A Detailed Critical Summary of "Volpone" (Act by Act, Scene by Scene)
Act III, Scene I
Mosca, the perfect parasite.
This scene contains a soliloquy by Mosca, Mosca feels greatly elated by his continuing successes in his schemes of dup- ing the legacy-hunters and thus pleasing his master. He says that he is feeling so light-hearted and so nimble that he could jump out of his skin. He con gratulates himself on being a true parasite, one who can switch from one role to another with perfect ease, who has the art of flattery born with him, and who can take advantage of the mood of the moment.
Critical comments.
Mosca's soliloquy here is one of the highlights of the play. It contains a shrewd and keen analysis of the speaker's own nature and temperament. Mosca feels highly gratified with the results he has achieved and gives us a brief character-sketch of himself. He gives us a penetrating description of the false parasites who are content with filling their bellies with the left-overs at a great man's table. Mosca is a man who understands human psychology thoroughly, and he is able to put his knowledge to practical use.
Act III, Scene II
Mosca instigates Bonario against his father Corbaccio.
Mosca hap- pens to meet Bonario (Corbaccio's son). He would like to have a talk with Bonario but Bonario, knowing the type of man Mosca is, would have nothing to do with him. Mosca sheds a few tears at Bonario's insulting treatment of him, and depicts himself as a man who has never brought about a rift between friends or a split in families. Bonario softens, and lends him his car, where- upon Mosca tells the young man that his father, Corbaccio, is at this very hour, planning to disinherit him. Bonario cannot believe what Mosca has said, but Mosca offers to take Bonario along with him and give him the proof. Bonario agrees to go with Mosca.
Critical comments.
This scene shows another master stroke of Mosca's scheming mind. Mosca has now devised a plan by which he can bring about a rift between Corbaccio and his son. He had previously prevailed upon Corbaccio to draw up a will making Volpone his heir, and now, posing as Bonario's well-wisher, he reveals Corbaccio's intention to Bonario. The scene shows Mosca as a double- dealer. Bonario falls into Mosca's trap in spite of the fact that he holds a low opinion about the parasite and that he has, in fact tried to keep him at arm's length. So far as the plot of the play is concerned, this scene adds another complication to it.
Act III, Scene III
Lady Would-be on a visit to Volpone.
Volpone is being entertained by the three deformed persons in his household (Nano, Ardrogyno, and Castrone). When Castrone and Ardrogyno claim the first position vis a vis their capacity to please their master, Nano puts forward his own claim and says that a dwarf is the darling of the people. Lady Would-be now arrives to see blpone. Volpone immediately gets back to his sick- bed. He feels much Mamayed by the thought of having to talk to this lady who will simply bore and annoy him.
Critical comments.
This scene is written in a light-hearted vein and serves a purely comic purpose. It adds nothing to the plot, though it does add to our knowledge of Lady Would-be's character as a society bore. Volpone's reaction to her visit is quite amusing
Act III, Scene IV
Lady Would-be's behaviour.
Volpone has begun to feel the fever of Lady Would-be's arrival and wishes that he had some magic spell to drive her away. Lady Would-be, before entering Volpone's room, scolds her women- attendants for not having looked properly to some details of her make-up and her dress.
Her incessant tall:ativeness.
Lady Would-be greets her host as "my Volpone" and starts making anxious inquiries about the state of his health and suggesting several remedies. She says that she has studied medicine a little and that now she devotes most of her time to music and painting. Music, she cites Plato and Pythagoras as having said, is a source of true pleasure. She then claims to have read the works of Petrarch, Tasso, Dante, Guarini, Ariosto and others. Volpone is already fed up with Lady Would-be's incessant talk but finds no means of escape. Lady Would-be goes on to make a few com- ments on various authors and then suggests that Volpone should make use of his philosophy in his state of mental disturbance. Volpone prays to his guard- ian angel to protect him from her. Lady Would-be speaks of a man who used to listen spell- bound to her for three or four hours continuously. Volpone wishes that some fate could save him from her endless talk.
Critical comments.
This scene does not advance the plot at all. From the point of view of plot-construction, therefore, this scene is irrelevant. How- ever, it is an amusing scene the humour of which arises from a woman's garrulity. We note how inconsequential and distracting Lady Would- be's talk is. (The loquacity of women has satirically been treated by many writers, and by Jonson himself here and in The Silent Woman). For once we find Volpone, otherwise so full of devices and tricks, at his wit's end. His discom- fiture, too, is amusing.
Act III, Scene V
Lady Would-be is dismissed on a pretext.
Mosca now returns from his visit to Corvino. Volpone implores him to manage somehow to send Lady Would-be away and thus rid him of her company. Mosca quickly invents a lie and tells Lady Would-be that her husband is having fun on a gondola in the company of a Venetian prostitute. Lady Would- be at once departs in order to chase her husband. Mosca then informs Volpone of the trick he has played upon Corbaccio who, he says, will soon come with his will in favour of Volpone. Volpone, once Lady Would-be is gone, is again his normal cheer- ful self. Mosca says that, after Corbaccio leaves, he will give some more in- formation to his master.
Critical comments.
Once again Mosca rises to the occasion. The alac- rity with which he invents a lie to get rid of Lady Would-be shows that his brain is teeming with ideas and that he is a born mischief maker. This scene also carries the sub-plot of the Would-be's and Peregrine a step further by introducing a complication in it. It is a humorous scene, too, showing, as it does, Lady Would-be meeting a man who proves more than her match. She could baffle Volpone but she is easily gulled by Volpone's parasite.
Act III, Scene VI
Bonario in Volpone's house.
Mosca, it will be recalled, had brought Bonario with him to give proof of Corbaccio's plan to define herit him. He now hides Bonario in a safe place in the house and asks him to wait patiently.
Critical comments.
It is not quite clear why exactly Mosca has brought Bonario to Volpone's house, or why he wants Bonario to overhear Corbaccio handling over the will to Volpone. Mosca's only motive here can be villainy for its own sake because neither he nor his master stands to gain anything from Bonario's detection of his father's action. However, once here, Bonario will play a crucial role in rescuing Celia from Volpone's clutches.
Act III, Scene VII
Cornivo tries to persuade Celia to sleep with Volpone.
Corvino arrives at Volpone's house with his wife Celia. Mosca feels a little annoyed because Cornivo has brought his wife a little too soon. He then goes back to Bonario to ask him to wait for some time more, and Corvino in the meanwhile disclose to Celia the purpose for which he has brought her here. Celia entreats her husband not to make such extraordinary tests of her chastity, saying that she is willing to stay for the rest of her life in a locked room in case he suspects her fidelity. Corvino explains that the physicians have prescribed, as treat- ment for Volpone's ailments, that he should sleep with a woman. If Celia obeys him says Corvino, he would gain a lot financially. When Celia speaks of honour, he says that honour is only a word invented to frighten fools. Gold does not lose in value if it is touched by somebody. Similarly she will not lose her honour if a decrepit old man just sleeps with her. As for her reputation, nobody is going to be told about this episode. What she is being asked to do will serve a two-fold purpose, says Corvino. It will firstly be an act of charity towards a sick man. Volpone; and it will secondly be a stroke of good business (because it will ensure his inheriting Volpone's property).
Celia is unwilling.
Celia is then brought into Volpone's sick room. She tells her husband that she would rather be killed than carry out his behest. Corvino says that if she obstinately resists his proposal he will invent some horrible crime and brand it on her breast with nitric acid and other burning corrosives. If, on the other hand, she submits she will get jewels, gowns, fine dresses, anything. As she still resists, he calls her a "locust", a "harlot", a crocodile. He then goes away, leaving her there at Mosca's suggestion.
Volpone wants to make love to Celia.
Volpone now leaps out of his sick bed. He tells Celia that her beauty has cured him of all his ailments. He informs her that he had, in the shape of a mountebank, seen her that morning and, in order to gain her love, would have competed with Proteus, the sea-god, in assuming different disguises. He is not an invalid, he tells her. He invites her to play the game of love with him when still they have both time and opportunity to enjoy themselves. Reputation is a mere trifle, he says, asking her not to worry about the gossip which their love might give rise to. It is no sin to enjoy stealthily the pleasures of love. The only sin is to disclose stolen pleasures.
He tries to win her over with the lure of gold.
Celia is dismayed by Volpone's pleadings. She wishes that some dangerous lightning could strike her face and destroy her beauty which is a temptation for Volpone. But Volpone becomes even more importunate. He shows her a string of pearls each of which is more precious than those which Cleopatra had. He shows her diamonds, only one of which would have sufficed to buy Lollia Paulina. He asks her to take and wear these, and not to worry if she loses them. As for food, she will get exquisite delicacies such as tongues of nightingales, brains of peacocks and ostriches, heads of parrots, and even the meat of the phoenix.
Volpone becomes poetic in his love-making.
Celia remains unmoved by these offers and says that she values her purity above everything else. But Volpone continues with his allurements. He says that she will bathe in the essence of roses and violets, the milk of unicorns, and the sweet wines of Crete. Her drinks will be prepared from the tincture of gold and ambergris He will make love to her in different guises: they will appear in the guise of Jove and Europa, and of Mars and Venice. Then she will appear in the grab of a gay French lady, a proud Spanish beauty, the wife of the Shah of Persia, and so on.
Volpone tries to rape her. Bonario to her rescue.
Celia appeals to him in the name of his manliness to spare her and let her go. She urges him to disfigure her face but not to mar her honour. But Volpone now feels enraged by her continuing resistance. If he lets her go, she will tell people that he is impotent, and he cannot tolerate such a possibility, he tells her. He then steps forward to seize her and force her to submit to him, but just then Bonaris leaps out from his hiding place and rescues Celia from his clutches, calling him a lecherous swine and foul ravisher, and threatening to kill him if he persists in his evil purpose. Bonario and Celia then leave, while Volpone curses himself for his ill luck.
Critical comments.
This is one of the most important scenes in the play, both as regards the development of the plot and the portrayal of chara ter. The plot moves forward significantly. Corvino has kept his promises b Volpone is cheated of his hopes by Bonario's unexpected intervention. Th Mosca's scheme has failed because of his own folly in bringing Bonario t Volpone's house. This scene also contributes to character-portrayal. T degradation to which Corvino stoops makes him an utterly despicable pers Celia's firmness in the face of so many temptations in truly praiseworth Volpone here appears as a rare sensualist who, for the sake of Celia's beauty, is willing to stake all his wealth. His wooing of Celia is, indeed, a magnificent performance. He is no vulgar lecher, but an artist in the pursuit of sensual delights. He has the soul of a poet, despite all his passion for gold and his fraudulent practices. He explores history and mythology in search of parallels for his love-making, and gives evidence of wide learning. However, when he is foiled in his purpose he does not hesitate to use force against a woman to gratify his lust, though fate thwarts his bid.
Act III, Scene VIII
Volpone and Mosca in a mood of despair.
Mosca has received a beat- ing from Bonario and comes to Volpone bleeding. Volpone is already feeling miserable. Mosca suggests that they should commit suicide as Romans would have done at a time of humiliation. A knocking is heard and Volpone thinks that officers have come to arrest him. At Mosca's suggestion, Volpone gets back into his sick bed.
Critical comments.
This scene depicts the sad plight of the two princi- pal villains of the play. This is the first time in the course of the story that Mosca finds himself helpless and resourceless. His despair drives him to think of putting an end to his life. But all this could be, and most probably is, a pose A hardened villain can put up with any insult and endure any humiliation, and so can Mosca. As soon as a knocking is heard, he pushes Volpone into his bed so that the pretence of sickness can be resumed.
Act III, Scene IX
Corbaccio's will.
Corbaccio enters and is told by Mosca that his son Bonario, having come to know somehow about his intention to disinherit Bonario, had come there in search of him in order to kill both him and Volpone. Corbaccio says that in that case his decision to disinherit Bonario is further confirmed. He has brought the will which he offers to Mosca.
Mosca holds out a double temptation to Voltore.
Corbaccio inquires about Volpone's condition and is told by Mosca that Volpone might last till the month of May. Corbaccio suggests that Volpone should be poisoned but Mosca rejects the suggestion. Corbaccio then leaves and Voltore, who has over-heard this conversation, now approache Mosca. Mosca is, however, able quickly to remove Voltore's suspicions by convincing him that his purpose was to instigate Bonario to attack his father so that Bonario might be debarred by law from inheriting Corbaccio's property. Mosca assures Voltore that he still stands by him and that Voltore will now get two fortunes, one belonging to Volpone and the other to Corbaccio. He then gives a distorted version of Celia's visit to Volpone's house and Bonario's assault on him, and seeks Voltore's legal help as an advocate to strainghten matters because otherwise Bonario will go about slandering both Volpone and Corbaccio. Voltore gets ready to defend Volpone.
Critical comments.
Mosca's ingenuity is inexhaustible and his villainy limitless. In this scene he twists facts in such a cunning manner as to throw dust into the eyes of both Corbaccio and Voltore. While it is easy to believe the gullibility of Corbaccio, it is strange that an advocate (Voltore) who is normally a shrewd and suspicious type of person should allow himself to be gulled even after he has over-heard a conversation which clearly incriminates Mosca by betraying his duplicity.
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