volpone by ben jonson

موضوع: volpone by ben jonson الإثنين نوفمبر 08, 2010 1:36 pm

introduction

Jonson was a serious classicist who modeled his plays on classicRoman and Greek tragedies. Jonson thought that the poet had a moral function toeducate, and the purpose of Volpone is to teach lessons about greed. Thetopic is quite serious, although this is comedy, and there are many moments ofhumor in the play, especially when Volpone is feigning illness and liesdisguised. This play is, in many ways, a play within a play. Volpone and Moscaare actors playing roles throughout, but they are also directors leading thethree fortune hunters, Corvino, Voltore, and Corbaccio, through theirperformances. Jonson differed from other playwrights of the period in that hedid not use old stories, fables, or histories as the sources for his plays.Instead, Jonson used a plot "type" as the source for most of hisplays. In Volpone, the plot is the familiar one of a swindle. The actionis set in Venice,which many Englishmen thought was a center of debauchery and sin. Jonson'scharacters are not well defined, nor do they have any depth. Instead, they are"types" familiar to the audience: the dishonest lawyer, the jealousold husband married to a beautiful young girl, and the miserly old man whocannot be satisfied until he can amass even more money.
Volponewas first performed in 1605. Since there were no reviews, the audience's exactreaction cannot be known. But we do know from letters and diaries that Jonsonwas not popular with audiences. His plays provided morals and tended to preachto the audience, something they resented. William Shakespeare's plays were muchmore popular, since they set out to entertain, and this fact was not lost onJonson, who is credited with being privately annoyed at Shakespeare. Volponeis considered Jonson's most popular work, since it is the one most frequentlystaged.

PlotOverview

Volpone takes place in seventeenth-century Venice, over the course of one day. The playopens at the house of Volpone, a Venetian nobleman. He and his"parasite" Mosca—part slave, part servant, part lackey—enter theshrine where Volpone keeps his gold. Volpone has amassed his fortune, we learn,through dishonest means: he is a con artist. And we also learn that he likes touse his money extravagantly.

Soon, we see Volpone's latest con inaction. For the last three years, he has been attracting the interest of threelegacy hunters: Voltore, a lawyer; Corbaccio, an old gentleman; and Corvino, amerchant—individuals interested in inheriting his estate after he dies. Volponeis known to be rich, and he is also known to be childless, have no naturalheirs. Furthermore, he is believed to very ill, so each of the legacy hunterslavishes gifts on him, in the hope that Volpone, out of gratitude, will makehim his heir. The legacy hunters do not know that Volpone is actually inexcellent health and merely faking illness for the purpose of collecting allthose impressive "get-well" gifts.
In the first act, each legacy hunterarrives to present a gift to Volpone, except for Corbaccio, who offers only aworthless (and probably poisoned) vial of medicine. But Corbaccio agrees toreturn later in the day to make Volpone his heir, so that Volpone will returnthe favor. This act is a boon to Volpone, since Corbaccio, in all likelihood,will die long before Volpone does. After each hunter leaves, Volpone and Mosca laughat each's gullibility. After Corvino's departure Lady Politic Would-be, thewife of an English knight living in Venice,arrives at the house but is told to come back three hours later. And Volponedecides that he will try to get a close look at Corvino's wife, Celia, whoMosca describes as one of the most beautiful women in all of Italy. She iskept under lock and key by her husband, who has ten guards on her at all times,but Volpone vows to use disguise to get around these barriers.
The second act portrays a time just a shortwhile later that day, and we meet Sir Politic Would-be, Lady Politic's husband,who is conversing with Peregrine, an young English traveler who has just landedin Venice. SirPolitic takes a liking to the young boy and vows to teach him a thing or twoabout Veniceand Venetians; Peregrine, too, enjoys the company of Sir Politic, but onlybecause he is hilariously gullible and vain. The two are walking in the publicsquare in front of Corvino's house and are interrupted by the arrival of"Scoto Mantua," actually Volpone in diguise as an Italian mountebank,or medicine-show man. Scoto engages in a long and colorful speech, hawking hisnew "oil", which is touted as a cure-all for disease and suffering.At the end of the speech, he asks the crows to toss him their handkerchiefs,and Celia complies. Corvino arrives, just as she does this, and flies into ajealous rage, scattering the crows in the square. Volpone goes home andcomplains to Mosca that he is sick with lust for Celia, and Mosca vows todeliver her to Volpone. Meanwhile, Corvino berates his wife for tossing herhandkerchief, since he interprets it as a sign of her unfaithfulness, and hethreatens to murder her and her family as a result. He decrees that, aspunishment, she will now no longer be allowed to go to Church, she cannot standnear windows (as she did when watching Volpone), and, most bizarrely, she mustdo everything backwards from now on–she must even walk and speak backwards.Mosca then arrives, implying to Corvino that if he lets Celia sleep withVolpone (as a "restorative" for Volpone's failing health), thenVolpone will choose him as his heir. Suddenly, Corvino's jealousy disappears,and he consents to the offer.
The third act begins with a soliloquy fromMosca, indicating that he is growing increasingly conscious of his power andhis independence from Volpone. Mosca then runs into Bonario, Corbaccio's son,and informs the young man of his father's plans to disinherit him. He hasBonario come back to Volpone's house with him, in order to watch Corbaccio signthe documents (hoping that Bonario might kill Corbaccio then and there out ofrage, thus allowing Volpone to gain his inheritance early). Meanwhile LadyPolitic again arrives at Volpone's residence, indicating that it is nowmid-morning, approaching noon. This time, Volpone lets her in, but he soonregrets it, for he is exasperated by her talkativeness. Mosca rescues Volponeby telling the Lady that Sir Politic has been seen in a gondola with acourtesan (a high-class prostitute). Volpone then prepares for his seduction ofCelia, while Mosca hides Bonario in a corner of the bedroom, in anticipation ofCorbaccio's arrival. But Celia and Corvino arrive first—Celia complainsbitterly about being forced to be unfaithful, while Corvino tells her to bequiet and do her job. When Celia and Volpone are alone together, Volponegreatly surprises Celia by leaping out of bed. Celia had expected and old,infirm man, but what she gets instead is a lothario who attempts to seduce herwith a passionate speech. Always the good Christian, Celia refuses Volpone'sadvances, at which point Volpone says that he will rape her. But Bonario, whohas been witnessing the scene from his hiding place the entire time, rescuesCelia. Bonario wounds Mosca on his way out. Corbaccio finally arrives, toolate, as does Voltore. Mosca plots, with Voltore's assistance, how to getVolpone out of this mess.
A short while later, in the earlyafternoon, Peregrine and Sir Politic are still talking. Sir Politic gives theyoung traveler some advice on living in Veniceand describes several schemes he has under consideration for making a greatdeal of money. They are soon interrupted by Lady Politic, who is convinced thatPeregrine is the prostitute Mosca told her about—admittedly, in disguise. ButMosca arrives and tells Lady Politic that she is mistaken; the courtesan hereferred to is now in front of the Senate (in other words, Celia). Lady Politicbelieves him and ends by giving Peregrine a seductive goodbye with a coysuggestion that they see each other again. Peregrine is incensed at herbehavior and vows revenge on Sir Politic because of it. The scene switches tothe Scrutineo, the Venetian Senate building, where Celia and Bonario haveinformed the judges of Veniceabout Volpone's deceit, Volpone's attempt to rape Celia, Corbaccio'sdisinheritance of his son, and Corvino's decision to prostitute his wife. Butthe defendants make a very good case for themselves, led by their lawyer,Voltore. Voltore portrays Bonario and Celia as lovers, Corvino as an innocentjilted husband, and Corbaccio as a wounded father nearly killed by his evilson. The judge are swayed when Lady Politic comes in and (set up perfectly byMosca) identifies Celia as the seducer of her husband Sir Politic. Further,they are convinced when Volpone enters the courtroom, again acting ill. Thejudges order that Celia and Bonario be arrested and separated.
[ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذا الرابط]
In the final act, Volpone returns hometired and worried that he is actually growing ill, for he is now feeling someof the symptoms he has been faking. To dispel his fears, he decides to engagein one final prank on the legacy hunters. He spreads a rumor that he has diedand then tells Mosca to pretend that he has been made his master's heir. Theplan goes off perfectly, and all three legacy hunters are fooled. Volpone thendisguises himself as a Venetian guard, so that he can gloat in each legacyhunter's face over their humiliation, without being recognized. But Mosca letsthe audience know that Volpone is dead in the eyes of the world and that Moscawill not let him "return to the world of the living" unless Volponepays up, giving Mosca a share of his wealth.
Meanwhile, Peregrine is in disguisehimself, playing his own prank on Sir Politic. Peregrine presents himself as amerchant to the knight and informs Politic that word has gotten out of his planto sell Veniceto the Turks. Politic, who once mentioned the idea in jest, is terrified. Whenthree merchants who are in collusion with Peregrine knock on the door, Politicjumps into a tortoise-shell wine case to save himself. Peregrine informs themerchants when they enter that he is looking at a valuable tortoise. Themerchants decide to jump on the tortoise and demand that it crawls along thefloor. They remark loudly upon its leg-garters and fine hand-gloves, beforeturning it over to reveal Sir Politic. Peregrine and the merchants go off,laughing at their prank, and Sir Politic moans about how much he agrees withhis wife's desire to leave Venice and go back toEngland.
Meanwhile, Volpone gloats in front of eachlegacy hunter, deriding them for having lost Volpone's inheritance to aparasite such as Mosca, and he successfully avoids recognition. But his planbackfires nonetheless. Voltore, driven to such a state of distraction byVolpone's teasing, decides to recant his testimony in front of the Senate, implicatingboth himself but more importantly Mosca as a criminal. Corvino accuses him ofbeing a sore loser, upset that Mosca has inherited Volpone's estate upon hisdeath, and the news of this death surprises the Senators greatly. Volponenearly recovers from his blunder by telling Voltore, in the middle of theSenate proceeding, that "Volpone" is still alive. Mosca pretends tofaint and claims to the Senate that he does not know where he is, how he gotthere, and that he must have been possessed by a demon during the last fewminutes when he was speaking to them. He also informs the Senators that Volponeis not dead, contradicting Corvino. All seems good for Volpone until Moscareturns, and, instead of confirming Voltore's claim that Volpone is alive, Moscadenies it. Mosca, after all, has a will, written by Volpone and in hissignaure, stating that he is Volpone's heir. now that Volpone is believed to bedead, Mosca legally owns Volpone's property, and Mosca tells Volpone that he isnot going to give it back by telling the truth. Realizing that he has beenbetrayed, Volpone decides that rather than let Mosca inherit his wealth, hewill turn them both in. Volpone takes off his disguise and finally reveals thetruth about the events of the past day. Volpone ends up being sent to prison,while Mosca is consigned to a slave galley. Voltore is disbarred, Corbaccio isstripped of his property (which is given to his son Bonario), and Corvino ispublicly humiliated, forced to wear donkey's ears while being rowed around thecanals of Venice.At the end, there is a small note from the playwright to the audience, simplyasking them to applaud if they enjoyed the play they just saw.

Themes
Greed

Volpone's satire is directed against "avarice," which canbe thought of as greed that extends not just to money but also to all objectsof human desire. The play's main thesis is stated by Volpone himself,"What a rare punishment / Is avarice to itself." The punishment—andthe central irony of the play—is that while greed drives the search for money,power, and respect, it ends up making everyone in the play look foolish,contemptible, and poorer, both spiritually and financially. A similar idea isstated by both Celia, when she asks in III.vii, "Whither [where] is shamefled human breasts?" and by the judge at the end of the play in his pleathat the audience should "learn" from the play what happens to thosewho succumb to greed, emphasizing that the play's stance on greed is a didacticone, intended to teach the audience what greed's real consequences are. Volponehimself starts out as an instrument of this lesson—he dupes the Corvino,Corbaccio and Voltore into parting with their goods in the hope of inheritinghis—but ends up an object of the lesson as well, for succumbing to his greedywant for sensual pleasure.

The Power of Stagecraft

There is a dichotomy in the play, neverentirely resolved, between the devices of stagecraft and the conveyance ofmoral truth. In other words, there is a tension between the play itself (a playwhich, Jonson hopes, will be of moral value to those who see it) and what goeson in the play, in which the devices of stagecraft that are involved in theplay's actual production are a source of deceit, confusion, and moralcorruption. In other words, Volpone does not merely lie, nor he does not merely deceive; he makes an entire production out of his game, using a special eye ointment to simulate an eye infection, creating acharacter (the sick Volpone) using wardrobe, make-up, and props. He too seemsto share the intention to expose moral folly, with the playwright, Jonson; butthis is in the end seen to be another illusion. Likewise, Mosca and Voltore puton a production to convince the judges of their innocence. They use rhetoricand poetry to tell a story, complete with a shocking "surprisewitness" and the graphic use of imagery (the appearance of"impotent" Volpone). The play thus exposes us to many different formsof theatrical illusion as methods of lying, perhaps in the hope of allowing usto better discern which forms of theater are sensationalistic, unhelpful, andinaccurate in their portrayal of reality.
Parasitism
"Everyone's a parasite" toparaphrase Mosca (III.i), and over the course of the play he is proved right,in the sense that everyone tries to live off of the wealth or livelihood ofothers, without doing any "honest toil" of their own. Corvino,Corbaccio and Voltore all try to inherit a fortune from a dying man; andVolpone himself has built his fortune on cons such as the one he is playingnow. Parasitism, thus portrayed, is not a form of laziness or desperation, buta form of superiority. The parasite lives by his wits, and feeds off of others,by skillfully manipulating their credulity and goodwill.
Motifs
The Sacred and the Profane
Volpone, both in his initial speech in ActI and in his seduction speech of Act III, mixes religious language and profanesubject matter to a startling poetic effect. In Act I the subject of hisworship is money; in Act III it is Celia, or perhaps her body, that inspiresprayer-like language. As a foil against this, Celia pleads for a distinction tobe restored between the "base" and the "noble," (in otherwords, between the profane—that which is firmly rooted in our animal natures,and the sacred—that which is divine about humans. Through their respectivefates, the play seems to endorse Celia's position, though Jonson investsVolpone's speeches with a great deal of poetic energy and rhetoricalornamentation that make his position attractive and rich, which is again,another source of tension in the play.
Disguise, Deception, and Truth
Jonson creates a complex relationship amongdisguise, deception, and truth in the play. Disguise sometimes serves simply toconceal, as it does when Peregrine dupes Sir Politic Would-be. But sometimes itreveals inner truths that a person's normal attire may conceal. Volpone, forexample, publicly reveals more of his "true self" (his vital, healthyself) when he dresses as Scoto Mantua; and Scoto's speeches seem to be filledwith authorial comment from Jonson himself. Furthermore, disguise is seen toexert a certain force and power all of its own; by assuming one, people run therisk of changing their identity, of being unable to escape the disguise. Thisis certainly the case for Mosca and Volpone in Act V, whose"disguised" identities almost supersede their actual ones.
"Gulling"
Gulling means "making someone into afool." The question that the play teaches us to ask is who is being made afool by whom?. Volpone plays sick to make the legacy-hunters fools, but Moscaplays the "Fool" (the harmless assistant and entertainer) in order tomake Volpone into a fool. To make someone else into a fool is both the primarymethod characters have for asserting power over one another and the primary wayJonson brings across his moral message: the characters in the play who are madeinto fools—Corbaccio, Corvino, Voltore, Volpone—are the characters whose moralitywe are supposed to criticize.
Symbols
Venice
As the seat of greed, corruption,and decadence, at least according to the prevailing prejudices, Venice was the beneficiaryof years of stereotype in English drama. Italians in general were seen as sensuous,decadent beings, thanks to their extremely sophisticated culture, history ofMachiavellian politicians (Lorenzo de Medici, Cesare Borgia, Machiavellihimself) and beautiful (and often erotic) love poetry. Though not thingsconsidered particularly awful today, this type of decadence made English peoplewary of being infected with immorality, and Venetians were seen as the worst ofthe bunch. The direct influence of the "power of Venice" to corruptcan best be seen in the Sir Politic Would-be subplot, where the English knightSir Politic "goes Venetian" and becomes a lying would-be thief. Butthe Venetian setting probably made the story more believable for most Englishaudiences, signifying the fascination of the play with disguise and deceit,though also, perhaps against Jonson's intentions, distancing them from theplay's moral message, by placing the greed in a historic far away placetraditionally associated with greed, instead of right in the heart of London.
Animalia
There is a "fable" running throughoutthe play, through the associations the characters' names create with animals.It is very simple and tells the tale of a cunning "Fox" (Volponein Italian), circled by a mischievous "Fly" ( Mosca inItalian), who helps the Fox trick several carrion-birds—a vulture (Voltore),a crow (Corvino) and a raven (Corbaccio) into losing theirfeathers (their wealth). The animal imagery emphasizes the theme of"parasitism" in the play, where one life form feeds off of another.And it should also be remembered that fables are tales with simple moralmessages, told for a didactic purpose. Though much more complex, Volpone,at its heart shares the same purpose, making the use of "fable-like"symbolism appropriate and helpful in understanding the meaning of the play.

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انا قرأت المسرحيه دي مترجمه من سنتين كانت عند اختى ف الكليه و سخيفه و رخمه و مكانش المفروض تتكتب من الاساس

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