Volpone

An illustration for an 1898 edition of Volpone by Aubrey Beardsley.

Volpone^[1] (Italian for "sly fox") is a comedy by Ben Jonson first produced in 1606, drawing on elements of city comedy, black comedy and beast fable. A merciless satire of greed and lust, it remains Jonson's most-performed play, and it is among the finest Jacobean comedies.

1 Characters 2 Plot summary 3 Text 4 Productions 5 Adaptations 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

Characters

• Volpone (the Big Fox) – a greedy, childless Venetian nobleman
• Mosca (the Fly) – 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 – ridiculous Englishman. Probably partly based on Sir Henry Wotton, and partly on the traveller, Anthony Shirley.
• Lady Would-Be (the parrot) – English lady and wife of Sir Politic-Would-Be
• Peregrine – another, more sophisticated, English traveller
• Nano – a dwarf, companion of Volpone
• Androgyno – a hermaphrodite, companion of Volpone
• Castrone – a eunuch, companion of Volpone
• The Avocatori – the judges of Venice