Volpone and Other Plays

by Ben Jonson, Michael Jamieson (Introduction)

The three plays collected in this volume depict the faults, errors and foibles of ordinary people with exuberant humour, savage satire and acute observations. Volpone portrays a rich Venetian who pretends to be dying so that his despised acquaintances will flock to his bedside with extravagant gifts in hope of an inheritance. The Alchemist also deals with greed and gullibility, as a rascally trio of confidence tricksters, claiming to have the legendary Philosopher's Stone, fool a series of victims who are hoping to make some easy money. And in a wonderfully energetic portrait of Jacobean life, Bartholomew Fair shows a diverse group of Londoners sampling the delights and temptations of the Fair - and the traders, prostitutes and cutpurses who set out to exploit them.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Classics, Fiction, 17th Century, Theatre, British Literature

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1606

About the author

Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems. A man of vast reading and a seemingly insatiable appetite for controversy, Jonson had an unparalleled breadth of influence on Jacobean and Caroline playwrights and poets. A house in Dulwich College is named after him.

See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Jonson

Reviews

[Nora · Rating 3 out of 5]

volpone insane he’s fucking insane
the alchemist (the one i got this book for my mom was obssesed with it , rightfully honestly) everything i’ve learned about alchemy has been against my will
bartholomew fair neeeed a movie abt this one

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this collection, which included Volpone, or the Fox, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair. I found these to be perhaps a little more accessible than much of Shakespeare's catalog, with Volpone being particularly so. Both Volpone and The Alchemist stood out as being particularly comical, but again, the former took the spotlight. I can see why it was arguably his more famous work.

Volopone struck me as really a very acerbic satire on human greed, and the scenes are so meticulously crafted as to stand out from a technical standpoint just as well as a thematic one. Though the latter two plays were very enjoyable, it's Volpone I can most see myself revisiting.

"What a rare punishment Is avarice to itself!"

Love it.

[Meri Monfort · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5

divertida a ratos, a altres insofrible

[pooli(tics) · Rating 4 out of 5]

at the beginning of the play, volpone starts off with his disapproval of god which, in his intent, was devised as a replacement of god with himself. he called this god dumb and a laze that does not do anything himself but makes his beings do all. this very god, it seems that he is saying, has given his tongue to mankind, for he is in refusal to speak. he has given his soul away to us, for he has no care for anything. so then, are we the reflection of god and he human? or are we so explicitly human that this ego of ours interferes with this “god” and our “worship” towards him? the answer, of course, lies hidden in the depths of each individual's mind. in the case of volpone, however, it is the question of the ego more so than the latter. one might also say that he is more so “disguising” himself as a god than embodying him, since throughout the play he negates his true self and presents the world around him with a figure of goodness, which his soul truly lacks. by the end, he even states that he never was in dislike of his disguise. but how could he be? a disguise is a form of an idealized transformation that is in favor of perfection and the satisfaction of oneself — which lacks humanity and the sensations of mistakes. thus making one mildly forget oneself. such a disguise is showcased to create an image, gain goods, or feed the beaten ego. volpone, of course, aimed for all three at once.

mosca, the parasite, plays a part in such endeavors in volpone. he is in the habit of ensuring the feeling of volpone and whether he should or should not feel. he embeds in the mind of volpone the loathing of the needy and the poor of their tears, and volpone, in such high praise, prides himself in the capability of “feeling” these notions. mosca of course continues the praises as though he portrays the figure that applies and attaches the existence of volpone to him, which is his cause in the fox’s life, to certify his existence and goodness, whereas volpone has full capabilities of doing such a thing himself. volpone is like a motionless sculpture being given importance and goodness by the public. a sculpture is in the habit of rotting in its place for long, volpone rots in mosca’s praises. furthermore, the relationship of the two is enacted upon this taking and giving. mosca praises volpone to earn his money and trust, and volpone enriches him in exchange for his praises. one takes to give — gives to take. is that not then a form of greed of sorts?

having just mentioned riches, worldly goods are characterized rather than decorative antiques to be taken care of. for all mischief is caused by this villainous form of temptation which irks human greed. volpone longs to possess all, even over death. man, i think, would forget his ailments and delay a death in want of worldly goods. they forget purpose and reason, which leads to forgetting that they are living amongst the lives of many. but mankind turns to the habit of giving his life up for the good and refusing to acknowledge the life of others along with theirs — a dead corpse amongst the dead, the living earth turned to a graveyard for what once came from heaven.

lady would-be is a prime example of worldly goods but in the form of a character. she is thoroughly engaged in the looks of herself and others, in the intellect of what is around her. she is not the kind of worldly good that one gets over, she is the kind that one often neglects. she tends to the looks of the woman she must present to volpone, but is it then curious that when we are tending to our looks to please the human eyes that follow us, do we forget to tend to our mannerisms? is that why we are sometimes horrid in nature because we wish for worship and our focus is tended to what is worshipped in us therefore we nourish it? if, for example, we are praised for our intellect, we by nature nourish the intellect. if for looks, then the looks. but what then happens to our untended aspects? in this way, we will lack ourselves within ourselves. and others will lack us within the living.

to add onto that, sir politic urges that one must learn the use and handling of one’s forks and silvers — which circles us back to manner. is it more of manner or the course of society? i think what it means is that one must pressure oneself in a societal image created by these waning individuals in power. “must” was in use here — one “must” if not then one will be punished. one will be treated as outlandish. sir politic and lady would be complete each other in that sense. lady would-be forgets her manners, sir politic indulges in his. but never do their understanding of each other throughout the play complete anything. which seems to entail that they share nothing in common, however, that is not the case. they share one important thing in common which is their neglect of “reputation”. and reputations are built from a person's ruins within their lies, as seen through volpone himself.

one avoids death and drowns themselves in the hopes of escaping it in either the form of fear or neglect. all things that are made to give life are bound to turn to murder at some point — the murder of the soul even (peter walsh 🤏) sometimes on purpose and other times by accident. but did death, the persecutor himself, ever kill by accident? does he treat all deaths as accidents to rid himself of this guilt? if not, then he himself is quite dead. one is truly dead when one loses feeling. death in this play takes the role of fooling all with the prominent falsity of immortality, for almost all characters think themselves to be prideful in outliving the “dying” volpone. in the death of oneself, though, they keep themselves in the reminder of feelings before being met with their end. it is true, that one must never leave unfeeling. if ever that happens, then the living has been wasted upon them and the death they have decayed for is simply a decay and not a peaceful departure, not a rebirth. the only “rebirth” the characters receive in this play is the renewal of the mind with their measly urges, wants, and thoughts. volpone states that it is stopping the mind, however, i think it is encouraging it towards a renewal to “enjoy” things in life. yet we abuse such enjoyments by enjoying ourselves at the risk of health, which is another hint of our foolish beliefs of immortality.

“if i thought it were a sin, i would not urge you.”

the above is a line by corvino, who is in the act of forcing his wife away for volpone’s riches. sinful acts are only sinful when they are befitting for benefitting the sinners who disguise themselves as saints. the persons of the play go on trial by the end, this is where god’s devices are mentioned. the “sinful” and the “just”. the divine is mentioned only in neglect and in its usage in this play — which is a reflection of realism, to wrongfully accuse the saints and praise the sinners. an example of what you had just read is how volpone uses a method in the trial where the majority of the unjust win the case leaving the advocates to immediately have this want and need to side with the bigger number rather than the small innocent ones. once there is a crowd, there is a hint of unison as well as familiarity. whoever is not within the crowd is considered unfitting for their lack of shared thoughts. which is why they had singled out celia and had stamped her as “having too many moods” not only is she a woman in which her society had neglected most women, but she was considered a sinner as well. The tongues of women should then refuse to move they said, to repress their "moods” and emotions. it is an emotion that inks the most righteous acts - society is in favor of the entertainment of sins rather than the goodness of the righteous. it bores them. boredom is frowned upon for being the murderer of life.

having spoken of the righteous and the sinners, there are but three characters in this play that were left unaffected by the people around them; celia, sir politic, and bonario. sir politic in one scene had stilled himself as a tortoise and represented all three characters at once. this still tortoise symbolizes and embodies those who cannot be shaped by society. because they shy away from their devices. they are as though not a part of the world, simply a passing phantom that people often terrorize and try to mold. the tortoise does not react to anything. but is this not a way of robbing oneself of life? it cannot be said for sure. because if life is within the working circle of society, then life is well lost. for they are often unjust and in this routine they expect all else to follow. if life is away from them, then one must live it feeling like an outsider. feeling like they lack the existence in it.

to finally rid me of this writing, i think the play had focused its attention on many aspects of life but what i enjoyed most of all in it is that the characters seemed to at least have one or two characteristics in them that is repetitive to the other. which made me feel the existence of the play and the characters being a part of this world in which we live.

[Wesley Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review will focus solely on the play Volpone, or the Fox. I read this for a course that focused on Shakespeare and the law. For the last few weeks of school, we analyzed some other authors of that era. I enjoyed reading Jonson’s work. His use of satire concerning class and greed was so perfect. The play was also hilarious!

The play felt to me like an analysis of class levels. Many of the lower class citizens seemed to be fighting against their “appropriate” roles, in my opinion—particularly the dwarf, the eunuch and the hermaphrodite talk about their mistreatment. Unfortunately, in the end, Mosca still receives the most significant punishment. I think this is because of his status, seeing as he and Volpone mainly worked hand-in-handn through their schemes. I was unsure if I agreed with the punishments. Some seemed more overly harsh than others.

Lastly, I loved all the animal references. It’s such a smart play, and the wit goes many levels deep into the work. I will come back to read more of Jonson’s works!

[Steven Latour · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fellow play-write of Shakespeare who was seen as much more of a classical and educated writer, and it shows in his works. While Volpon is an entertaining play and The Alchemist has its moments, I think only a contemporary of Jacobean theatre would truly appreciate Bartholomew Fair.

[Noe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/3,5

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

As absurd as it is insightful, VOLPONE moves at a brisk pace even when nothing in particular is happening. The first time I read it, I had trouble juggling the numerous characters. But eventually each takes a distinct voice: Voltore ("the Vulture) in his purposely ambiguous legalese and Corvino whose every word hangs on anxiety over his wife's unfaithfulness. VOLPONE is really the tale of Mosca, the brilliant parasite who works everyone behind the scenes; in his seemingly minor position, Mosca rises to power by figuring out to how to manipulate the jealousies and ambitions of everyone involved.

VOLPONE is about masks, class, sirs and madams, those who embrace philosophy without knowing what it means, and the way humans morph into animals when money is involved. A wonderful play.

[T. Tokunaga · Rating 3 out of 5]

【Three Comedies / Ben Jonson / ed. Michael Jamieson / Penguin Classics, 1985】

It's surprising how less lines there are I got attracted to while I was reading Ben Jonson than whenever I read a Shakespearean play, and there's less noting than one of Henry VI trilogy than these three plays (Volpone, The Alchemist and Bartholomew Fair). Even the ones I took notes were less flowery, like these:

--Sir politic. He has received weekly intelligence,
Upon my knowledge, out of the Low Countries,
For all parts of the world, in cabbage. (Volpone, II, i, 68-70)

--Nano. And, why a pretty ape? but for pleasing imitation of greater men's action, in a ridiculous fashion. (Volpone, III, ii, 13-14)

--Face: 'Tis a stone,
And not a stone; a spirit, a soul, and a body,
Which if you dissolve, it is dissolved;
If you coagulate, it is coagulated;
If you make it to flu, it flieth. (The Alchemist, II, v, 40-44)

It is pretty easy to criticize how insipid they are, and actually, many critics do that. However, I'm not too sure if they're insipid at all, because I've never seen productions of these plays directed by Ben Jonson himself or anyone he trusted.

These lines would actually work if they were directed in a proto-naturalist style without hardly any elocution which we would never expect in Elizabethan / Jacobean plays. Chekhovian, almost Stanislavsky-system-oriented method of expressing banality and insinuating subtle emotions would probably work. However, modern critics don't, of course, want an Elizabethan classic to be Chekhovian, and the puppet show in the end of Bartholomew Fair would sound as tragic as The Seagull if that was the case.

[Dominic H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because previous editions of Penguin Classics selection of plays and poetry have been such bargains I made the (modest) investment in the collection of the three main comedies. It is out of date though. The edition was produced well before the important National Theatre production of 'Volpone' in 1977 and of the Trevor Nunn chamber version of 'The Alchemist' for the RSC around the same time (which was so popular it transferred to the main RSC auditoria) so can't benefit from the thinking and illumination those productions wrought, nor can it take advantage of the New Cambridge Edition scholarship. There's an absolute howler in the preface to 'Volpone' where it's asserted that Richard Burbage took the role of Mosca in the first production. Did anybody think that even in 1965 I wonder? Not just modern research but also common sense points to Burbage playing Volpone and Henry Condell Mosca. The eBook edition does have hyperlinked glosses but they are very random and the formatting is all over the place. Difficult to recommend.

[Tonya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite the story with hardly any redeeming characters' insight. Bonario and Celia were the only two characters that you could root for as Volpone who seemed at first to be just greedy, was actually a sociopath who would stoop to rape to get what he wants.

[Joana's Book Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just read Volpone but honestly enjoyed it

[Corvus Cor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greedy fox takes advantage of people, karma tracks him down. The characters horrify me, very natural.

[Kaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually kind of liked it. So much was going on that it was actually pretty entertaining. The plot is so thick and I think it really worked.

[Dionysius the Areopagite · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is little point in me pretending to pour laborious, deliberate over these works, when all work by Ben Jonson is considered with dedicated, lifetime respect and admiration. The Alchemist's 'To the Reader' packs more of a genius, baroque punch, than 2014's combined publications in the New York Times, L Magazine, Moo-Cow House, New York Review of Books, The Guardian, and another 475,000 combined tumblrs, blogs, what have you. Jonson is the stuff of desert island genius: His detractors amount to the kind of mentally retarded seals who stand around smoke machines clapping for their auditory idols, contemplating another shitty tattoo, signing up for another Shakespeare-related club. Fuck it, Ben Jonson or bust. Both. Now someone fetch me my black cape, my magnum of chilled wine, or get the hell away from me.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually read an online version of this text provided by my teacher as part of my Introduction to Drama course, so this is not the same version I'm writing about, but is the same work (speaking specifically of Volpone). The version we read for class didn't have any notes or anything, which proved to be necessary for me to really feel that I understood it. But, fortunately, these are easy to find online if necessary. In terms of the show itself, there is certainly a great deal to be amused by here, and it is also a good example of Renaissance comedy. As someone that has always been interested in drama, I certainly considered this one to be well worth reading.

[Marcos Augusto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comedy in five acts by Ben Jonson, performed about 1605/06 and published in 1607. Volpone (“Fox”), a wealthy Venetian without heirs, devises a scheme to become wealthier by playing on people’s greed. With the complicity of his servant Mosca (“Fly”), Volpone pretends to be near death. He accepts valuable gifts from three fortune hunters, each of whom receives personal assurance from Mosca that he alone is to inherit all of Volpone’s wealth.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm positive I read Volpone, but I don't remember what other ones I read. Took a course in 16th Brit Lit and this was part of required reading.

[Adam Floridia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary of Volpone: What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.

Moderately entertaining. I liked the fable-esque nature.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I studied this play to death at University - I'm so bored of it I doubt I'll ever read it again!

[Gen. Ray]

Will review later

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben Jonson is the God of Satire!

[isa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Un rollazo de obra. Los últimos dos actos ni me los he leído, he buscado un resumen.