1. What is the function of the Sir Politic Would-be/Peregrine subplot? 2. What is the dramatic significance of the animal names of Volpone, Mosca, and the three birds of prey? 3. Give an example of implied physical movement and stage fun in the dialogue of the play. 4. Explain Mosca’s […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsBen Jonson Biography
Ben Jonson was born in 1572 or 1573, a month or so after his father’s death. His father was a minister and his stepfather a bricklayer. Someone financed Jonson’s education at Westminster School, where the historian William Camden introduced him to the classics. After a few weeks at Cambridge, Jonson […]
Read more Ben Jonson BiographyCharacter Analysis Sir Politic, Lady Would-be, and Peregrine
Sir Politic, his wife, Lady Would-be, and Peregrine are travelers from England. Sir Pol and his lady are English tourists trying to go native. They are hilariously inept at playing Italian games and hopelessly ignorant of the ways of the foreigners. They are parrots mimicking the action of the master […]
Read more Character Analysis Sir Politic, Lady Would-be, and PeregrineCharacter Analysis Celia and Bonario
Celia is Corvino’s wife; she is also an important plot device. It is Volpone’s desire that delivers her to his doorstep. Her presence there gives Bonario a chance to save her. Bonario is the good fellow of the play; he is also sentimentally romantic. Celia and Bonario are foolish as […]
Read more Character Analysis Celia and BonarioCharacter Analysis Corvino
The raven is the last of the greedy trio, a peacock proud of his beauty, Celia. This bird of prey is an exceedingly jealous husband who guards his wife with great care. Nonetheless, his greed persuades him to demand that Volpone cuckold him! When at last he discovers the error […]
Read more Character Analysis CorvinoCharacter Analysis Corbaccio
The carrion crow is old and decrepit, deaf, round of back, and very avaricious. Partially deformed by old age, this fool completes his transformation from nobleman to parasite by being tricked into disinheriting his son. The irony of Corbaccio’s spiritual condition is wrapped up in his physical condition: He really […]
Read more Character Analysis CorbaccioCharacter Analysis Voltore
The vulture is one of the three birds of prey that circle around the fox, greedy and full of expectation. He is a lawyer and consequently has a weakness for wills. He uses his legal knowledge to advocate injustice in order to possess Volpone’s fortune. Mosca wisely fools this gull […]
Read more Character Analysis VoltoreCharacter Analysis Mosca
Mosca (the gadfly) is a parasite; this bestiary name encompasses the simple character of Volpone’s servant. Mosca is only one step higher in the social scale than the three deformed fools of Volpone’s household: the dwarf, the hermaphrodite, and the eunuch. He is socially deformed, a fellow of no birth […]
Read more Character Analysis MoscaCharacter Analysis Volpone
Volpone (the fox) is the central figure of the play. He begins the action by his plots and intrigues, and it is the audience’s interest in the manner of his downfall that preserves the dramatic tension until the final curtain. Volpone, as the name suggests, is a simple dramatic character. […]
Read more Character Analysis VolponeSummary and Analysis Act V: Scene 12
Summary The court is amazed at the content of the papers presented by Voltore. That Corvino could present his own wife to Volpone seems beyond belief. Celia believes heaven has heard her prayers. Corvino claims that Voltore is angry about the lost inheritance. Volpone, in disguise, returns with the news […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act V: Scene 12