What is the summary of Volpone?
Volpone, childless and rich, and his servant and parasite, Mosca, are playing a cunning and farcical game of deceit with three supposed friends who have each set their sights on becoming Volpone’s sole heir.
How many acts are there in Volpone?
five acts
Volpone, in full Volpone; or, The Fox, comedy in five acts by Ben Jonson, performed about 1605/06 and published in 1607.
Which is the most important scene in Volpone?
The court scene in Ben Jonson’s Volpone is important as a theatrical and plot device, as it shows the audience that justice is carried out and all the malefactors will be duly convicted and sentenced.
How does Volpone imagine a gold centric universe in the opening scene of Volpone?
Volpone’s opening ode to gold shows immediately how commerce and money are connected with greed and corruption. By speaking about gold as if it is even greater than God and as if it created the universe, Volpone blasphemes. This shows from the outset how obsession with wealth can shift one’s moral priorities.
Why does Volpone fake sick?
Pretending to be sick in public has made some of the symptoms he has been falsely presenting, such as cramps and palsy (tremors), feel all too real. The thought that he might actually be getting sick depressed and frightens him; to banish it he takes two strong drinks and calls Mosca.
Is Volpone hero or villain?
The play’s title character is its protagonist, though an inconsistent one He disappears in Act IV, seemingly replaced by Mosca, and is first an instrument and then a victim of Jonson’s satire of money-obsessed society.
What is the theme of Volpone?
The overriding theme of Volpone is the power of greed. Greed is shown in the play as a corrupting force that corrodes the soul and makes people do things they ought not to do.
Why is Volpone set in Venice?
The setting for Volpone is Venice, which the English considered a center of sinful vices. Thus, Jonson felt very comfortable using this city as a setting for a story about greed. Shakespeare also used Venice as a setting for several of his plays, including The Merchant of Venice and Othello.
Why is Volpone a satire?
Volpone, disguised as a didactic comedy, is actually an intelligent and cynical satire that compels the audience to rethink their moral expectations. It is a play that takes on the form of a comical satire as well as a morality play. It also adapts the features of a fable, and in that it strives to teach a moral.
Who is the hero in Volpone?
Mosca
Volpone, written by Ben Jonson, is about a wealthy con artist who is conned by his ‘parasite’ servant. It can be argued that his servant, Mosca, is the true comic hero of the comedy on account of him being imperative to the cons.
What is the moral of Volpone?
The theme of Volpone is the power and pitfalls of greed. Volpone is a wealthy, greedy man who pretends to be dying in order to add to his already abundant wealth. He is abetted by his equally greedy servant, Mosca.
Why Volpone is a comedy of humours?
The characters in Volpone are stereotypes. All of the characters are imbalanced as well, so their ‘humors’ are out of balance and they thus act in comical ways. Thus, Volpone is a comedy of humours.
What is Act 1 Scene 1 of Volpone?
Act 1 Scene 1 A ROOM IN VOLPONE’S HOUSE (HIS CHAMBER). ENTER VOLPONE AND MOSCA. VOLP: Good morning to the day; and next, my gold: Open the shrine, that I may see my Saint. [MOSCA WITHDRAWS THE CURTAIN, AND DISCOVERS PILES OF GOLD, PLATE, JEWELS, ETC.]
What is the theme of the play Volpone?
After you finish reading this unit, you will note that the subject of Volpone is money or greed for money, and the corruption it breeds in man. The unit thus seeks to analyse this great play in terms of its theme, dramatic structure, characterisation and style.
Where is Volpone’s home in the book Volpone?
In Volpone ’s home in Venice, Italy, the wealthy Volpone greets the day and his gold, and he instructs his hanger-on, Mosca, to reveal his treasure. Volpone then begins an ode to money, which he calls “the world’s soul” and his own soul.
Who is the con artist in the book Volpone?
Volpone Summary. Volpone, wealthy and childless, is a con artist who attracts legacy hunters by pretending to be on the verge of death.