Q.

Volpone – A play –within-a –play pleased by this, and he compares himself to a fox in Aesop’s Fables who tricks a crow into dropping its
cheese. Mosca laughs, and explains that he finds it funny that Voltore is outside thinking the plate
A play-within-a-play is a literary device in which an addi onal play is performed during the might be the last gi he ever gives to Volpone, that it might convince Volpone to name Voltore as his
performance of the main play. Experts agree that the device is generally used to highlight important heir, and that Volpone might die that very day and grant Voltore a vast fortune. In this fantasy, Mosca
themes or ideas of the main play.Some of the most well-known examples are found in Shakespeare's says, Voltore believes he’ll be waited on and be called a great and well-studied lawyer, since wealth
plays. In "Hamlet," the play "The Mouse-trap" is staged by Prince Hamlet in order to put pressure on implies educa on. If you put a doctoral hood on a donkey, Mosca claims, people will believe the donkey
the King and to reveal his guilty conscience. is a Doctor of Divinity.
Shakespeare also features a play-within-a-play in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," where Bo om and Volpone’s obsession with material possessions and with gold has already been established, so it makes
the other cra smen put on an uninten onally hilarious version of Pyramus and Thisbe. It is a classic sense that he immediately wants to know what Voltore has brought. Mosca’s fantasy of what Voltore
tale of two doomed lovers, which highlights the play's overall message regarding the some mes expects will come with inheritance suggests that gold carries with it the appearance of certain
absurd nature of love. In Ben Jonson’s Volpone, the theatrical device of play –within-a- play occurs in unrelated quali es like educa on. This is contrasted to Volpone’s previous claim that gold actually gives
Act 1 Scene 2. people quali es (like honor) rather than just changing the quali es a person appears to have.
Mosca re-enters the room in Volpone’s house, bringing with him Nano (the dwarf), Androgyno (the Mosca helps Volpone complete his disguise by applying ointment to Volpone’s eyes. Before leaving to
hermaphrodite), and Castrone (the eunuch) as per Volpone’s request. Nano, speaking in rhyme, bring in Voltore, Mosca tells Volpone that he hopes Volpone lives for years in order to keep deluding
announces that they’ve come to entertain, though they will not perform a classical play. He begins the all the suitors and gaining wealth. Once Mosca exits, Volpone lies down and calls out all the diseases
performance by saying that within Androgyno is the soul of the Greek philosopher and mathema cian he has been faking for three years, all the while leading the suitors into believing that he is dying and
Pythagoras.This small play-within-the-play shows Volpone’s overt interest in theatricality; like the that they will be named heir. He hears Voltore is about to enter, and he begins pretending to cough.
opening of the play in which Jonson discussed other playwrights, this moment is meant to draw the
audience’s a en on to the fact that everything onstage is fic on rather than reality. Androgyno’s Mosca and Volpone are like actors applying stage makeup. Mosca’s desire for Volpone to live a long
comical claim to have the same soul as Pythagoras references Pythagoras’ famous belief in life so that he can keep conning the suitors indicates Mosca’s growing greed, which will eventually
transmigra on of souls, meaning that one’s soul is reincarnated in different life mes. bring about Volpone’s downfall. Though Volpone is exceedingly rich, and has grown even more rich
with his ruse, he and Mosca s ll desire more; this is not just for the money, but for the pleasure of
Nano begins tracing the supposed lineage of Androgyno’s (and thereby Pythagoras’s) soul: it started carrying out the theatrical decep on.
from Apollo, who breathed it into Aethalides (Mercury’s son). From Aethalides the soul transmigrated
to Euphorbus, who was killed by Menelaus in the Trojan War. A er Euphorbus, the soul went to Ben Jonson was a man of some classical learning as well as an accomplished man of the theater. His
Hermo mus, then to Pyrrhus of Delos (both Greek philosophers), before going to Pythagoras himself. sa re of the poorer professional players of the traveling morality drama gives him a chance to
A er Pythagoras’s death, the soul went to Aspasia (apparently a whore), then Crates the Cynic demonstrate his theatrical superiority. His larding of the dialogue of this interlude with Greek names
(another philosopher), and since then “kings, knights, and beggars, knaves, lords, and fools” have all serves to show his familiarity with the classics.
had the soul, as well as numerous animals.
In the tradi on of the beast fable, the name Voltore characterizes the gull as a bird of prey. The vulture
As Nano relates it, Pythagoras’s soul moved from demigods to soldiers un l it (apparently) took a liking hovers outside the rooms of the fox wai ng for his vic m to die.
to Greek philosophers and wound up in Pythagoras. The no on that one soul can be a king in one life
and a beggar in the next is at odds with the rigidity of social classes in England at the me the play was The playwright has established the atmosphere of the proceedings. He has introduced the audience
wri en, mirroring Ben Jonson’s own difficult climb up the social ranking to become a renowned poet to his two leading characters and set up the circumstances of their mischievous ruse. At the same me,
and playwright in the English court.Nano then asks Androgyno about the most recent transforma ons, he has mocked players, Puritans, and the foolishness of the world which comes to Volpone's very
and the two joke that in past lives Androgyno has bounced between religions and therefore observed house to be gulled.
and broken many customs, such as abstaining from fish or ea ng fish on fast days. Androyno’s soul
went from Carthusian to Protestant, from a mule to a Puritan, and finally transmigrated to Androgyno, The reader should note Jonson's understanding of theatrical technique. The playwright has afforded
whom Nano calls “a creature of delight… an hermaphrodite.” Nano asks Androgyno which of all the his leading actors a chance to employ what performances call "sight gags" (visual humor); for example,
forms he might choose, and Androgyno says he prefers his current form. Nano asks if Androgyno Volpone dresses in an elaborate invalid's costume in prepara on for Voltore's entrance. Throughout
prefers this form to get the benefits of being both sexes, but Androgyno says the real reason is the the play, Jonson has prepared places in the ac on for just such play. The beas ary character names
benefit of being a fool, which is the best role anyone can have. Nano says Pythagoras himself would are also visually sugges ve. An authority on Ben Jonson's plays, Robert E. Knoll, believes that "if we
agree, and finishes the performance. fail to visualize the scenes and the movements on stage, we miss half the fun and two-thirds of Jonson's
drama c genius."
Carthusians are an old order of Catholic monks, and the jokes about conflic ng religious perspec ves
are informed by the fact that Jonson was Catholic (as opposed to a member of the Church of England) The theme of metatheatricality is revealing. Although there are only a few scenes which qualify as
when he wrote this play. Thus, once again (as in the opening), Jonson draws a en on to his own plays-within-a-play, Jonson's cri cism of Elizabethan theater emerges from each. In 1.2, Mosca's
presence in the play’s ac on. Though the play’s primary explora on of gender roles is through a account of the transmigra on of Pythagoras's soul is truly obscene. In order to produce a few chuckles
comparison of roles for women, Androgyno complicates this by apparently being both sexes. from Volpone, Mosca debases an unparalleled philosopher and mathema cian.
Ul mately, though, the play within the play concludes with Androgyno emphasizing how great it is to From Jonson's perspec ve, as expressed in the Epistle and the Prologue, this kind of lowbrow humor
live the carefree life of a fool, which is akin to parasi sm. is a travesty. Volpone, who appears to enjoy theater, is without a doubt in desperate need of moral
At the end of the performance, Volpone applauds and asks Mosca if he wrote the script for the show. educa on. Jonson argues that Volpone's love of theater provides the perfect opportunity to "inform
Mosca confirms that he did write it, then Nano and Castrone sing a song praising fools as the only [him] in the best reason of living." As shown by the low quality of Nano's recita on, Jonson believes
group worth admiring, since they are free from care and are so entertaining.Mosca is iden fied as the that the Jacobean theater is lacking in this func on. Volpone is intended to demonstrate refined,
author and director of the play within the play, roles he’ll reprise throughout the course of the plot as serious, Classically-influenced comedy that might instruct rather than simply amuse. Of course,
he manipulates all of the would-be heirs. ironically, that does not make his plays-within-the-play any less amusing.
Outside, someone knocks on the door, and Volpone ends the song and tells Nano, Castrone, and The skit also epitomizes the theme of Metatheatricality: the performance of Nano, Castrone, and
Androgyno to exit. Mosca tells Volpone that he recognizes the person knocking as Voltore, the lawyer, Androgyno is a play within a play. This play within the play is to Volpone what Volpone is to us. That is,
and Volpone instructs Mosca to fetch his disguise and to tell Voltore that the bed sheets are being the character Volpone is the audience for the skit just as we are the audience for the play Volpone.
changed in order to delay him. Mosca exits to obey, and, alone on stage, Volpone says that now his Thus, the skit can be seen as Jonson's sa re of Elizabethan theater.
“clients” are star ng to visit. He names them as vulture (Voltore), kite, raven and crow, saying they are Volpone is intended to demonstrate refined, serious, Classically-influenced comedy that might instruct
all birds of prey coming because they think that Volpone is dying. Volpone assures the audience (and rather than simply amuse. Of course, ironically, that does not make his plays-within-the-play any less
himself) that he isn’t dying.As soon as the play within the play ends, Mosca transi ons from his role of amusing. • Plays with in a play. • From Jonson's perspec ve, as expressed in the Epistle and the
director of the mini-play to director of ruse, helping Volpone prepare to fool Voltore. The animal names Prologue, this kind of lowbrow humor is a travesty. Volpone, who appears to enjoy theater, is without
of the suitors are fi ng and telling, since (like birds of prey) they circle Volpone hoping to inherit the a doubt in desperate need of moral educa on. Jonson argues that Volpone's love of theater provides
fortune. The fact that Volpone needs to reassure himself that he isn’t dying is key. Throughout the play, the perfect opportunity to "inform [him] in the best reason of living."
he shows glimpses of the fear that somehow the appearance of disease he maintains will be
internalized and become reality.
Mosca reenters the room, and Volpone immediately asks what gi s Voltore brought. Mosca responds
that Voltore brought a large, an que gold pla er with Volpone’s name inscribed on it. Volpone is very

Q.2 VOLPONE – The Mountebank Episode theore cal and prac cal in the medicinal arts. It costs eight crowns. Volpone then instructs Nano to
sing a verse in honor of the elixir.
Ben Jonson’s Volpone, that exposes the unscrupulous avarice prevailing amongst the affluent in early
17 th century Italy , represents the protagonist as a trickster who, with the assistance of his resourceful Backtracking from his claim that health is the blessing of the rich (and from discussions about gold as
servant, Mosca , gulls the eminent ci zens into par ng with their treasures with the lure of medicine earlier in the play), Volpone seems to reverse his posi on by saying that gold cannot be used
bequeathing his inheritance upon any one of them. In the opening act the theatrical skill of Volpone is as medicine. Rather, he says, his elixir is the only true, trustworthy medicine.Sir Poli c asks Peregrine
established in enac ng the role of a cri cally old man. Mosca proves his efficiency as stage manager what he thinks of Volpone and his language, to which Peregrine responds he hasn’t heard anything
and director for this act of pretence. This prepares us for the Mountebank Scene in the second act in like it other than in alchemy or dense scriptural trea ses. Nano then sings in praise of the elixir. He
which Volpone steps out of the safe premises of his house on a daring adventure in disguise. This me sings that if the ancient Greek doctors Hippocrates or Galen had known the secret of the elixir, they
he is not mo vated by avarice but lust. Mosca’s role as the stage manager is even more challenging would have spent far less me working, and no other bad medicines would have been tried or
here than before as the scene is set in a public place. invented. At the end of the song, Peregrine says eight crowns is too expensive for the elixir.
Mosca and Nano, both in disguises, enter the square outside Corvino’s home where Sir Poli c and Volpone’s language here is apparently so unique (and confusing) that it sounds like an obscure
Peregrine have been talking. Mosca points to a window, and he and Nano begin se ng up a pla orm. alchemical text or a difficult theological essay. Sir Poli c, who won’t admit to being ignorant of
Sir Poli c asks Peregrine if he has heard about the Italian mountebanks (swindling salesmen and anything, thinks the language is impeccable, but Peregrine seems to find it absurd and almost without
fraudsters), since they are about to see one. Peregrine says he has heard that they are conmen who meaning. Peregrine is one of the only characters who seems able to iden fy and resist decep ve
make a living selling oils and medicine. Sir Poli c responds that mountebanks are “the only knowing language.Volpone begins another dense, ostenta ous rant, saying that if he had me he could list the
men of Europe!” He calls them great scholars, doctors, and best speakers in the world. numerous miraculous effects of his product, list the many people it has cured, and list all of the
diseases it fixes. He claims he has been endorsed by the college of physicians because of the quality of
Mosca and Nano’s costumes demonstrate the theatricality of Mosca’s ruses, and they create drama c his medicine and because of the secrets he knows. He then says that some might say there are other
irony, since audiences know that the two men are in disguise, but Sir Poli c and Peregrine do not. At mountebanks who claim to have the same product he has; Volpone agrees that many of them have
the same me, the disguises remind the audience that every character on stage is really just an actor imita ons made at greater cost in complex processes that ul mately fail. He says he pi es their
in a costume. Note also that the mountebanks are praised for their ability to speak well, which in turn foolishness more than their loss of money and me, since you can earn back money, but “to be a fool
allows them to sell well, tying language to commerce.Peregrine says that he has heard mountebanks born is disease incurable.”
are all talk and no substance and that they lie about their bad medicines, which they’ll eventually sell
for extremely cheap despite a very high star ng price. Sir Poli c says that Peregrine will have to see Volpone’s list of diseases is absurd, and it shows the character’s obsession with illness. Between his
for himself, and he asks Mosca who the mountebank is. Mosca says it’s Scoto of Mantua, at which three years pretending to be ill and his long list of diseases to fear, there is evidence that Volpone is
point Sir Poli c promises Peregrine that his opinions about mountebanks are about to change, though afraid his fake diseases will turn real. In a strange way, Volpone’s pity for those who are born fools is
he wonders why Scoto of Mantua would mount his stage in the square when he usually does so in the aligned with the play’s moral message. Money is impermanent; it is not the most important thing in
Piazza. life. You can always make or lose money, but loss of morals, or reputa on, or of character can be
permanent.Volpone says that from his youth he has sought out the rarest secrets and spared no cost
Peregrine knows that mountebanks (like the play’s other tricksters) use decep ve, empty language as in learning everything that he could. He claims to be a master of the chemical arts, since, while others
a powerful tool to manipulate others. The mountebank about to appear, of course, is Volpone, not have been at Vene an balls, he has been studying. Having studied so much, he has arrived at a point
Scoto of Mantua, and he is sta oned outside of Corvino’s house instead of in the Piazza because he of success and prominent reputa on. He goes on to say that while he never previously valued the elixir
wants to sleep with Corvino’s wife.Volpone enters the square dressed as a mountebank and followed at less than eight crowns, he’s willing to sell it for six. He tells the crowd that he isn’t asking for the true
by a crowd of people. Sir Poli c and Peregrine watch as Volpone mounts the stage and launches into value of the elixir – some have offered a thousand crowns for it – but he despises money. He is rejec ng
a speech, explaining that the crowd might find it strange that he has chosen to set up here instead of those offers in order to sell it to the people gathered in the crowd.All of this, of course, is fic on, and
in the Piazza a er being gone from Venice for eight months. He explains that he is not desperate to it’s comical to hear Volpone claim that he despises money. The absurdity of this scene can be seen as
sell his goods at a cheap price, and that the rumor that he was imprisoned (spread by a compe ng a commentary on or cri cism of the corrup ng force of commerce in Venice, as mountebanks
mountebank) is false. He says he cannot stand the salesmen who are too poor to afford a stage and essen ally just take advantage of eager consumers with elaborate exaggera ons, lies, and faulty
tell wild fabricated tales about adventures that never happened. Throughout the speech, Sir Poli c products.
makes li le interrup ons to Peregrine about how good it is.
Peregrine comments on what a waste of me it is to start at such a high price for what will ul mately
This performance is almost directly opposite to Volpone’s performed disease—here, he is an energe c sell for very cheap. Nano then sings another song encouraging the crowd to purchase the elixir, naming
and bombas c salesman. Part of his sales pitch is disparaging other mountebanks for being poor and several ailments it will fix. Volpone says he is in a good mood and will therefore lower the price in an
assuring the crowd that he is not desperate to sell his goods; he seems to imply that one needs to have act of charity. He says he’ll sell it for sixpence, though he will not lower the price again by even a single
money to make money, which is related to the claim throughout the play that money itself imbues coin. He tells the crowd to toss handkerchiefs if they want to buy the elixir, and he promises a special
people with good quali es. Sir Poli c, meanwhile, is struck by Volpone’s language abili es, which are addi onal gi to whomever first throws a handkerchief.Peregrine has no idea just how much me is
obliquely made parallel to Ben Jonson’s, since (like Jonson did of other playwrights in the opening), being wasted, since Volpone isn’t really selling anything. It’s also a somewhat damning commentary
Volpone disparages compe ng mountebanks.Volpone con nues, saying that the other mountebanks on the theatre that Nano is singing and entertaining in order to sell a bogus product. In a way, Ben
are terrible, and that they’ll kill twenty people a week as if it were a play. Even so, he says, these terrible Jonson is entertaining the audience in order to teach them a moral lesson. Presumably he means well,
mountebanks have some favor with the public, though all their medicine does is purge people into the but the parallel in technique is alarming
other world (i.e. kills them). He then says that his bank will only be the source of profit and delight,
and that he has nothing (or very li le) to sell. Peregrine asks Sir Poli c if he would be the first to throw a handkerchief, but from her window above,
Celia, Corvino’s wife, throws down a handkerchief. Volpone thanks her and says he’ll give her
Volpone’s comment that doctors kill people like they are in plays is meta-theatrical, since Volpone something even be er than his elixir – a powder that he says is too expensive to even describe. He
himself is a character in the play. His comments also reflect the very real contemporary fear that says Apollo gave the powder to Venus to make her perpetually young, and that Venus gave it to Helen
medicine could not be trusted and that doctors were just as dangerous as disease. It’s comical to see of Troy. The powder was lost for ages un l it was recently rediscovered. Volpone says that he is the
Volpone claiming not to care about profit—the audience knows that money is nearly all he cares about, only one with access to this special powder, which has many beneficial effects, but he is cut off and
though in this literal moment his statement might be true, since he is trying only to seduce the scene ends.Volpone’s improvised (or possibly rehearsed) inven on of this second product shows
Celia.Volpone next claims that he and his six servants can’t make the elixir fast enough for all the his mastery of language, decep on, and ac ng. The lineage of this invented powder is reminiscent of
Vene ans who want to buy it, including merchants and senators. He asks what use a rich man has with the lineage Androgyno gives of his soul’s migra on to him from Pythagoras—perhaps this is where
a full wine cellar when the doctor tells him to drink only medicine on pain of death. He cries out to Volpone got the idea for this trick.
health and calls it the blessing of the rich, and he says that no one can enjoy the world unless they are
healthy. Since health is so important, he reasons, the people should not be cheap when it comes to his Corvino enters the square outside his home where Volpone (in disguise) has been selling an elixir to a
product. large crowd of people. Celia has just thrown down a handkerchief to Volpone. Corvino screams “spite
of the devil” and chases away Volpone, Nano, and the crowd. Corvino compares the strange events to
The line about a rich man having a cellar full of wine while being required to drink only medicine recalls stock events from Italian dell’arte shows. This is yet another example of the play’s meta-theatricality
(and inverts) Volpone’s cri cism, earlier in the play, of those who don’t know how to properly spend
money. Again, physical health is somehow associated with wealth. Ironically, in his other ruse, Since the tle of the play has been derived from beast fable, the Mountebank Episode resembles the
Volpone’s pretending to be both rich and sick stands in opposi on to the no on he keeps pushing that fox’s emergence from its lair, thereby exposing himself to possible danger. Likewise, Volpone receives
wealth maintains health.Volpone says that when they become sick, they can try to apply gold to the a bashing in the hands of Corvino, who, conjecturing the Mountebank’s lus ul a rac on for his wife,
affected areas and see what happens—it’s only his “rare extrac on” that has the power to cure a vast Celia, beats him and drives him away. This foreshadows the failure of Volpone and Mosca’s clever
list of mild and severe ailments. His elixir, he says, is the doctor and is the medicine. It cures. It is both intrigues at the end of the play.
Q.3Volpone - The Trial Scenes - Act 4 Scenes4,5,and 6 and Act 5 Scenes 10 and 12
The court scenes in Ben Jonson's Volpone are important as theatrical and plot devices, as they first It’s notable that Voltore’s virtuosic and decep ve court performance (which relied on language) caused
baffle the audience by reversing the concept of ‘poe c jus ce’ that is expected of comedy by framing Mosca to part with money (paying Voltore his lawyer fee) for the first me in the play. This is a sign of
and punishing the innocent and sparing the guilty. However, in the final court scene jus ce is carried how highly-valued language is among the corrupt characters. Lady Would-be’s immediate change of
out and all the malefactors are duly convicted and sentenced. The audience sees all of this worked out heart at the men on of Volpone’s fortune reinforces how obsessed everyone, even the English, could
before their eyes, rather than merely hearing about it from other characters later. Equally important, be with money, and how easy it is for that desire to become obsessive and corrup ng, leading to bad
however, is the fact that the audience gets the pleasure of knowing Volpone's real iden ty so that they decisions.
can laugh along with him as the other characters are fooled.
In Act 5 Scene 10 Voltore begins to reveal (what he thinks is) the truth, thereby restoring faith in the
In Act 4 Scenes 4,5 and 6 at the court, Voltore succeeds in making Celia and Bonario look like lovers. court system as a legi mate means of finding truth instead of another stage where reality is obscured.
Mosca persuades Lady Would-be to tes fy that Celia was the bawd in the gondola with her husband. Volpone’s claim that he has been caught in his own noose (i.e., ruined by his own ruse) echoes his line
Volpone makes his entrance on a stretcher to demonstrate his impotence. early in the play: “What a rare punishment is avarice to itself!” It’s difficult to say if it’s conscience that
makes Voltore confess, frustra on with his loss of the fortune, or a desire for vengeance. Corvino
All augurs well for the rogues as the fi h act begins. At the court in Act 5 Scenes 10 and the three gulls, doesn’t want the truth to come out, because he’s so embarrassed that he tried to whore his wife for
enraged by Mosca and Volpone and the loss of their hopes, decide to tell the truth. They accuse Mosca the fortune. Simply inheri ng the fortune would completely change Mosca’s social status. While gold
of being the lying villain who created the whole plot. Mosca is summoned and arrives with another might not have all the magical medicinal effects described in the play, it does instantly increase social
plot in mind. He will extricate Volpone from this predicament, but the fox must remain dead and he, ranking. It’s interes ng that this passage moves from a focus on spoken to wri en language, since
Mosca, must con nue as the heir. Volpone throws off his disguise and the en re intrigue is wri en language is less improvisa onal, and in this case, it’s also more secre ve. Usually the audience
revealed.The court sentences Mosca to the galleys; Volpone is deprived of his goods and sent to a par cipates in drama c irony because it knows all of the informa on, but here the audience does not
hospital for incurables. The gulls are deprived of a legal prac ce, a wife, and a fortune. Celia returns to get to see what Voltore has wri en.
her father with her dowry trebled, and Bonario is his father's heir immediately.
In Act 5 Scene 12, the denoument of the play, Voltore’s wri en statement is dis nct from his spoken
In Act 4 Scene 4 Voltore, Corbaccio, and Corvino have now all been co-opted into one of Mosca’s language in that it is not improvised, and it also appears to be honest. It also seems to be restoring
drama c fic ons. That this will be a court drama underscores the play’s theme of appearance and faith in the court to legi mately dis nguish between appearance and reality.As Volpone predicted,
reality; all have agreed on the lie to tell in a venue dedicated to finding the truth. A er seeming Voltore’s conscience or desire to tell the truth is immediately overtaken by the reawakening of his
shameless when offering Celia to Volpone, Corvino is now concerned about his public image and the greed and the possibility of inheri ng Volpone’s money. Voltore’s fake possession and the false
honor he said did not exist, reasser ng the importance of appearance over reality for the corrupt exorcism is an absurd bit of meta-theatre, which is somehow convincing to the Avocatori. Though the
characters. Mosca revels in his ability to simultaneously fool all three men, even when they are wri en language appeared to be exonera ng and truthful, Voltore is able to recant it with spoken
together in the same room. This arrogance lays the groundwork for his downfall. The extra witness language and the absurd, theatrical possession claim. His claim that Mosca is as innocent as Volpone
Mosca refers to is Lady Would-be, who believes Celia is the pros tute Mosca pretended he saw with is filled with drama c irony, since it’s true, but not in the way he means it; Mosca and Volpone are
Sir Poli c. both equally guilty.
In Act 4 Scene 5The Avocatori are the most powerful figures of legal (and moral) authority in the play. Greed, we see, is not even beyond the Avocatori, one of whom quickly hopes to get his family involved
Their comment that Bonario and Celia have good names refers to their apparent good reputa on, with Mosca if he has inherited the fortune. This trades on the no on of poli cal corrup on in Venice,
though it also underscores that their literal names are associated with goodness and heaven, par cularly since this corrup on is within an ins tu on uniquely devoted to finding the truth. Here,
respec vely. Bonario uses “parasite” in the pejora ve sense, though Mosca has already shown that he Mosca and Volpone are showing that they cannot stop themselves from the avaricious behavior that
takes no offense at the term. Voltore knows that certain aspects of the story might be lies, but he s ll has threatened their downfall so many mes and will now seal it. In a moment of extreme pride,
truly believes that Volpone is sick and will gain pity from the Avocatori. Voltore’s a ack on Celia hinges Volpone decides to reveal everything rather than allow Mosca to successfully swindle him and subvert
on the renaissance stereotype that women were fickle and inconstant. While Voltore manipulates the the social order. It’s possible that Volpone is so proud of his years of fooling everyone that part of him
Avocatori, whose very purpose is to find the truth, he himself is being manipulated by Mosca. Voltore wanted to reveal the en re ruse to get recogni on for what a master deceiver he is. A er all, his
knows he’s lying about some things, but ironically he has no idea that what he thinks is true is also a pleasure is decep on more than money
lie. Bonario and Celia, meanwhile, experience drama c irony in the situa on, since they know the
truth, but unlike the audience (or like Mosca and Volpone) they do not benefit from the irony or find The play’s moral force ul mately proves greater than the ability of its characters to obscure reality.
it humorous. Bonario’s line that heaven could not allow such terrible things to remain hidden speaks perfectly to
the moral conclusion and the play’s treatment of appearance versus reality. The powers of theatre and
On one hand, Voltore’s ability to manipulate the court could be dismissed as theater. At the same me, language can manipulate appearances, but the reali es of truth, goodness, evil, and morality will
it could be argued that Ben Jonson is commen ng on the theatricality of court processes and of always be revealed. The punishment of the play’s major characters reinforces the lessons about the
lawyers, sugges ng that lawyers are no different than actors, both using language to obscure reality in impermanence of money, since no one ends up with the fortune, and the dangers of allowing desires
a se ng where truth is subjec ve. Bonario cri cizes Voltore for the same reason Mosca earlier praised to become excessive and corrup ng. The Avocatore’s line about mischief feeding like beasts is a final
him: he’ll argue any side of any case. Celia’s exclama on that she wishes she could forget she were a reinforcement of the play’s no on that too much of anything, good or bad, is dangerous.
living being is tragic, showing her u er despair and speaking to the powerlessness of women at that
me.
Corvino’s greed has so fully corrupted him that he has lost all sense of even how his appearance reflects
on him, requiring him to check with Mosca to make sure he shouldn’t feel shame. Celia is religious
(and her name means heaven), so his evoca on of hell is par cularly difficult for her to hear. While the
Avocatori first believed Celia, Voltore has successfully introduced doubt and insulted her character by
trading on the stereotype that women are hysterical, untrustworthy, and fickle. Throughout the play,
Jonson shows the absurdity of certain stereotypes (that women are necessarily fickle and poorly
educated), while re-enforcing others (that the Vene ans are corrupt).
In Scene 6 Lady Would-be quickly realizes that a acking Celia too violently hurts her own public
appearance, which is her highest priority. Bonario and Celia do not have proper tes monies, which
must be delivered through language, a power that they lack, especially in comparison to masters like
Voltore, Mosca, and even Lady Would be. This is another instance in which language is equated with
decep on, a curious posi on for a playwright to take in a morality play.
In cases like this one, it was common for the accused to be tested for sexual impotence. Ironically, the
Avocatori praise Voltore for revealing the truth, when actually Voltore has only further obscured reality
by spreading Mosca’s carefully cra ed fic on. Again, this could be a comment on the jus ce system,
equa ng the court room to a stage, where actors use language and decep on to manipulate and
conceal reality. Un l the truth is revealed and jus ce is delivered, it appears that Ben Jonson has
distrust for the court system, which could stem from his own personal experience of being tried for
the murder of a fellow actor.

Q4.THE CATASTROPHIC ENDING OF THE PLAY The Catastrophic Ending of the Play
The catastrophic ending of Volpone has become a subject of controversy. Critics have found two
blemishes in it-- first, that it is unconvincing and does not naturally proceed from the fourth Act and, Volpone is a forceful play and presents a vision of life which is at once horrifying and disgusting. In one
secondly, that it is too harsh and severe, and borders on to tragedy. It is significant that the respect, at least, it goes beyond the scope of comedy as Jonson, conceives it. Jonson's avowed aim in
catastrophe is brought about by Volpone and Mosca themselves, and not by any other character or comedy was to laugh at contemporary follies and expose them. But in this play he is not "sporting with
circumstance. The final overthrow of evil comes out of the excesses of evil itself. The evil is fully human follies" but with crimes, the knaves as well as the gulls are absolutely wicked; they are mean
triumphant at the close of Act IV, and Volpone and Mosca are very happy at their successes. They have and greedy, and ready to stoop to any act of depravity to fulfil their selfish ends. The play presents
touched the highest point of their achievement. But Volpone does not rest in contentment; he wants men as beasts who have lost human attributes and become monsters of wickedness "due to their
to have some more fun and tease the legacy-hunters by mocking them in an indirect manner. He greed or lust. It thus acquires a sombre character and has some tragic moments the scene, for
becomes wanton and wayward and quite unmindful of the consequences. It is significant to note that instance, in which Celia pleads for mercy from Volpone. The characters deceive one another
Mosca does not agree with his master and tries to dissuade him from venturing on any other schemes, unhesitatingly and suffer no qualms of conscience in accusing even the innocents. They are all exposed
thinking that the time has come for them to stop their tricks: and punished in the, end, but their punishment is very severe, and indeed out of tune with the spirit
Here we must rest; this is our masterpiece: We cannot think to go beyond this". of comedy. Jonson himself acknowledges that the catastrophe the of the play is more harsh than what
would be consonant with the strict rigour of the comic law. He defends his departure from the comic
But, later on, when he sees the opportunity, he tries to over-reach his master also, and thus prepares
tradition on the grounds that the classical comedies also did not always have a happy ending, and that
the way for his own downfall, Jonson shows an extension of the power and skill of the two villains and
it is the function of the comic post "to imitate justice and instruct to life". The moralist in Jonson could
builds up a comic climax which is at the same time a final epitome of the central motifs of the play.
not allow the vice to go unpunished in the end. For the semi-tragic ending of the play Jonson is
The 'fox' cannot tolerate that the mere 'fly' should cozen and overreach him so extensively. He decides
apologetic to his critics and asks them to be liberal in passing their judgment. The .severe punishments
to lose all than allow his parasite to outwit him. The punishments awarded to the evil doers are harsh
awarded to the monsters of iniquity harmonies superbly with the sinister spirit of the whole play. The
and severe. Mosca will be a 'perpetual prisoner' in the city's galleys, and Volpone 'cramped with irons'.
moral lesson of the play is clearly expressed in the word of the First Avocatori who, while pronouncing
The birds of prey are banished or disgraced. Jonson winds up the play quickly, without an anti-climax.
the punishments on the evil-doers, says:
THE EVIL IS DESTROYED BY ITS OWN EXTENSION. Mischiefs feed Like beasts till they be fat, and then they bleed".
The unconvincing natue of the last Act. There are many critics who find the last act unconvincing, and
think that it does not naturally arise from Act IV. Dryden is one of the earliest critics to take exception
to the catastrophic ending of Volpone and finds a blemish in the unity of design of the play. He,
however, defends the final Act on another ground. He says that "the unity of design seems not exactly
observed in it for there appear two actions in the play; the first naturally ending with the fourth Act;
the second forced from it in the fifth: which yet is less to be condemned in him, because the disguise
of Volpone, though it suited not with his character as a crafty or covetous person, agreed well enough
with that of a voluptuary ; and by it the poet gained the end at which he aim'd, the punishment of
Vice and the reward of Virtue, both which that disguise produc'd. So that to judge equally of it, it was
an excellent fifth Act, but not so naturally proceeding from the former"- Richard Cumberland also
thinks that the ending of Volpone is not very convincing. He is of the opinion that Jonson has not very
successfully executed it, and that it is not in keeping with the character of Volpone. He says: " For who
can deny that nature is violated by the absurdity of Volpone's unseasonable insults to the very persons
who witnessed falsely in his defence, and even to the very Advocate who had so successfully defended
him? In it in character for a man of his deep cunning and long reach of thought to provoke those on
whom his all depended, to retaliate upon them, and all this for the poor triumph of a silly jest." This
he considers to be a serious blemish in the play which cannot to justified in any way. Probably it was
due to the hasty composition of which Jonson boasts it the fcrotogue to the play. From this point of
view the fifth Act is defective and unconvincing.
Swinburne strongly defends the ending of Volpone from the charge of improbability or unnaturalness
of action in the fifth Act. He is of the opinion that there is nothing unnatural in the device by which
retribution is brought on the originals in Act V.He says, "So far from regarding the comic Nemesis or
rather Ate which infatuates and impels Volpone ti his doom as a sacrifice of art to morality, and
immolation of probability -and consistency on the altar of poetic justice, I admire fits a masterstroke
of character the haughty audacity of caprice which produces or evolves his ruin out of his own
hardihood and insolence of exulting and faring enjoyment. For there is something throughout of the
lion as well as of the fox in this original and incompatible figure. He thinks that the ending of Volpone
is incomparable in comedy in terms of completeness, propriety and effect.
Q.5 Write a character sketch of Volpone, the Fox. His passion for her is even more powerful than his passion for money:
Ans. A Rich and Influential Magnifico Volpone is a grandee or a man belonging to the nobility of "Mosca take my keyes,mono Gold, plate, and jewells, all's at thy devotion:Employ them, how thou
Venice. He is a magnifico or Clarissimo. He is wealthy and influential but also, at the same time, entirely wilt; nay coyne me, too:So thou, in this, but crowne my longings.
unscrupulous, heartless and unprincipled. He is moved by two powerful passions, passion for money,
His Poetic Imagination When the supposed bed-ridden and impotent old man, throwing off the mask,
and sexual passion or lust. He is extremely cunning, and he uses his cunning to satisfy his ruling
passions. The play is concerned with his career of crime and villainy in which he is helped and abetted leaps from his couch before the helpless Celia, he seems for a moment to have discarded with his
by his even more cunning parastite or hanger on, Mosca. senility the grossness and brutality of his mind; he is not the Faun gloating over his victim, but the
young Antinoos whom he once played, For Entertainment of the great VALOYS, ravishing his lady's ear
An Impostor Volpone is a cunning cheat, but he is not all impostor. He is really wealthy, and really with Catullian songs and besieging her imagination with visions of fabulous opulence and
childless, as he professes. His imposture starts from a foundation of assured respectability. The status magnificence:
he enjoys facilitates his fraud and enables him to carry it to further lengths with impunity. It delays his
detection, and when detected it softens the rigour of the law, in favour of one who is by blood and "A diamond, would have bought LOLLIA PAVLINA, When she came in, like star-light, hid with
rank a gentleman. In this case at least, Ben Jonson unhesitatingly blunted his "moral" in order to Jewels, That were the spoiles of provinces; take these,And wear, and loose 'hem: yet remaines an
eare-ring
benefit his plot. On the other hand, he has perhaps given his moral scorn for this "Venetian gentleman"
too free a rein to be wholly true to the part. He has given him the highest degree of the subtle craft, To purchase them againe, and this whole State... Thy bathes shall be the juyce of July-floweres,
and the calculated cruelty, for which the government of Venice was famous; but nothing of the high- Spirit of roses, and of violets,
bred courtesy in speech and manner which prevailed in Venetian society, and which Shakespeare had
just rendered so excellently in Othello and rather less excellently earlier in The Merchant of Venice. The milk of unicornes, and panthers breath Gather'd in bagges, and mixt with Cretan wines.

An Artist in Villainy Volpone is an extremely greedy man, but he has also the soul of a poet, and this A Perfect Actor Volpone is a consummate actor; it is his misfortune that he is liable to be carried away
vein of poetry in him glorifies and transforms even his greed. Volpone is no mere amateur in roguery, by the zest of his part. He owes his final ruin less to rash and hasty unmaskings, such as this, than to
but a professional expert exulting in his skill and knowledge. The artist in him is even stronger than the audacious adventures he undertakes with the mask on. His passion for taking part, as it were, in
the wealth-hunter or the voluptuary (woman-hunter). He is not merely a grasping man of brains, who his own play, and moving it on towards the consumma on he desires is the mainspring by which the
cheats with professional coolness for definite practical ends; on the contrary, he takes huge delight in whole ac on is brought to the consumma on he does not desire. The bent grows upon him visibly,
the tricks he plays for their own sake, glorying "More in the cunning purchase of my wealth, Than in and is carried out to more and more extravagant lengths. The monstrous jest of the court official would
the glad possession,” and carries them on when he has everything to lose and nothing to gain. His be incredible had it not been prepared for by the farce of the sick room. With each fresh success his
room, crowded with the costly offerings of his dupes, is a sort of private box from which he watches temper grows more sanguine, his humour more wanton; he cannot bear his fortune soberly, but he
unobserved the sordid comedy of contending greeds in the shape of the legacy-hunters. In the must invent new jokes and new tricks ll at last he makes a snare for his own neck and runs his head
intervals of these performances he finds diversion in another yet more hideous spectacle, the into it wilfully.
contortions of a dwarf, a eunuch, a hermaphrodite. But Volpone is too great an artist to be content His Collapse The drama st Cumberland objected to this final mad freak of Volpone's as "the weak part
with the role of the looker-on. Like Nero, he leaps upon the stage, recites, assumes different roles, of the plot". But this is to demand, as the eighteenth century was too prone to do, that the persons of
and compels the plot to move as he wishes. If Nero's colossal caprices have any parallel in literature, a drama should never act contrary to a reasonable view of their own interests. The Elizabethans had
it is in the poetry with which the brain of Volpone invests his vices and his crimes. The morning hymn no such illusion; and Ben Jonson had the peculiarly keen eye common in men of his vehement
to gold, with which he first opens his lips in our hearing, transfigures avarice with the glamour of temperament and cri cal brain for the whims and follies of the over-proud. The collapse of Volpone's
religion and idealism. The sordid taint of usury, the prosaic associations of commerce, fall away from astuteness in the delirious joy of his wanton triumph is imagined with an irony yet more Greek than
this man who boasts: "I wound no earth with plow-shares; fat no beasts:To feede the shambles;...I Elizabethan. While the supposed "court official" is gaily mocking the vic ms he has disinherited, the
blow no subtill glasses; expose no ships To threatnings of the furrow-faced sea; I turne no money, spectator knows that Mosca, the pretended heir, is quietly preparing, behind the scenes, to ruin the
in the publike banke." pretended testator. And it is only by the desperate shi of stripping off his own mask that Volpone is
His Passion for Woman Even more powerful than his passion for money, is his passion for woman. He able to checkmate the superior cunning of his formidable parasite, and send him to a doom yet sterner
is a great voluptuary and a sensualist who cannot resist the charms of a woman. Carried away by than his own.
Mosca's praises of the personal charms of Celia, he puts on the disguise of a mountebank and performs A Magnifico S ll Ben Jonson seems almost to have fallen in love with Volpone's magnificence of daring
the role of Scoto Mantuano with rare gusto and realism beneath the window of Celia's house. His and high insolence. When in Act V, the moment comes for the reversal and unmasking of Volpone, we
eloquent speech is very closely modelled on the speeches of mountebanks of the age, it does credit realise suddenly what hold this magnificent insolence has laid upon Ben Jonson's imagina on. For at
to his power of acting. Even Corvino is deceived by his disguise and his acting, and taking him to be a the last moment Volpone revolts and nearly wrecks the play. Mosca (and perhaps Ben Jonson himself)
common mountebank gives him a severe beating. As soon as he sees the beauty of Celia he is sorely realises too late that it is no slave-minded base man whom he is blackmailing, but an aristocrat whose
smitten by her charms, and cannot live without her. As he tells Mosca, high spirit he has failed to gauged. With one last terrific gesture, u erly unbefi ng a comedy and
"The fight is all within me,I cannot live, except you helpe me, Mosca; My liver melts and I, without almost pushing it into a tragedy, Volpone brings down disaster upon himself and his enemy alike. In no
the hopeOf some soft aire from her refreshing breath,Am but a heape of cinders." way disabled in mind or spirit, he remains a Vene an magnifico s ll. Never again did Ben Jonson come
so near feeling for a character of his own crea ng such admira on, and the closing scenes of Volpone
are his comment on the Jacobean ideal of an aristocrat, his characteris c variant o he theme: "I am
Duchess of Malfi s ll."

Q. 6. Discuss the character and role of Mosca in Volpone. Q. 7. Write a cri cal note on the central theme of Volpone Or Is the world of Volpone only corrupt
and gold-centred? Discuss.
Ans. Mosca is the parasite of Volpone. The word "Mosca" means a "fly". He is a fly who lives and feeds Ans. A Corrupt and Greedy World
upon his master Volpone, as does a fly upon a dog or some other animal. The word "fly" was also used
for the a endant spirit of a magician, who was always watchful and swi to carry out the wishes of his The world of Volpone is en rely corrupt and gold-centred. Gold or worldly power and pelf is the quest
master. Thus Mosca is always ready to sa sfy the desires of his master. He always fla ers him, does of all the characters in the play, with the excep on of Celia and Bonario, but these characters are
what he directs him to do, earns his gra tude and thus lives upon him. He is extremely cunning like his en rely colourless and insipid. All the other characters worship gold and try to acquire it by the most
master, has an inven ve and quick brain, and is always ready with some device or the other in his corrupt and dishonest means. They are so greedy, so obsessed with their craze for gold, that they do
service. He is also treacherous, and selfish and does not hesitate to double- cross him when the not hesitate to sacrifice even wife and children to sa sfy their passion.
opportunity offers itself. Like his master, "success has made him wanton", and he enjoys to the full the
discomfiture of the various vic ms of his fox-like cra iness. He invents devices to torture his vic ms Greed, the Central Theme A brief review of the play fully establishes the point that avarice and greed
for the sheer fun of it. But in the end he overreaches himself, and brings doom on the head of his are the basic themes of the play. The very first speech of Volpone strikes the keynote of the play. The
master and a much more terrible doom on his own head. readers are shocked to find that Volpone invokes his treasures of gold in a manner which may be
A Parasite with a Difference Mosca is a parasite with a difference. He does not have much affinity with regarded as impious, even blasphemous:
the parasite of classical comedy, though for the concep on. Ben Jonson was indebted to classical "Good morning to the day: and next, my gold:Open the shrine, that I may see my saint.”
sources. As Mosca himself tells us, he is no ordinary parasite, the common hanger-on of a rich man-
but vastly superior to the parasites introduced by other drama sts. He is not to be confounded with The conscious use of religious language here and throughout Volpone's first speech is to be noted. The
the hungry professional "diners-out" who "Have your bare towne-arte, To know who's fit to feede moral inversion of the world of Volpone is clear enough:
'hem" and use well their wit and their scraps of news to get an invita on to a dinner, at the risk of
summary expulsion, if their jests should not please. As li le will he be mistaken for one of the low "...dear saint;That canst do nought, and yet mak'st men do all things: The price of souls: even hell
cringing companions,"With their court-dog-tricks, that can fawne, and fleere, Make their revennue with thee to boot;Is made worth heaven. Thou art-virtue, fame;Honour, and all things else."
out of legs, and faces,Echo my Lord, and lick away a moath."
Volpone explains the very unusual way in which he makes money:
His Nimble Wit and Ar s c Joy If his posi on and authority dis nguish him from the vulgar parasite
in the literal sense, his brilliant wit equally dis nguishes him from the professional jester or Fool. His "I gain;No common way: I use no trade, no venture;I wound no earth with ploughsares; fat no
profession is a liberal art which makes him, beasts To feed the shambles; have no mills for iron, Oil, corn, or men, to grind them into powder: I
blow no subtle glass: expose no ships To thratenings of the furrow faced sea: I turn no moneys in
"Fine, elegant rascall, that can rise,And stoope (almost together) like an arrow; as mad Shot through the public bank:Nor usure private."
the aire, as nimbly as a starre; Turne short, as doth a swallow, and be here, And there, and yonder,
all at once;Present to any humour, all occasion;And change a visor, Swi er, then a thought.This is In other words Volpone looks down with contempt upon industry and hard work as means of earning
the creature, had the art alone with him; Toiles not to learne it, but doth prac se it.” gold. Rather he uses crooked prac ces and fleeces the wealthy to sa sfy his lust for gold. He pretends
to be ill and cheats the various legacy-hunters who come to him with costly presents. It is in this way
Mosca, like his master, has something of the ar st's joy in his feats, and is carried away no less by the that he grows fabulously rich. He is en rely corrupt and his inner corrup on has been externalised in
zest of the game. With his astuteness he falls, in the wantonness of success, into a blunder which, in the deformed shapes of dwarf, eunuch and hermaphrodite, who are reported to be his illegi mate
conjunc on with Volpone's final escapade, involves the final ruin of both. He himself is conscious of children from beggar-women and gypsies.
this and remarks:
Travesty of Values The other characters are equally greedy and gold-centred. There is a complete
"I feare, I shall begin to grow in loveWith my deare selfe, and my most prosp'rous parts, They doe travesty of all moral, religious and social values. Gold is the standard by which all things, whether
so spring and burgeon: I can feele;A whimsery i' my blood: (I know not how) Successe hath made material or spiritual, are measured and evaluated. In the hope of acquiring Volpone's wealth,
me wanton. I could skip Out of my skin, now, like a sub ll snake,I am so limber." Corbaccio tries to disinherit his worthy and affec onate son. Moved with the same lust for gold,
Corvino is ready to pros tute his virtuous wife Celia to Volpone. Celia's beauty gets its highest praise
It is in this reckless, wanton mood that he encounters Bonario, the son whom Corbaccio is about to in Mosca's words when he describes it as being bright like gold and, also lovely like gold. And her
disinherit in Volpone's favour. The amazing boldness of his next move, the communica on to Bonario concern for her honour when she resists going to bed with Volpone is laughed at by her husband.
of his father's design, coupled with the fatal consequences for himself which actually follow from it, "What, is my gold the worse for touching?"
has led some sober cri cs to accuse Jonson of having brought about a situa on he required (Bonario's
presence in the gallery when Celia is a acked), without troubling to provide a sufficient mo ve. Gold: Its Miraculous Powers In the corrupt world of this play, gold appears finally to have no limits to
its miraculous power:"Why, your gold;Game Is such another medicine, it dries up;All those offensive
Habit of Taking Risks savours. It transforms : The most deformed, and restores them lovely......;It is the thing;Makes all
the world her grace, her youth, her beauty."
But it is in Mosca's character to take great risks; from first to last he is playing a dangerous game, and
at this very moment he is elated by success. But he is not wantonly cour ng danger. He has a definite Volpone supposes that a woman's virtue can be purchased with gold, and so tempts Celia with all that
plan, and it is not the fruit of a sudden impulse on the appearance of "Bonario". "Who's this"? he says his fabulous wealth can purchase. Lady Poli que offers her body to Mosca in exchange for gold and
to himself on seeing him enter, "The person I was bound to seeke". Mosca's own subsequent her husband invents all sorts of foolish devices to make easy money. Both Volpone and Mosca use
explana ons of his mo ves to Corbaccio and then to Voltore are naturally seasoned to their palate. their foxy-cra iness to cheat the legacy-hunters and amass wealth, and it is for the sake of gold that
But it is not difficult to detect the real policy, now frustrated, which had dictated his act. Corbaccio was ul mately Mosca double-crosses his patron.
a ached to his son, and corrupt as he is, he had at first objected to the project of disinheri ng him. It
is Mosca's desire to prevent any recurrence of these dangerous scruples, and he takes the course which Gold: The Source of All Corrup on Volpone's home is the centre of gold-a box full of costly items of
he expects will promptly and violently alienate father and son. gold, diamonds and silver-as well as of corrup on and moral decay. It is from here that corrup on
spreads outwards in all direc ons. Voltore, the clever Advocate, dishonours his profession, and instead
What he meant to happen is substan ally what he tells Corbaccio has happened, with a climax which of advoca ng the cause of truth and jus ce, tells lies in the open court, and hurls malicious accusa ons
Corbaccio's late arrival prevented. Bonario was to break out in rage against his father and threaten his on innocent people and all this for the sake of gold. When he discovers that he has been betrayed, that
life; Mosca would then intervene to save him, securing thereby the gra tude and confidence of the Mosca is the real heir of Volpone, he does not hesitate to go back on his previous statement,
old man. There were several chances for failure in this calcula on. But it was sufficiently well grounded pretending that he has a troubled conscience which compels him to tell the truth. When Volpone again
to be adopted by an able and daring man; and the circumstance which upsets it, the premature arrival assures him that he is the heir, there is another volte face, and the conscience-stricken lawyer now
of Corvino and Celia, is provided with a mo ve admirably in keeping with Corvino's character, and yet feigns and disowns his previous statement. Even the judges and rulers of this corrupt world have been
so extravagant in its vileness that even the depraved imagina on of Mosca could not be expected to tainted by gold. When they find that the "parasite" has become a "magnifico", they mete out to him a
foresee. privileged treatment. A special messenger, a notary, is sent to bring him to the court, and a seat is
offered to him. One of the magistrates even regards him as a suitable match for his daughter. Gold
bestows honour and social status, and a man's personal character counts for li le. Volpone himself is
a magnifico, and so his punishment is ienient as compared to that of Mosca. He is neither whipped,
nor condemned for life to work as a slave on the galleys. In short, in the corrupt and gold-ridden world
of the play, honour, virtue, family es, personal character are as nothing, and gold is everything. It is a
world ro en to the core; at its center lies gold, the seed of corrup on, and corrup on grows out of it
and spreads in all direc ons.
Q.8 Discuss "legacy-hun ng" as the theme of the play, Volpone. Q. 9. Discuss Ben Jonson's Volpone as COMEDY OF HUMOURS or Comment on the sa re and moral
indigna on in Ben Jonson's Volpone.
Ans. An Ancient Roman Ins tu on Legacy-hun ng was a peculiarly Roman ins tu on. In ancient
mes the legator-a childless richman-was free to bestow his wealth on anyone he liked. The result was Ans. Theory of "Humours" Ben Jonson is the founder in England of the Comedy of "Humours" just as
that numerous legacy-hunters flocked to him fla ering him and bringing to him costly gi s. Such Shakespeare is the founder of the Roman c Comedy. Ben Jonson's preface to Every Man in his Humour
legacy-hunters were o en befooled and cheated by the legator. This ins tu on was fraught with may be taken to be a manifesto of his drama c creed, of his comic aims and objec ves, of his theory
immense drama c possibili es and countless drama sts of ancient mes exploited these possibili es, of the comedy of humours: and sound "Deeds and language, such as men do use, And persons such
and Jonson, too, has exploited them in the present play. as comedy would choose, When she would show an image of the mes, And sport with human
follies, not their crimes."
Its Roman c Appeal In choosing such a subject as this Ben Jonson necessarily abandoned one of his
surest holds upon the play-going public, his powerful presentment of the London life at their doors. In Exposure of Human Folly In other words, realism and an exposure of human folly which are frequently
Jacobean age similar greed, cunning, and credulity were not much less rife than in Venice; but this met with in real life are the objec ve of his comedy. He would sport with folly but not with crime. His
par cular variety of them was not yet at home there. Yet the very unfamiliarity of this "folly" was of aims are sa rical, but comedy would be restricted to the exposure of human folly, oddity, eccentricity,
interest to Jacobean audiences. They were a racted by the roman c fascina on of this strange or etc. He would have nothing to do with vice and crime. He followed this cri cal creed in the earlier
exo c crime. This kind of interest, however, would have been much deadened had the plot been laid comedies, but Volpone stands on an en rely different fooling, "It is s ll a comedy of humours, but
in a vanished society, known only to the learned and by books. Ben Jonson, therefore, transferred his widely different from the earlier ones."
se ng from ancient Rome to modern Italy. For the Jacobeans, Italy was the classic contemporary land Revival of Ancient Theme For one thing, Ben Jonson has provided the present comedy with an exo c
of sensa onal evil-doing. Among Italian ci es Venice, with Florence as the city of Machiavel, stood in or foreign se ng. The scene is laid in Venice, and not in prosaic and familiar London. The theme chosen
the front rank for this sinister repute. To make Volpone a Vene an grandee was thus to give him and is greed and avarice, but the par cular form which it assumes in the play is legacy-hun ng, a subject
his story the best chance of being creditable. "English foibles do not indeed wholly escape the lash; peculiar to ancient Rome, but not known to the London of his mes despite all its greed, avarice and
but Sir Poli que and his lady are introduced only as eccentric English visitors at the house of the moral corrup on.
Vene an grandee. If the scene, then, is laid in Venice, "Venice" is no longer merely a transparent cloak
for London. He has merely transferred to a modern milieu a situa on from ancient Rome. No "Humour" Characters in the Main Plot Further, the characters in the earlier comedy are simple.
Ben Jonson's Theory of Comedy But Volpone bears the clear stamp of its purely literary original: the They are humour characters. They have some par cular "humour" or oddity which is worked out
an que sa ric stuff is everywhere visible, and the intense intellectual elabora on it has undergone has during the course of the ac on. In the present play, the chief characters are much more complex. They
been carried out in compara ve detachment from actuali es. The result is a work certainly wan ng in cannot be described in terms of any humour. Mosca and Volpone are both greedy, they both have foxy
the fresh charm of Every Man in His Humour, even repellent by reason of the remote, abstruse, and at cra iness which they use to cheat the legacy-hunters. But they are also ar sts in villainy, who also
mes, scarcely human, types of criminality among which we move. Yet for all its strangeness, Volpone enjoy chea ng their vic ms for its own sake. In Volpone, sexual passion is even more powerful than
a ains, in the grip of Ben Jonson's mind, an amazing imagina ve veracity, which has made its sinister his passion for gold, and the vein of poetry, too, is strong in him. Similarly, Mosca is no ordinary parasite
outlines only less ineffaceable in the English memory than the more splendid and passionate crea ons and he can even double- cross his master with a view to becoming his sole heir. But his plans are
of Shakespeare. If Volpone marks a wide departure from the realism he had earlier enjoined upon the frustrated, because Volpone remains a magnifico to the end, and brings doom on himself and his
comic drama st, it violates s ll more strikingly his second demand, that comedy should "sport with parasite by telling the whole truth. All this complexity is not to be seen, in the "humour" characters of
human follies", not with crimes. If Ben Jonson ever sports here, it is in the sombre and lurid fashion of the earlier comedies.
his own spor ng Kyd. There is folly enough, to be sure but it is the formidable and menacing folly of Moral Indigna on Volpone is differen ated even more sharply, from the earlier comedies, by Jonson's
men who have capacity and resource and absolutely no scruples, and whether such men commit follies intense moral indigna on, though there is no moral preaching. Jonson here is a sa rist, fired with
or crimes is merely a ques on of occasion and circumstance. reformist zeal, who lashes out indignantly at vice and crime. The drama st here too, "imitates jus ce,
Crime and Vice All the principal persons are capable of any crime; they are gamblers playing and instructs to life", and does not sport merely with human folly. This makes the world of Volpone
desperately for high stakes, and when they see their advantage, Corbaccio plays his son's inheritance, en rely different from the world of the earlier comedies like Every Man in His Humour. There is folly
and Corvino his wife's honour. The moral repulsion, however, with which they so powerfully affect us enough, to be sure; but it is the formidable and menacing folly of men who have capacity and resource
is less due to the actual crimes and vices they perpetrate than to the impression of unlimited and absolutely no scruple, and whether such men commit follies or crimes is merely a ques on of
possibili es of evil which they convey. The air is heavy and foul with moral disease, a passing breath occasion and circumstance. All the principal persons are capable of any crime. They are gamblers
of freshness and purity just s rs it when Celia and Bonario go by, but the relief is faint and ineffectual, playing desperately for high stakes, and when they see their advantage. Corbaccio plays his son's
and the total impression is not sensibly mi gated even by the catastrophe which a ests that "there is inheritance, Corvino his wife's honour. "The moral repulsion, however, with which they so powerfully
force in the decrees of Venice" to punish even these iniqui es. affect us is less due to the actual crimes and vices they perpetrated than to the impression of unlimited
possibili es of evil which they convey. The air is heavy and fo d with moral disease; a passing breath
Legacy-Hun ng: A Form of Greed Greed and avarice assume many forms, but in the present play they of freshness and purity just s rs it when Celia and Bonario go by, but the relief is faint and mild and
assume the form of legacy-hun ng. The legator, Volpone, sa sfies his lust for gold by befooling the the total impression is not much diminished even by the catastrophe which proves that "there is a
"clients" or legacy-hunters who flock to him in large numbers, each compe ng with the others in giving force in the decrees of Venice to punish even these iniqui es". Never before had Ben Jonson depicted
costly gi s in the hope of being nominated the sale heir of the rich legator. The result is that Volpone's with so much power human beings wan ng in every germ of goodness. Of moralising there is not a
room is a veritable box over-full with gi s of gold, silver, pearls and diamonds. He worships gold and trace, but the moral accent is nonetheless pervading and intense.
exults in his own cunning in having cheated, with the help of his even more cunning parasite, Mosca, View of Human Nature Legouis examining the point in some detail writes, "It is a violent a ack on
so many would-be inheritors of his own wealth. cupidity and mean avarice and Machiavellism. Volpone depicts only vices, and hardly anything that
The Two Cheats The cunning of the two cheats and the credulity of the legacy-hunters is well- could be called virtue. Thus the view it gives of human nature is thoroughly cynical. Volpone is a
illustrated by the way in which the four legacy-hunters-Voltore, Corvino, Corbaccio, and Lady Poli que Vene an magnifico, old, rich, childless, and a passionate believer in every enjoyment, par cularly the
Would-bee-are cheated and befooled. Voltore is an advocate; he brings gold-plates and other costly enjoyment of gold. Surrounded by false friends anxious to inherit his wealth, he pretends that he is
gi s for Volpone who has given out that he, Volpone, is ill and dying. The parasite Mosca receives the dying, and by persuading each of them that he is the sole heir-designate obtains costly presents from
gi s and assures him that he has been made the sole heir of Volpone, who is sure to die soon. Voltore them all. Any one of them, out of a feverish greed equal to Volpone's own, is capable of sacrificing
believes all this. Blinded to truth by his passion for gold, he u ers lies in the court, and, instead of honour, child, or his chance of acquiring the inheritance. These persons who could be compared to
helping the cause of truth and jus ce, he sacrifices the two innocents, Bonario and Celia, to his lust for beasts of prey are appropriately named-the lawyer, Voltore or Vulture, the dying Corbaccio or old Crow,
gold. With the help of false-witnesses he establishes that they are immoral and corrupt. Bonario's own and the merchant, Corvino, or Li le Crow.The intermediary between Volpone and these persons is
father and Celia's husband, a est to the truth of what he says. But when the Advocate comes to know Mosca (or Fly). There is something ravenous and diabolic in the passion of all these characters.
that he is not the sole heir, he changes his stand under the plea that he has pangs of conscience. There Volpone's thirst for gold is as vehement, if not as bi ng, as that which torments Marlowe's Jew of
is yet another volte face when his hopes of inheritance revive. He now feigns madness, and again Malta. Yet the enormity of the fraud he has organised gives him greater pleasure even than his gold.
accuses the two innocents. For sheer ferocity, no scene has ever been surpassed than that in which the aged, crippled, bleary-
eyed Corbaccio, with one foot in the grave, comes to sniff at the body of the man whose death he has
Depraved and Greedy Legacy-Hunters The other legacy-hunters are equally credulous, depraved and discounted or the other scene in which Corvino drags his chaste wife, Celia, by threats and violence,
greedy. The old and deaf Corbaccio is ready to disinherit his son in order to acquire the wealth of to the presence of Volpone who tries to rape her. In yet another and no less ferocious scene, Volpone,
Volpone, and Corvino is eager to pros tute his virtuous wife Celia to Volpone with the same end in who has "been given up to jus ce, is shown standing his trial. Each of his dupes comes forward to
view. Lady Would-bee is willing to sell her body to Mosca if he would secure her nomina on as the speak for him, each of them warmly eloquent. Each improves on the statement of his rival, and invents
sole heir of his master. Mosca himself double-crosses his master and thus brings doom on his head as the most hateful lies, even against a son or a wife, to prove Volpone's innocence.
well as on his own. In short, Volpone is a study of the lust for gold and in the play it assumes the form
of legacy-hun ng. It corrupts and degrades and leads to crime and vice of various types. Contrary to Drama c Sa re The inhuman situa on, which is the subject of this play, is made, almost credible by
his declared inten on, Ben Jonson here does not 'sport' merely with human 'folly', but also lashes at the drama st's vigour, his clever manipula on of the threads of his plot, and the strong construc on.
crime and vice. His moral indigna on is well-marked and intense. But its success is devoid of the element of fun, for the ferocity of the sa re excludes laughter. Therefore
it has rightly been called "a drama c sa re or a sa rist's comedy".

The Element of Fun Q.10 The Themes in Volpone

However, the element of fun resul ng from spor ng with 'folly' has been provided through the Legacy Hun ng: Jonson appears to have got the theme from Greek or Roman writers or from both.
introduc on of Sir Poli que-Would-bee-Lady Would- bee-Peregrine sub-plot. While the main plot is The Greek writer, Lucian's Dialogues sa rizes many legacy hunters. But in Rome legacy hun ng had
tragic in tone and burns with the drama st's intense moral zeal, the sub-plot is much lighter in tone, developed into an ins tu on. Petronius's sa res give the picture of many rich people, duping others
as it is the drama st sports with the common follies and eccentrici es of young English travellers in by giving false hopes of ge ng a legacy. In a passage of Petronius, we find that in a Roman city "the
foreign lands. He has held them up to ridicule through the adventures or misadventures of Sir Poli que whole popula on is divided into two classes (1) Legacy hunters and their prey (2) Bachelors with no
and his Lady. Just as the end of the main plot shows the "mor fying of a fox"; that of the sub-plot kin are advanced to the highest honours. You are entering a town which is like a pes lence stricken
shows the comic-mor fying of Sir Poli que in the tortoise-shell. plain, filled with nothing else but crows and corpses, the tearing and the torn." We find elements of
the same theme dealt with, in same Volpone. Even the birds-of-prey allegory, too, is present. Jonson,
well read in classics of Greece and Rome, could have found his theme of legacy hun ng in one or
several of them.
The Theme Suits the Spirit of Jonson's England: The prac ce of offering valuable presents to heir-less
rich old people was prac sed in England too. There was a story, known in London, of a certain Captain
Thomas Hu on, who made himself rich duping many legacy seekers, giving false hopes to them.
Jonson might or might not have known Hu on, but certainly he might have no ced the universality of
the theme. He made the legacy hun ng the mainspring of the play, giving the story its mo ve force.
Greed for money is a common human tendency, one of the humours of men. He thought a sa re on
greed would appeal to the English spirit of the me and it did. However he set the incidents on a
Veni an background for greater credibility. Many stories of legacy hun ng were told and retold, in
Venice. And in the England of Jonson's me, Venice was like what New York is for Indians today.
Travellers and sailors were bringing in stories of Venice back to England, making it a fantas c, but real
city for Englishmen.
Avarice, One of the Seven Deadly Sins: Jonson got his legacy hun ng idea, possibly from the writers
of old and from his observa on of the contemporary England. And then, he made the play gold-
centred, making the greed for gold the moving passion, or humour in the play. The play significantly
starts with the worship of gold. Volpone calls gold his saint and his hoard-room, the altar Surely it is a
mock-ritualis c worship of gold, and none can miss the sublime poetry he u ers in its praise. True he
says that he likes "the cunning purchase of wealth" more than the mere possession of it But he knows
for certain, wealth is needed to enjoy the pleasures of the senses and he is one who enjoys them even
like a Turk. His love for wealth is not less than that of the greedy trio. As soon as Corvino goes out, we
see Volpone greedily handling all the presents he has received and say:“Let me see. A pearl?A
diamond? Plate, Cechens? good morning's purchase.Why, this is be er than rob churches, yet.”
Certainly he enjoys, the possession of wealth also. And at the very end of the play when Mosca asks
for half his wealth, to save Volpone from the predicament, his answer is:-“First I will be hang'd.”If he
is interested only in the cunning acquisi on of gold, he would gladly have given up half the wealth and
saved himself from disaster. One has to conclude that the central theme of the play is avarice, or
extreme greed, one of the seven deadly sins. The legacy of hun ng story effec vely illustrate how man
can debase himself into beasts under the passion of greed. The other important characters too, show
how humans can become beasts under the blinding effect of this passion. As Volpone becomes the
fox, Mosca becomes the fly, Voltore, the vulture, Corbaccio the raven, and Corvino the crow. Voltore
sacrifices honour, his own and that of his profession Corbaccio his son, and Corvino shows readiness
to traffic his chaste and innocent wife; all for greed. The values of materialis c Venice is so debased
that under the influence of money even the course jus ce can be destorted. We find the two
innocents, Bonario and Celia imprisoned, not because of their faults. But for the later excesses of
Volpone and the resul ng exposure of the crimes, possibly, they would have remained in prison for
long. Even the judges are not free from its influence. The moment Mosca, the parasite, appears as a
rich man, one of the judges thinks of ge ng him as his son-in-law. Definitely Jonson sa rizes a society
ro ng and ge ng decayed under this deadly sin, avarice.
Transmigra on of the Soul: Transmigra on of the soul, or metempsychosis, a theory traced back to
Pythagoras, is another theme of the play. Along with the Renaissance the knowledge of ancient
philosophers like Pythagoras, and their work had reached England. Marlowe's Faustus men ons
metempsychosis before his end, quite seriously. Jonson uses it, certainly with comic interest and Nano
gives a detailed descrip on of the course the soul makes from Apollo down to Androgyne. He appears
to be laughing at the Renaissance hope that man can reach a transcendental stage. Chris ans believe
that with God's grace man can achieve a higher stage, only slightly lower than that of angels, but higher
than the commonality of humans. At the same me in the absence of the grace of God, man can go
down to bes al levels too. Renaissance thinking twisted the Chris an belief to its convenience and
brought in the idea that man's capaci es are infinite. Conven onal thinkers, especially religious
thinkers, saw the dangers involved in the excess of individualism and adventurism. It could, instead of
raising man, bring him down to the level of animals. Jonson takes this orthodox thinking and ironically,
is portraying the degrada on that is coming to man. Nano says that the : ”...soul, fast and loose, sir,
came first from Apollo ;And was breathed into Æthalides...;And thence did it enter the sophist of
Greece. Since kings, knights, and beggars, knaves, lords and fools gat it at Besides, ox and ass, camel,
mule, goat and brock”and entered into Androgyno the fool. It is the fall of the soul from the divine
origin through animals into the hermaphrodite, the deformed creature.
The Craving for Transcendence in Volpone: The worship of gold pictured in the beginning is a mock-
worship. Gold, an idol, in place of God, is kept on the altar. This worshipping of Mammon, the pagan
god of wealth, is done not only by Volpone, but also by all the important characters. The strongest
passion, the dominant humour wealth, try to transcend themselves. And they become the birds of in
all of them is gold-worship or avarice. They, in order to achieve them. All become unnatural creatures,
by indulging in unnatural and prey and Mosca, the fly. It is a metempsychosis that happens to heinous
crimes. The desire for metempsychosis works in Volpone too. He has wealth in abundance, more than
what he needs, but s ll he desires to be something other than what he is. He takes up the role of the Q.11 "Volpone can be considered a greed and morality play". Discuss.
sickman, the mountebank and the commendatore. In his a empt to seduce Celia he talks of pu ng
on the appearance of the classical gods, and that of others and urges Celia to join him in enac ng This statement of Arthur Sale, is untrue or only partly true. Volpone is a play much more complex, and
matching roles. Underlying all these role-playing and the desire to take the role of others we find the sophis cated than the simple and primi ve morali es where the characters are only abstrac ons. But
urge to become something different from what he is. And he becomes something different, ironically, if the statement is to be interpreted to mean that there are morality elements in this typical
a prisoner to remain in cramps for the rest of his life. We find the desire to transcend leading him to a Renaissance play there will be some truth in it.
bes al stage.
Morality Play: The Morality is an earlier type of drama that arose in the medieval mes and flourished
Deformity of Body and Mind: Man who aims at transcendence o en becomes deformed into a in the 15th century. The characters were personified abstrac ons, such as vice and virtues. The ac on
monster. According to Nano's descrip on of the path of the soul, at last it has reached Androgyno, the was simple and the purpose was invariably edifica on. Virtues like Jus ce, Mercy, Compassion and
hermaphrodite, a human being with unnatural organs. The other two fools too are monstrosi es. Nano vices like Avarice, Malice eng and Falsehood were the characteris cs of the characters. Some mes d
is a dwarf and Castrone a eunuch. What Mosca says about their birth, that they, are the illegi mate the characters were mere abstrac ons of some sort of states like redo old age, youth etc. Many of
children of Volpone, need not be taken at the face value. But by keeping such monstrous creatures at them became patent characters, like the Devil and the Vice, and appeared in almost all of the Morality
home as companion, Volpone is showing his own monstrosity of the mind. Only a monstrous mind can plays. te pu Devil was a hangover from the Miracle plays but the Vice was Th a unique crea on of the
keep such deformed creatures at home as pets. bes al colour to the incidents of the play. All the major Morality plays. Devil was presented as a bral grotesque monster with horn, hoofs and tail. Vice had a
characters are Bes ary Tales: The animal associa ons alluded in the play gives a named a er animals comical here dress that was adopted by the clowns of Elizabethan mes.Vice represented hypocrisy,
and they show typical character of the respec ve flesh-fly that s cks on to flesh, especially decaying infidelity, covetousness etc. Some mes Vice appeared as gallant or a bully. It was not a mere clown or
flesh. Voltore is creatures. Volpone is the fox, cunning and inhuman. Mosca is the the vulture, a jester, but a wi y and intelligent person as Shakespeare's clowns.
Corbaccio, the raven and Corvino, the crow; all birds of prey, eagerly wai ng to feed on the carcass of
the fox. Lady Would-be likened to wolves, for Mosca, on hearing of the severe punishments and her Morality Elements in the Play: As in a Morality, the purpose of Volpone is edifica on, Jonson makes it
husband are parrots, equally talka ve. Even the judges a meted out to him curses them saying, "bane clear indirectly in the Argument of the play. It talks of how evil people "thrive" for a me, but in the
to thy wolfish nature." end "are sold". In the Proloque he says that his aim is to "mix profit with pleasure". Certainly the word
"profit" stands for edifica on. In the Dedica on he makes it clearer. Defending the non-comedy ending
Further, there is the allusion to the story of the fox which fla ered a crow to open its mouth to sing of Volpone, where the evildoers are harshly punished, Jonson says, that "the office of a comic poet to
and thereby cheated it of the cheese in its beaks. As Mosca says Voltore has brought a plate with ini ate jus ce and instruct to life is prac sed". True to his words, Jonson kept up the moral theme in
Volpone's coat of arms embossed on it, the Fox asks. Volpone. The first judge's words in the very end of the play.
“and not a Fox “Let all that see these vices thus rewarded,Take heart and love to study hem, Mischiefs feed Like
beasts ll they be fat and then they bleed”
Stretched on earth, with fine delusive sleights Mocking a gaping crow?”
underline the moral purpose of the play. Elsewhere in the play too, the purpose, moral edifica on, is,
Even the innocent ones are described using animal parallels. Corbaccio while in the court show his found. But it is not the only purpose. Pleasure, ar s c pleasure, is clearly aimed at, and that too
anger towards his son shou ng. some mes at the cost of the moral elements. There are mes when we admire Volpone and are almost
on the point of iden fying with him.
“Monster of men, swine, goat, wolf, partridge,
Characterisa on: The drama s personae in Volpone are quite different from and more complex than,
Speak not, thou, viper.” the abstrac ons of a Morality play. Nano, the fool may have some resemblance of the Vice but even
he talks much more like an Elizabethan clown than like a morality vice. No character in the play is fully
Corvino accusing Celia of over-lusty behaviour says that she “....is a whore;Of most hot exercise more an abstrac on. True, Volpone and Mosca are full of cunning, the legacy hun ng trio are immersed in
than a partridge” greed, Sir Poli c and his Lady represent folly and Bonario and Celia stand for innocence. But they are
human beings, not pure abstrac ons like Everyman, Fellowship, Kindred and Good Deeds which are
and that she "neighs like a jennet." found in Morali es. There may be predominance of one quality in many characters and they are not
Perhaps Jonson wanted the characters ac ng the role, to display dresses resembling those creatures as complex as those, say, of Shakespeare's. But to tell them they are purely Morality characters, is
and to move like those. The author's real inten on is to show how human beings under the ignoble simply preposterous.
influence of greed can debase themselves into animals. Beast images o en used, are the outcome of The Themes in Volpone are Different from that of Morality: Morality plays always dealt with theological
Jonson's conscious planning to show humans becoming animal-like monstrosi es. and religious themes. There is no specific religious theme at all in Volpone. On the contrary religion is
sa rised or mocked at. The adora on of gold in the beginning of the play is a parody of the act of
Chris an worship. The reference to the day of crea on, calling gold son of sol, imita ng the son in the
trinity and the kissing of his riches like Chris an cleric would be kissing, touches profanity. Later we
find Nano describing a Puritan.
“a precise, pure, illuminate brother.posure art ex Of those devour flesh and some mes one another
And will drop you forth a libel or a sanc fied lie Betwixt every spoonful of a na vity pie.”
is not befi ng a Morality play.
Volpone rather shows the freedom Renaissance has brought to English people, to ques on the
prac ces of religion. Sir Poli c, in Volpone, his conversa on with Peregrine expresses the spirit of
freedom in ma ers of religion. He advises Peregrine,” And then, for your religion, profess none;But
wonder at the diversity of all.”
The lines certainly smacks of the religious liberalism that has spread along with the Renaissance spirit.
Renaissance Elements: While there are some elements of Morality plays in Volpone, it is fully
immersed in the Renaissance spirit. A desire for transcendence, a lust for wealth and power, a he zest
for life and the fine things of life, freedom from the choking Re influence of theology and religion and
a revolt against conven onal morality are some of the characteris cs that Renaissance brought in. We
find in Volpone and Mosca, the craving for transcendence in the full measure and in a lesser degree in
some other characters. Their Q novel way of amassing wealth by exploi ng the greed and gullibility of
the dupes, is the outcome of their desire for transcendence. We find it equally well in Sir Poli c and
his Lady, however, foolish they are otherwise. The zest for life of Volpone is evident throughout the
play. A er Corvino has gone out, Volpone tells Mosca,
“Prepare; Me music, dances, banquets, all delights;The Turk is not more sensual in his pleasures
Than is Volpone.”

Surely this is the statement of one who has a gusto for life and an appe te for the fine things that
money can bring. Trying to seduce Celia, Volpone promises all the sensual pleasures to Celia. And what
is more, he clearly spells out the thinking of the mes. He tells,
Suns that set may rise again
But once we lose this light
'Tis with us perpetual night...
'Tis no sin loves fruit to steal
But the sweet the s to reveal.
Contrary to the Chris an belief that the aim of life is to reach that heaven, if at all real, exists on this
side of the grave. He requests Celia not to miss it.
Calling Volpone a Morality play is just to ignore outright the realism found in the play. No Morality play
can have a mixture of sa re and realism as we find in Volpone. The drama s personae, though
dominate in one humour, are far more complex and life like than the abstrac ons of the Morali es.
Again, the play has mirth born, mainly out of drama c irony, absent in Morali es. It has a subplot
contribu ng to the farcical comedy, something quite alien to the Morality tradi on. Jonson has
followed the roman c tradi on of the Elizabethans in bringing in a subplot, which has no obvert
rela on to the main plot. It is only for bringing in comic relief. Further, there is present in the play, from
beginning ll the end the all pervading Renaissance spirit. Arthur Sale's calling Volpone a Renaissance
Morality can be jus fied only in one way. That it is a Renaissance comedy, different from other
comedies. The severe punishment meted out to the evildoers prompted by moral sense of the author,
makes morality central to the play as in Morali es.