or The Alchemist for more of his confidence-men-and-suckers formula. If you came for the language, dip into Bartholomew Fair—same street energy, even messier. And if you're here for the phrase origins, collect a few more: "cold comfort," "small beer," and "whipping boy" all have stage lives older than people think.
People argue about this. Here's where I land on it And that's really what it comes down to..
The takeaway is simple. The Devil Is an Ass isn't a relic. It's a comedy that still works because people haven't changed—we're still greedy, still mocking the boogeymen we invent, and still saying impossible things won't happen until the pigs take flight. Jonson just wrote it down first, and funnier than most.
