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
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