Note on Volpone, Ben Jonson


Volpone

The play Volpone is certainly a study of avarice or greed, one of the seven deadly sins. Gold or wealth or fortune is an obsession with all the principle characters of the play. Every action of the play is dominated by greed.

Volpone, the protagonist of the play is passionately in love with gold. He elevates gold above the sun and gold becomes to him the centre of the universe. He compared gold to a dump god. To him gold are the source of virtue, fame, honor and all others things.
 He says,
                             Thou art virtue, fame
                             Honor, and all things else. Who can get thee?
                             He shall be noble, valiant, honest, and wise

The legacy hunters Voltore, Corvino, Corbaccio are greedy. To acquire Vopone’s wealth, Voltore brought a costly antique plate as a gift to please Volpone. Corbaccio agrees to disinherit his own innocent son, Bonario, to inherit Volpone’s wealth; and to be a sole heir of Volpone’s wealth  Corvino was ready to prostitute his beautiful wife Celia. For gold Lady would be offers her body.

Moosca is THE PARASITE Of Volpone. But he has a keen idea in this mind to obtain the property of Volpone. He has been during the legacy hunter to please his master. But the end of the play, Mosca appears in these true colors. Now he decides to cheat his own master and set to him up as the rightful owner of the property.

Volpone-Mosca-Voltore-Corbaccio-Corvino-Celia-Bonario

 
In the light of the above discussion, we may conclude that most of the characters of this play are moved by the greed of gold. Celia and Bonario are the only characters who remain untouched by the infection of the prevent craze for gold. Thus the world of this play is crudely materialistic and gold centred.

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