VOLPONE

Ben Jonson
BOUT THEAUTHOR:
Ben Jonson was born in 1572 or 1573, a month or so after his father's death. His
her was a minister and his stepfather a bricklayer. Someone financed Jonson's education
Westminster School, where the historian William Camden introduced him to the classics.
er a few weeks at Cambridge, Jonson was forced to take up bricklaying. Later he is
nd soldiering in the Netherlands, fighting a duel with an enemy soldier, killing him,
Rd returning home with heroic tales to enlarge upon.
Swiftly, he married, begot and buriedsveral children, fought and reconciled with
Swife, and began a theatrical career. Almost at once he wrote with Thomas Nashe aplay
atitled The Isle of Dogs(1597). Both playwrights were charged with seditious and
anderous matter, but only Jonson was captured and clapped in irons. Upon release, Jonson
ined Philip Henslowe's theatrical company. Ayear later, at the Globe theater, Jonson had
1S first stage success with Every Man in His Humour:
 INTRODUCTION:
Nolpone was published first in 1607 as a quarto and then in 1616 as part of Jonson':
collected Works. In thelater edition, the date of the first performance of Volpone is liste:
as 1605. However., many scholars speculate that the first
performance actually took plac:
in early 1606. Whatever the date, Volpone was first acted by the King's Men
with Joh:
Lowin playing Volpone, Richard Burbage playing Mosca, and Cooke playing Lady Would
be. Later, as the Epistle indicates, Volpone was performed at Oxford and
Cambridge.
The play was an immediate and resounding success. It was, and
admired for its balance of scathing satire against human greed with classical continues to be.
restraint and
formalism. Like many of his plays, Volpone demonstrates an attentiveness to
superficiality of theatre. All of the main characters are explicitly associated with an animalthe
the fox. the wolf, the raven, the crow, etc. which lends the play the
But this surface glitter does not distract from the strong character ofa fabie
play. Jonson's balance of theatrical convention and innovation,characterizations that drive th
of commedia de.
arte tradition and English muscularity, invites comparison more to Moliere than t
Shakespcare. Volpone is widely considered by critics to be Jonson's best play: the one i
which his formal and human concerns achieve their most perfect balance.
After the late 18th century, Volpone waned in popularity; the nineteenth century t
general appreciated the unencumbered imagination of Shakespeare to the pointed eruditiot
of Jonson. It was not until the 1920's that it began to be performed again on aregular basis.
In 1928, Stefan Zweig and Jules Romains adapted the play, changing the ending so that
Mosca walks away with Volpone's fortune; this popular production ushered in an erat of
relative theatrical appreciation that continues to this day.
 The well-read Jonson may have drawn upon many sources in composing Volpone.
citics have speculated that the idea for the play derives from Petronius, a Roman satirist,
bough others disagree. According to J. D. Rea, writing in 1919, Erasmus' Praise of
Folly was Jonson's inspiration. Rea's claim is substantiated by Jonson's own Epistle in
which he pays homage to the ancient Erasmus' style of comedy. At any rate, the play
adheres strictly to the Classical ideals of drama as illustrated in those earlier satires, even
sits striking originality prohibits us from identifying a clear forebear.
Summary:
Aopone (The Fox) is aVenetian gentleman who pretends to be on his deathbed after
a long illness in order to dupe Voltore (The Vulture), Corbaccio (The Raven) and
Corvino(The Crow), three men who aspire to inherit his fortune. In their turns, each man
arrives to Volpone's house bearing a luxurious gift, intent upon having his name inscribed
to the will of Volpone, as his heir. Mosca (The Fly), Volpone's parasite servant, encourages
cach man, Voltore, Corbaccio, and Corvino, to believe that he has been named heir to
Volpone's fortune; in.the course of which, Mosca persuades Corbaccio to disinherit his
own son in favour of Volpone.
To Volpone, Mosca mentions that Corvino has abeautiful wife, Celia. Disguised as
Scoto the Mountebank, Volpone goes to see Celia. Corvino drives away "Scoto" (Volpone),
who then becomes insistent that he must possess Celia as his own. Mosca deceives Corvino
into believing that the moribund Volpone requires sexual congress with ayoung woman in
order to revive and rise from his deathbed. The cupidity of Corvino leads him to offer
Celia, his wife, in order to please Volpone's voluptuousness, and so become his heir.
Just before Corvino and Celia are due to arrive for her sexual congress with Volpone,
Corbaccio's son Bonario arrives to catch his father in the act of disinheriting him. Mosca
guides Corbaccio to a sideroom, and Volpone and Celia are left alone. Upon failing to
seduce Celiawith fantastic promises of luxury and wealth, Volpone attempts to rape her.
Bonario comes forward to rescue Celia. In the ensuing trial at court, the truth of the matter
is well-buried by Voltore; using his prowess as a lawyer to convince the Avocatori, with
false evidence given by Mosca, Volpone and the other dupes.
There are episodes involving the English travellers Sir and Lady Politic Would-Be
and Peregrine. Sir Politicconstantly talks of plots and his outlandish business plans, while
Lady Would-Be annoys Volpone with her ceaseless talking. Mosca co-ordinates a mix-up
between them which leaves Peregrine, amore sophisticated traveller, feeling offended. He
humiliates Sir Politick by telling him he is to be arrested for sedition and making him hide
inside a giant tortoise shell.
Volpone insists on disguising himself and having it announced that he has died and
Willed his wealth to Mosca, which enrages the would-be heirs Voltore, Corbaccio and
Corvino, and everyone returns to court to dispute theMoscawill of Volpone, who becomes
cntangled inthe circumstances of the plots that he and devised. Despite Volpone's
pleas, Moscarefuses to relinquish his newrole as a rich man; Volponereveals
himCoselrfv,ianns,d
his deceits, in order to topple the rich Mosca; in the event, Voltore, Corbaccio, Con an
Mosca and Volpone himself finally are punished.
ANALYSIS:
The play is dedicated to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, both of whis
had recently awarded Jonson honorary doctorates at the time of the play's writing .
briefly discusses the moral intentions of the play and its debt to classical drama. In %
Argument. Jonson provides a brief summary of the play's plot in the form of an acrostic m
Volpone's name. The prologue then introduces the play to the viewing audience, informin
them that with a little luck." it willbe a hit; Jonson ends by promising that the audiene
cheeks will turn red from laughter after viewing his work.
These opening parts of the play, before we are introduced to the action, may sem
superfluous. But they help us understand the play in several ways. First, in the banal seng
the Argument, as Jonson terms it, provides in brief encapsulated form the premise of the
play. a premise that will be fully introduced in the first scene.
The Dedication, however, gives us a clue as to Jonson's intentions in
writing Volpone. First of all, he is intent on writing a moral" play. By taking to task thos
"poetasters" (his derogatory term for an inferior playwright) who have disgraced the
theatrical profession with their immoral work, Jonson highlights the moral intentions ot
his play. His play willmake a moral statement. And it willdo so in line with the traditions
of drama followed by classical dramatists, that is, the dramatists of ancient Greece. Tas
connectionto the past further indicates that the play we are about to read (or see) is awors
of serious intellectual and moral weight.
But, in the Prologue, we see a different side of Jonson. This side of Jonson
boastfulthis play was written in five weeks, says Jonison, all the jokes are mine. Ithin
it's going to be a huge hit, and you are all going to laugh hysterically until your cheeks tur
red. The Prologue sets a boisterous tone that the rest of the play will follow. So in thes
opening passages, Jonson begins to mix a serious intellectual and moral message with:
boisterous, light- hearted and entertaining tone, reinforcing the explicit promise he mak
in the Prologe "1o mix profitwith your pleasure." In other words, says Jonson, Volpone
be a work that willeducate you but alsoentertain you at the same time.