Volpone
Ben Jonson
Overview
• Volpone, written by English playwright Ben Johnson in 1606, is a
satirical Jacobean comedy that unfolds in 17th-century Venice.
• The play follows the wealthy Volpone as he feigns illness in order to
trick his greedy acquaintances into giving him gifts.
• The play is a satire of greed and corruption, and it explores themes
of deception, social climbing, and the power of money.
• Volpone is one of Jonson’s most famous plays and is still performed
today.
Volpone
• Volpone is the play’s central figure. He is an
old, rich, childless Italian gentleman with no
heir to his fortune, and he values wealth
above all else.
• His name means sly fox, which is a perfect
allegory for his character, since he spends the
entire play joyfully deceiving Voltore,
Corbaccio, and Corvino into believing that
each one will be the sole heir to his fortune,
all the while becoming wealthier through
them.
• He is extremely greedy, and he takes
immense pleasure in fooling the other Italian
men.
Mosca
• Mosca’s name means fly, and like a fly, Mosca buzzes
around whispering in the ears of all the other characters in
the play. He is Volpone’s parasite.
• Mosca takes joy in working for Volpone, but he’s
treacherous above all: he easily
convinces Voltore, Corbaccio, and Corvino that he is on
each of their sides (when he’s really on Volpone’s side
alone), and then, when he spies an opportunity to trick even
Volpone, he takes it.
Voltore
• Voltore means “vulture,” and, true to his name,
Voltore is one of the Italian men lurking around
Volpone’s deathbed hoping to inherit his wealth. He is
a well-spoken lawyer, and Mosca praises him for his
ability to speak so well and argue any side of a case.
• Later in the play, when Volpone is accused of raping
Celia, Voltore uses his masterful language skills to
convince the court that Volpone seem innocent.
Voltore seems go back and forth between being ruled
by a conscience and by his greed.
Corbaccio
• Corbaccio’s name means “raven.” Another bird of
prey figure, he is a shaking old man who, like Voltore
and Corvino, hopes to be named Volpone’s heir.
• Corbaccio doesn’t hear well, and he is old and sick,
so his hope is only to live longer than Volpone.
• Whenever he receives news of Volpone’s (false)
illness, Corbaccio openly expresses joy, even saying
that hearing that Volpone is dying fills him with
youth and energy.
• Part of Corbaccio’s desire for wealth seems humane,
as he wants to leave his own fortune to his son
Bonario.
Corvino
• Corvino, one of the key characters in Ben Jonson's Volpone,
represents the extreme greed and moral corruption that pervade the
play.
• He is a wealthy merchant who, like the other characters, seeks to gain
Volpone's fortune by flattering himself with the supposedly dying
man. However, Corvino's actions go beyond mere greed, revealing his
manipulative and hypocritical nature.
Sir Politic Would-be
• Sir Politic Would-be is an English knight, but he only gained his
knighthood at a time when the English throne sold knighthoods out
to make money.
• As an English traveler in Venice, he has been warned by travel guides
to avoid being corrupted by the loose Italian morals.
• Politic means “worldly-wise,” and Sir Politic attempts to seem so.
However, he is a comic figure because he is extremely gullible
Lady Would-be
• Lady Would-be is Sir Politic’s wife. In contrast to Celia, who is
confined to her home, Lady Would-be is given a lot of freedom,
roaming Venice freely.
Celia
• Celia is Corvino’s wife and her name means “heaven.” She is
innocent, good, and religious, and she’s faithful to Corvino despite his
suspicious.
• When Volpone tries to rape her she resists, and in court she
constantly appeals to heaven to expose Volpone. She represents the
Renaissance ideal of a woman: chaste, silent, and obedient.
• At the play’s end, she is freed from her marriage to Corvino by court
order, but not necessarily permitted to remarry.
Peregrine
• Peregrine’s name means “traveler,” and he is another English traveler
abroad, a counterpoint to Sir Politic Would-be.
• Sir Politic offers to help Peregrine learn the ways of Venice and avoid
corruption, and Peregrine agrees in order to spend time with Sir
Politic (whom he considers to be a ridiculous figure) for his own
amusement.
