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Volpone
An illustration of the first scene of the play by Aubrey Beardsley for the cover of an 1898 edition.
Written byBen Jonson
Date premiered1606
Place premieredGlobe Theatre, London
Original languageEnglish
SubjectA greedy old man attempts to dupe his would-be heirs
GenreComedy
SettingVenice

Volpone (Italian: sly fox) is a comedy by the early modern English playwright Ben Jonson. First performed in 1606 by the King's Men company at the Globe Theatre in London, the play is a merciless satire of greed and lust, which draws on elements of city comedy and beast fable.[1] It remains Jonson's most-performed play and is ranked among the finest of Jacobean comedies.

In the pursuit of Volpone's wealth, Corbaccio disinherits his own son, while Corvino is driven to prostitute his wife.

Characters

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  • Volpone (the Sly Fox) – a greedy, childless Venetian nobleman
  • Mosca (the Fly/Parasite) – his servant
  • Voltore (the Vulture) – a lawyer
  • Corbaccio (the Raven) – an avaricious old miser
  • Bonario – Corbaccio's son
  • Corvino (the Carrion Crow) – a merchant
  • Celia – Corvino's wife
  • Sir Politic Would-Be (the Tortoise) – an English knight. Probably partly based on Sir Henry Wotton, and partly on the traveller, Anthony Shirley[citation needed].
  • Lady Would-Be (the Parrot) – English lady and wife of Sir Politic-Would-Be
  • Peregrine – another, more sophisticated, English traveller
  • Nano – a dwarf, servant of Volpone
  • Androgyno – a hermaphrodite, servant of Volpone
  • Castrone – a eunuch, servant of Volpone
  • The Avocatori – four judges of Venice

Synopsis

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Thomas Hull as the lawyer, Voltore, in the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane production.

For the last three years, Volpone (the Fox), a wealthy and childless Venetian gentleman, aided and abeted by his "parasite", Mosca (the Fly), has pretended to be close to death, in order to dupe three men who aspire to inherit his fortune. One after another, each of the three would-be heirs—a lawyer, Voltore (the Vulture), an old gentleman, Corbaccio (the Raven), and a merchant, Corvino (the Crow)—delivers a luxurious gift. Each is assured that Mosca is working on his behalf and 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 a beautiful 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 will be cured of his illness if he lies in bed beside a young woman. Believing that Volpone has been rendered impotent by his illness, Corvino offers his wife in order that, when he is revived, Volpone will recognise Corvino as his sole heir.

Just before Corvino and Celia are due to arrive at Volpone's house, 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 Celia with 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 Politic constantly 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, a more 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 the will of Volpone, who becomes entangled in the circumstances of the plots that he and Mosca devised. Despite Volpone’s pleas, Mosca refuses to relinquish his new role as a rich man; Volpone reveals himself, and his deceits, in order to topple the rich Mosca; in the event, Voltore, Corbaccio, Corvino, Mosca and Volpone himself finally are punished.

Textual history

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The play appeared in quarto in early 1607, printed by George Eld for publisher Thomas Thorpe. The quarto contains Jonson's dedication to Oxford and Cambridge, as well as a great number of commendatory verses, in English and Latin, by fellow-poets such as Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. Its next appearance was in the folio of 1616, which makes many small adjustments to the quarto text.

Sources of the play

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In 1781, Thomas Francklin suggested that Jonson derived the plan for Volponeʼs story of legacy-hunting from the Dialogues of the Dead by Lucian of Samosata.[2]

Critical analysis

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The Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge considered Volpone to be Ben Jonson's greatest work.[3] Henry Morley, the Victorian critic and one of the first professors of English literature, argued that the play's plot was ingenuous and full of "sudden twists and turns", its characterisation distinct, and its dialogue full of vigorous wit and intelligence. "Is there a book in the world", he asked rhetorically, "that breathes nobler scorn of the worship of Mammon than Ben Jonson's play of Volpone?" The play demonstrated, he felt, how "all ties of love and honour snap when they restrain the grasp at gold."[4]

Performance history

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Volpone (Stephen Moorer) from a Pacific Repertory Theatre production at the Golden Bough Playhouse in Carmel, California, September 2000

The play premiered at the Globe Theatre in Spring 1606. It was performed by the King's Men, but casting is uncertain. John Lowin may have performed the title role, as he is associated with the role in James Wright's Historia Histrionica (1699). William Gifford hypothesized that Alexander Cooke may have played Lady Would-be. Either that summer or the next, an outbreak of plague closed the London theatres, and the company performed the play at Oxford and Cambridge. Jonson may have added the first act's satire on Pythagoras for these audiences. The play certainly remained in the King's Men's repertoire throughout the period. It was performed for Charles in 1624 while he was still Prince of Wales, in 1630, and again at the Cockpit-in-Court in 1637.

After the Restoration, the play enjoyed a lengthy prominence: John Genest records over fifty performances before 1770. John Evelyn saw it performed at the court of Charles II on 16 October 1662. When the theatres reopened, the play was owned by the King's Men of Thomas Killigrew; it was performed at Drury Lane in 1663. Michael Mohun played Volpone to Hart's Mosca; Katherine Corey played Celia, and Rebecca Marshall played Lady Would-be. The same cast was seen by Samuel Pepys in 1665.

The play continued in performance throughout the 18th century. Richard Steele mentions a performance in a 1709 edition of Tatler. Famous eighteenth-century Volpones included James Quin; famous Moscas included Charles Macklin. Colley Cibber played Corvino in his productions; his wife Katherine Shore played Celia, as later did Elizabeth Inchbald. As with many other Jacobean plays, Volpone had lost its appeal before the end of the 18th century. Earlier in the century, critics had complained about the improbability of the fifth act, frequently likened to farce, and to Jonson's highly Latinate language. An updated version by George Colman the Elder failed at Drury Lane in 1771. By the end of the century, the objections appeared insurmountable to producers, and the play fell into disuse.

The play was revived by the Phoenix Society at the Lyric Hammersmith in 1921; W. B. Yeats was in the audience and mentions the production approvingly in a letter to Allan Wade. The Birmingham Repertory Theatre staged the play at the Malvern Festival in 1935.

A 1938 production introduced two of the dominant elements of twentieth-century productions: the performance of Donald Wolfit and animal imagery. Wolfit's dynamic performance in the title role, repeated several times over the next decades, set the standard for modern interpretations of Volpone: Politick's plot was truncated or eliminated, and Mosca (played in 1938 by Alan Wheatley) relegated to a secondary role.

The play has since been staged by a number of famous companies. In 1952, George Devine directed Anthony Quayle (Mosca) and Ralph Richardson (Volpone) at the Stratford Memorial Theatre. At the same theatre in 1955, Eric Porter played Volpone. In 1968, Tyrone Guthrie's National Theatre production emphasized the beast-fable motif; this production featured stage design by Tanya Moiseiwitsch.

In 1972, the play was staged at the Bristol Old Vic. A most memorable production of the 1970s was Peter Hall's staging for the Royal National Theatre in 1974, with Paul Scofield as Volpone, Ben Kingsley as Mosca, John Gielgud as Sir Politick, and Ian Charleson as Peregrine.

Matthew Warchus received an Olivier Award nomination for his 1995 production at the Royal National Theatre; it featured Michael Gambon and Simon Russell Beale.

Adaptations

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Stage adaptations

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Volpone was adapted by Jules Romains and Stefan Zweig in their 1928 production, with the ending changed so that Mosca ends up with Volpone's money. This version was used by George Antheil for his 1953 opera Volpone. An adaptation by Alphons Silbermann ran at the Independent Theatre, Sydney from 3 April to 21 June 1947.[5] A short-lived 1964 Broadway musical adaptation entitled Foxy moved the play's setting to the Yukon during the gold rush of 1898. The stage adaptation Sly Fox, by Larry Gelbart, updated the setting from Renaissance Venice to 19th century San Francisco, and changed the tone from satire to farce. In 2004 the Wolf Trap Opera Company, Vienna (Virginia), commissioned and produced a new opera based on the play. The score was written by John Musto with libretto by Mark Campbell. The world premiere took place at The Barns at Wolf Trap on 10 March 2004. The opera was produced again in 2007 by the Wolf Trap Opera Company with a new cast featuring Joshua Jeremiah, Jeremy Little, Faith Sherman, and Lisa Hopkins. This production was recorded live at The Barns at Wolf Trap for Wolf Trap Recordings and was nominated in 2010 for a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.

Screen adaptations

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In 1941, a French film version was released, directed by Maurice Tourneur. Begun in 1938 by Jacques de Baroncelli, the production shut down because of financial difficulties. Tourneur took over and the shooting resumed in 1940. This version also used portions of the adaptation by Romains and Zweig. There have been three further French video and DVD adaptations of Volpone based on versions of the Stefan Zweig/Jules Romains script: in 1978, Jean Meyer directed a production in the 'théâtre de boulevard' style for the Théâtre de Marigny and Panorama (Au Théâtre ce soir), starring himself as Corbaccio, Jean Le Poulain as Volpone, Francis Huster as Mosca and Claude Jade as Colomba (Celia). This was followed in 2001 by a production directed by Francis Perrin with a script that resembles the Zweig/Romains text but rewritten in pseudo-Elizabethan style by Jean Collette and Toni Cecchinato. Bernard Haller plays the part of Volpone, Francis Perrin plays Mosca, and Thibaut Lorain plays Lady Would-Be. In 2003, the play was rewritten for television by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt for a production starring Gérard Depardieu as Volpone and Daniel Prévost as Mosca. The ending is changed to see Volpone and Mosca escaping together with Corbaccio's wife.

The Honey Pot is a 1967 film by Joseph L. Mankiewicz based on Volpone, although with a romantic subplot and sentimental trappings. It featured Rex Harrison in the main role, Cliff Robertson as Mosca ("McFly"), and Maggie Smith as the love interest. A portion of the original play is presented in private performance for Harrison's character, who states that it is his favourite.

In 1988 the film was adapted for Italian cinema by Maurizio Ponzi, with the title Il Volpone. Set in modern Liguria, it features Paolo Villaggio as Ugo Maria Volpone and Enrico Montesano as Mosca.

Notes

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  1. ^ Gurr (1992, 242) and Parker (1998, 8). Two dating systems were present in this period. In the old-style, 1605 extended into what, according to a modern calendar, would be 1606 (up to 25 March). The play contains a number of references to historical events that place its composition in early 1606, despite the 1605 date given in the first edition (a quarto published 1607). See also Cambridge online edition notes.
  2. ^ In dialogue 5, for example, Pluto and Mercury discuss the pursuit of an old man's fortune by several young men; see Adams (1904), Holt (1905, 63), and Northup (1905, 160). Adams argued that Jonson used dialogues 5—9 and 11; see Adams (1904, 289—290) and Northup (1905, 66).
  3. ^ Morley (1885, 5).
  4. ^ Morley (1885, 7).
  5. ^ ""Volpone" At Independent". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954). NSW: National Library of Australia. 4 April 1947. p. 4. Retrieved 1 January 2016.

Sources

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  • Adams, Joseph Quincy, Jr. 1904. "The Sources of Ben Jonson's Volpone." Modern Philology 2.2 (Oct): 289—299.
  • Barish, Jonas A. 1953. "The Double Plot in Volpone". Modern Philology 51.2: 83–92.
  • Barton, Anne. 1990. The Names of Comedy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  • Bradbrook, M. C. 1955. The Growth and Structure of Elizabethan Comedy. London: Chatto & Windus.
  • Colman, George, ed. 1778. Volpone; or, The Fox, a Comedy. As Altered from Ben Jonson, and Performed at the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden. In Bell's British Theatre, vol. 19. London: John Bell, 1780. 1–102. Available online at the Internet Archive.
  • Donaldson, Ian. 1997. Jonson's Magic Houses: Essays in Interpretation. Oxford: Clarendon. ISBN 0198183941.
  • Brock, D. Heyward. 1983. A Ben Jonson Companion. Bloomington: Indiana University Press; Sussex: The Harvester Press.
  • Cañadas, Ivan. 2006. "The Influence of Ben Jonson’s Volpone on Mary Wollstonecraft’s Maria, or The Wrongs of Woman." ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews 19.3: 6–10.
  • Gibbons, Brian. 1980. Jacobean City Comedy: A Study of Satiric Plays by Jonson, Marston and Middleton. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  • Gifford, William, ed. 1816. The Fox. In The Works of Ben Jonson. By Ben Jonson. Vol. 3. London: Nicol. 159-333. Available online at the Internet Archive.
  • Gurr, Andrew. 1992. The Shakespearean Stage 1574–1642. Third ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-42240-X.
  • Harp, Richard, ed. 2001. Ben Jonson's Plays and Masques. By Ben Jonson. 2nd ed. Norton Critical Edition ser. New York: Norton.
  • Holt, Lucius H[udson]. 1905. "Jonson's Volpone." Modern Language Notes 20.2 (February): 63—64.
  • Knights, L. C. 1937. Drama and Society in the Age of Jonson. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
  • Leggatt, Alexander. 1973. Citizen Comedy in the Age of Shakespeare. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  • Leinwand, Theodore B. 1986. The City Staged: Jacobean Comedy, 1603–1613. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
  • Marchitell, Howard. 1991. "Desire and Domination in Volpone." Studies in English Literature, 1500–1900 31.2: 287–308.
  • Morley, Henry, ed. 1885. Volpone; or, The Fox. In Plays and Poems. By Ben Jonson. Morleys Universal Library ser. London: Routledge, 1886. 101-191. Available online at the Internet Archive.
  • Northup, Clark S. 1905. "The Sources of Volpone." Modern Language Notes 20.5 (May): 60.
  • O'Sullivan, Vincent, ed. 1898. Volpone: or The Fox. By Ben Jonson. London: Leonard Smithers. Available online at the Internet Archive.
  • Parker, Brian, ed. 1998. Volpone, or The Fox. By Ben Jonson. Revised ed. The Revels Plays ser. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-07190303932.
  • Rea, John D., ed. 1919. Volpone, or The Fox. By Ben Jonson. New Haven: Yale University Press. Available online at the Internet Archive.
  • Steggle, Matthew, ed. 2011. Volpone: A Critical Reader. Arden Early Modern Drama Guides ser. London: Continuum. ISBN 978-0826411532. Preview available at Google Books.
  • Whalley, Peter, ed. 1756. Volpone; or, The Fox. Rpt. in The Dramatic Works of Ben Jonson, and Beaumont and Fletcher. Vol. 1. London: J. Stockdale, 1811. 235-282. Available online at the Internet Archive.
  • Wilkes, G. A., ed. 1981. Ben Jonson: Five Plays. By Ben Jonson. The World's Classics ser. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Texts of the play

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Recordings

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Relevant material

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