Volpone Character Analysis Essay

Volpone is a play written by Ben Jonson to ridicule the money-obsessed society he lived in. In the renaissance era pretty much everyone was worrying about inheritance and money. Jonson used satire to mock how people were at that time. The play was written as an Animal allegory, Volpone the protagonist 's name means "The fox" in Italian, and consequently he represents a greedy, evil, fox, who became involved in a courtroom drama with as many costume changes as a Shakespearean play. Volpone is an inconsistent character in the play, in act five he disappears and is replaced by Mosca but he remains the protagonist of the play. Jonson uses Volpone first as an instrument then he becomes a victim of his satire of the society he lived in. He shares in Jonson 's

He enjoys entertainment, banquets, and love making. There is excellent comic sense in the simplicity and single-mindedness of Volpone 's character. He is a noble man but shows the same human nature as the lowly fools of his household. Some of Volpone 's characteristics are lack of rational foresight and commitment to his own impulses. Volpone is a passionate creature, and has imaginative hedonism. He continually looks to attain new forms of pleasure, whatever the consequences may be. This aspect of his character shapes out our idea of him throughout the play. Sometimes his hedonism seems fun and entertaining, such as when he engages in the con on his fortune hunters; although this maybe true his attempted seduction of Celia reveals a darker side of his lustful personality when it becomes an attempt of rape. This incident makes him a worthy target of satire in the play, when due to lack of restraint he ends up on his way to prison. Volpone has three weaknesses in his character which are excessive trust of his unreliable servant Mosca, his uncontrollable desire for Corvino 's virtuous wife Celia, and his over confidence in his ability to deceive