ipl-logo

The Role Of Servants In Shakespeare And Jonson's Volpone

743 Words3 Pages

The portrayal of servants in Shakespeare’s and Jonson’s plays is contrasting. In Jonson’s city comedies servants are depicted as unethical, manipulating their masters’ greed and egocentrism in order to fulfill their own plans and goals. On the other hand, in Shakespeare’s pastoral comedies servants are portrayed as loyal, devoted, reliable and helpful to their masters. To be more specific, in Jonson’s city comedy “Volpone” the city is portrayed as a dog- eat-dog, antagonistic competitive world which is profit orientated, where everything is commodified. In other words, it is a society that is governed only by greed and profit. Therefore, almost all of his characters are greedy for power, money, food, alcohol and sex. Jonson satirizes that kind of characters because he wants his theater to be educating. In the end, usually such greed, such deception, such immoral behaviors are punished. “Volpone” is a comedy about money and morals. Furthermore, Jonson’s connection to Aesop 's Fables is obvious. All the character’s names in Volpone recall animals, insects or birds. For example Volpone means fox in Italian, Mosca means Fly etc. In that sense, “Volpone” draws from a tradition of Aesopian beast fables. Jonson wants to create an allegory of greed and also emphasizes that social and religious principles yield to greed and avarice; human beings are reduced to the level of beasts and lose their elevated status. Therefore, Volpone is a magnifico, a noble man of the Venetian

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Satire In Huckleberry Finn

    1081 Words  | 5 Pages

    Another example of greed that is satirized in this novel is when the King and duke commit fraud several times to get rich. The king and duke put on these play that where cheesy and lame, and charged people to watch them. After that they went up river and found out that a man just died and the family was waiting on some kin folk from England to come in, and there was talk of money being left to them. So they found out everything they could from a man and decided to act like they were the kin folk. They had a plan, a pretty good one at that.

    Read More

  • Ambition In Macbeth And Wall Street

    505 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ and Oliver stones ‘wall street’ set in distinct time periods, explore the concept that one’s longings for ambition can become overpowering and eventually lead to one’s moralities being recognised. The texts both illustrate that greedy ambition will lead to one’s downfall, that ambition causes people of weak character to behave corruptly to attain their goals, and that ultimately ambition comes with a price. Firstly, in Macbeth ambition is portrayed as seductive yet ethically destructive, in the text both characters who are frail are charmed to pursuing their ambitions at the cost of their own humanity. In ‘Macbeth’ this is shown through the protagonist and how the ambition due to the influence of the witches takes over the like of Macbeth.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Greed In Macbeth

    653 Words  | 3 Pages

    But what are people willing to do to get what they want? The theme of greed is displayed throughout the Anglo- Saxon literature through the character’s actions and experiences. In Shakespeare’s literature he talks about how the character in his play Macbeth wanted more than just being king. Macbeth realized that he didn’t want the crown for a couple of years

    Read More

  • Theme Of Greed In The Crucible

    431 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a French Proverb states, “greedy eaters dig their graves with their teeth”. People are consumed with wanting more and more rather than knowing what they need in life. The human race constantly carries on this pattern of greed. A theme of greed is shown in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.

    Read More

  • Quotes On Greed In Macbeth

    1180 Words  | 5 Pages

    As a human race, we have all had instances where we have been experienced greed, the intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food. It is extremely unlikely, even impossible, that there is a person in the entire world that goes their entire life without a single thought of greed, no matter if it is significant or not. The best the average person does in response to their greed is mask it with exaggerated generosity to “cancel out” their greedy thoughts. There are many examples in literature that help convey the effects that greed can have on a person, one of the most well-portrayed ones being the main character in William Shakespeare 's well-known play, Macbeth. The main character in the play, Macbeth, was an extraordinary fighter in war, and he also had a respectful amount of power in his hands, as he was the Thane of a place called Glamis, and was close in with the King of Scotland, Duncan.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Ambition And Greed In Macbeth

    569 Words  | 3 Pages

    Blind Ambition and Greed The play “Macbeth”, by William Shakespeare illustrates many themes through the characters from the beginning to the end of the story. But the main central theme introduced is Ambition and Greed. As the play goes on we read how Macbeth permits his Ambition and Greed to dictate the outcomes and tragedy’s that occur to himself and others.

    Read More

  • Diction And Syntax In Hamlet's Second Soliloquy

    602 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Act II Scene 2, as Hamlet berates himself for his irresoluteness and cowardice and contemplates vengeance for his father, the concluding soliloquy vividly portrays Hamlet’s transition from irritation to insanity. Shakespeare extensively utilizes analogies and carefully chosen diction and syntax to dramatize the state of uneasiness in Hamlet’s conflicted mind. Shakespeare makes both direct and indirect comparisons and contrasts throughout the soliloquy. For instance, Hamlet’s remarks about the player makes a clear illustration of their subtle similarities and differences to the readers. The imaginary situation in which the player had Hamlet’s “motive and cue for passion” demonstrates that the player, who would be able to “make mad the guilty and appall the free,” is not only keen on, but also subliminally excellent at the art of acting (II.2.520-524).

    Read More

  • Influences Of Niccolo Machiavelli's The Duchess Of Malfi

    1134 Words  | 5 Pages

    John Webster, the great Elizabethan dramatist was little admired during his life time. The Elizabethans failed to appraise his genius as a dramatist and after his death he fell for nearly two hundred years into the lap of oblivion to be brought back into the limelight by the criticism of such distinguished critics as Lamb, Swinburne, Rupert Brooke, who popularised his works and establised his claim to be recognised as a great dramatist of Elizabethan age. But now the tide has turned in Webster 's favour and he is recognised today not as a dramatist who carried forward the revenge theme in drama but as a great poet, and above all, a great moralist, who held aloft the moral vision of life at a time when the dramatists of the age were piling horror and glorifying murder into a fine art. This tragedy THE DUCHESS OF MALFI, the revenge is further degraded and the moral motive of the dramatist come to the forefront. There are some influences of other Elizabethan authors.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Romeo And Juliet

    1408 Words  | 6 Pages

    Within this play, there are many conflicts between feuding families and even individuals. Since societal expectations were so great of both genders, much pent-up frustration for those who did not perfectly conform was frequently released in the form of violence or aggression. It also went the other way around, where those who did not fit all of the standards were shamed and embarrassed for the way they were. Two characters in which the gender traits were partially switched are Romeo and Juliet. In their relationship, Juliet is more dominant, and Romeo is more submissive.

    Read More

  • Class System In Twelfth Night

    857 Words  | 4 Pages

    The rigid class system in Middle Age Europe was a primary factor that determined the course of events. In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, there are underlying issues throughout the plot involving classes of the characters, and their roles within their class. While for the time period, it was common for those in lower classes to be looked down upon, Shakespeare uses many mediums to slyly challenge this idea. Throughout the play, Shakespeare makes the class differences obvious, yet creates certain character dynamics which challenge preconceptions. Twelfth Night is centered around a distinct and rigid class system, yet Shakespeare comments on its negative impacts, and yearns for a more fluid system, in order to create a more just and fair world.

    Read More

  • Masculinity In Othello

    1010 Words  | 5 Pages

    For Shakespeare’s plays to contain enduring ideas, it must illustrate concepts that still remain relevant today, in modern society. Shakespeare utilises his tragic play Othello, to make an important social commentary on the common gender stereotypes. During early modern England, Shakespeare had to comply to the strict social expectations where women were viewed as tools, platonic and mellow, and where men were displayed as masculine, powerful, tempered, violent and manipulative. As distinct as this context is to the 21st century, the play exposes how women were victimised by the men who hold primary power in the community in which they compelled women to conform to the ideal world of a perfect wife or confront an appalling destiny for challenging the system. Moreover, Shakespeare utilises the main antagonist, Iago, to portray how men are desperate to achieve what they want and to indirectly fulfil the stereotype of masculinity and power through manipulation.

    Read More

  • Morality In Macbeth

    1574 Words  | 7 Pages

    By portraying Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s loss of moral discipline, Shakespeare accentuates the calamitous corruption of human nature, and warns society that ambition without

    Read More

  • Why Is Friar Lawrence Important In Romeo And Juliet

    883 Words  | 4 Pages

    In literature, characters are incorporated into the work that both help the characters and hinder the characters. This is the case with William Shakespeare’s tragic play Romeo and Juliet. The play is about two lovers who are from feuding families, and eventually take their lives. The character in this case is Friar Lawrence, a religious monk who people of Verona look to for guidance. In the play, Shakespeare uses the character of Friar Laurence to create a figure that is both helpful and detrimental, by being a fatherly figure to Romeo and making mistakes, respectively, to the characters of the play.

    Read More

  • Greed In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

    1366 Words  | 6 Pages

    This greed drives humans to overlook the unthinkable in order to satisfy their lust for power and money. The attempted help of the Englishmen becomes the disease that slowly starts to cripple the host to gain the power they desire. Conrad utilizes ideas of greed, imperialism, and the symbolism of darkness to show that humans are inherently selfish. Conrad lays out the instances where greed takes over a main character and changes him into one of the “Savages” (109).

    Read More

  • How Did Shakespeare Influence Elizabethan Theatre

    1827 Words  | 8 Pages

    In this essay I will discuss the entire life of William Shakespeare, what it was influenced by in terms of spirituality, ideal and social force behind his work (arts). Further, the challenges he faced both personally and professionally in pursuing social relevance in his plays and the historical significance portrayed in his whole work. Also, I will discuss the development and times of the Elizabethan theatre with the Elizabethan ideal of the core and how Shakespeare was influential in that period. Lastly I will reflect on the elements of Macbeth as a genre to illustrate my research findings.

    Read More

More about The Role Of Servants In Shakespeare And Jonson's Volpone

Open Document