Key Facts
full title ·
Volpone, or the Fox: A Comedy
author · Ben Jonson
type of work · Play
genre · Comedy (with tragic undertones)
language · English
time and place written · February and March 1606; London, England
date of first publication · 1607, in quarto form
publisher · William Stansby
narrator · The play has no narrator
climax · Act V, scene xii, when Volpone reveals himself to the Avocatori
protagonist · Volpone (though he disappears in Act IV)
setting (time) · The time of the play's writing, 1606
setting (place) · Venice, Italy
point of view · No narrator, no point of view
falling action · Scene V.xii: the judges sentence Volpone, Corvino, Corbaccio, and Voltore to various punishments.
foreshadowing · Mosca's soliloquy in III.i
tone · Satirical, ironic in the main plot; in the subplot, varying between satirical and farcical
themes · Greed; the power of stagecraft; parasitism
motifs · Disguise, deception and reality; "gulling"; the sacred and the profane
symbols · Venice; animalia
