5 h 37 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In Venice, a rich man pretends to die—and greedy visitors pay dearly for the hope of his fortune.
Volpone has gold, a grand house, and no heirs. What he wants now is a game. In Ben Jonson's verse comedy, he pretends to be dying while a lawyer, an old miser, and a merchant bring gifts to his bedside. Each hopes to inherit everything. Each gives him more reason to keep pretending.
Mosca, his quick and charming servant, manages the visitors and nurses ambitions of his own. Together, they turn greed into a trap. But Volpone's appetite reaches beyond money when he hears about Celia, the merchant Corvino's beautiful wife. The joke grows dangerous, and the schemers find their trick harder to control.
What you’ll discover
- Gold before all else Enter Volpone's house at dawn, where his morning greeting turns from daylight to gold.
- A servant with ambitions Watch Mosca steer the visitors while imagining what their game might win him.
- Gifts with strings attached Meet hopeful heirs whose eagerness for a fortune makes them easy prey.
- More than a game Feel the stakes sharpen as Volpone's desires threaten Celia, caught among the schemers.
- Laughter with a bite Discover a savage comedy in verse that aims to teach as well as amuse.
Is it for you?
This is for readers who enjoy sharp satire, scheming characters and old plays that still make people laugh. It suits anyone curious about Jonson as a rival to Shakespeare. If you want warm, kind characters, you may find it less suited.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A fox who worships his gold
- A servant who plays the master
- Three vultures bring their offerings
- Appetite grows past gold
- The law becomes another tool for lies
- A beast fable with a moral edge
Who’s who
- VolponeA rich, childless Venetian who pretends to be dying so that greedy visitors will shower him with gifts, and who loves the game as much as the gold.
- MoscaVolpone's servant and parasite, quick and charming, who manages the visitors and has his own hopes for what the game might win him.
- VoltoreA lawyer, named for the vulture, who brings gifts to the sickbed and will speak for whoever pays him best.
- CorbaccioA very old and half deaf gentleman, named for the raven, who expects to outlive Volpone and will do anything to be named heir.
- CorvinoA jealous and vain merchant, named for the crow, who guards his wife Celia closely yet wants the will above all else.
- CeliaCorvino's modest and devout young wife, who is pure of heart and a victim of the schemers.
- BonarioCorbaccio's honest son, a young gentleman who has a strong sense of right and wrong and is cast off by his father.
- Sir Politic Would-BeAn English traveller in Venice who loves to invent plots and secret plans, and whose wife is just as foolish as he is.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Volpone oder Der Fuchs
by Ben Jonson· 1607
A wealthy man feigns illness to profit from greedy visitors.
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Language: Deutsch
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A fox who worships his gold
The play opens at dawn in Volpone's grand house in Venice. He greets the day, and then he greets his gold, which he calls his saint. He has the treasure uncovered in a kind of shrine, and he speaks to it as a priest speaks to a god. In a few lines Jonson tells us that this man has swapped religion for money.
Volpone is not an ordinary miser, though. He does not want to hoard coins in silence. What he loves is the getting of them, and he says so. He enjoys the cleverness of the game more than the wealth itself, and he boasts that he never harms an honest trade or ruins a family by hard dealing. This is his own version of honesty, and it is already a little suspect.
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The author
Ben Jonson
1572–1637 · English playwright and poet
Ben Jonson (1572–1637) was an English playwright, poet, and actor who lived in London. He wrote Every Man in His Humour (1598), Volpone (1606), The Alchemist (1610), and The Devil Is an Ass (1616). A collection of his works appeared in 1616. He died in London in 1637.
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What is Volpone about?
It is a satirical comedy about a rich Venetian who pretends to be dying so that greedy men will bring him gifts. Helped by his servant Mosca, he plays the would-be heirs against each other, until his tricks start to cost innocent people.
What does the name Volpone mean?
Volpone is Italian for a big or cunning fox. Jonson gave most of his characters animal names, such as Mosca the fly and Voltore the vulture, so that the names tell you what kind of creature each person is.
When was Volpone written and is it a true story?
Ben Jonson wrote it in 1606, and it was printed in 1607. It is not a true story. Jonson invented the plot and set it in Venice, which English audiences saw as a rich and morally loose city.
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