Did Ben Jonson Know and Respond to King Lear in Volpone?

        Volpone was composed shortly after Lear and both authors were working in the same small universe of Elizabethan theater.  Shakespeare's company performed Volpone.  Jonson  was notoriously competitive as a playwright and even became involved in something called the "War of the Theaters" (The Globe's diverse, large, outdoor audience vs. Blackfriars' aristocratic, small, indoor audience).  See Jonson's biography for his reading and competitive tendencies.