Page 224 - DENG403_BRITISH_DRAMA

British Drama

Notes 2. Jonson uses all the characters as an instrument of
(a) idisguise
(b) satire
(c) greed
(d) lust.
3. A dwarf as his name in Italian indicates
(a) Mosca
(b) Volpone
(c) Nano
(d) Androgyno.

Fill in the blanks:
4. Castrone is an ......... , one of the three servants whom Volpone keeps for
entertainment.
5. Peregrine is a young gentleman English ......... who meets and befriends Sir Politic
Would- be.
6. The Notario are the ......... or officer of the Scrutineo.
7. Mosca is Volpone’s ......... , a combination of his slave, his servant and his lackey.
State whether the following statements are true or false:
8. Voltore is one of the three legacy hunters or carrion-birds continually circle around
Volpone.
9. The Commendatori are the court officers who detain Corbaccio, Corvino, Voltore,
Mosca.
10. Celia seems willing to do anything to avoid dishonor, too ready to sacrifice herself
to be believable.

17.2 Plot Construction

Volpone takes place in seventeenth-century Venice, over the course of one day. The play opens at
the house of Volpone, a Venetian nobleman. He and his “parasite” Mosca—part slave, part servant,
and part lackey—enter the shrine where Volpone keeps his gold. Volpone has amassed his fortune
through dishonest means: he is a con artist and use his money extravagantly.
Just at the beginning, we see Volpone’s latest con in action. For the last three years, he has been
attracting the interest of three legacy hunters: Voltore, a lawyer; Corbaccio, an old gentleman; and
Corvino, a merchant—individuals interested in inheriting his estate after he dies. Volpone is known
to be rich, and he is also known to be childless, have no natural heirs. Furthermore, he is believed to
very ill, so each of the legacy hunters lavishes gifts on him, in the hope that Volpone, out of gratitude,
will make him his heir. The legacy hunters do not know that Volpone is actually in excellent health
and merely faking illness for the purpose of collecting all those impressive “get-well” gifts.

17.2.1 Plot in First Act

In the first act, each legacy hunter arrives to present a gift to Volpone, except for Corbaccio, who
offers only a worthless (and probably poisoned) vial of medicine. But Corbaccio agrees to return
later in the day to make Volpone his heir, so that Volpone will return the favor. This act is a boon to
Volpone, since Corbaccio, in all likelihood, will die long before Volpone does. After each hunter

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