Category Archives: Volpone

The flow of the staging of the various scenes for Volpone seems both more fluid and more punctuated at times than in the usual English Renaissance play.  In many of the acts, the scenes continue from without actual break or stoppage, only marked by the entrance of a new character, as can be seen in transition between Scene 1 and 2 of Act 2, as the scene continues when Mosca and Nano join Sir Pol and Peregrine.  Yet, this seemingly fluid momentum of the play is also paralleled against the decisively jarring entrances that many of the characters make.  Sir Pol and Peregrine’s initial foray into the play gives them no introduction or previous announcement.  Their plot line, for the moment, seems completely irrelevant to the previous scenes concerning Volpone.  This occasional inharmonious transition between scenes breaks the stagnation of the fluidity that is established by Jonson’s other means of continuing scenes.

The most explicit example of these polarized transitions is seen in Corvino’s reaction to the attempted wooing of his wife, Celia.  He enters Act 2 at the beginning of Scene 3, interrupting Volpone’s solicitation of Celia which ends the previous scene.  His entrance marks an important change in the tone of the section, and an important movement towards catalyzing the plot between the fox and his prey.  The prose-filled, beautiful entreaty of Volpone is thus paralleled against the caustic and violent rantings of Corvino.  “Spite o’the devil, and my shame!” (2.3.251).  Corvino’s sudden appearance does not punctuate the necessity for a break in scene though, as that would provide too stagnant a pace for Corvino’s reaction.  The interesting pacing of both of these kinds of breaks between scenes becomes necessary in Jonson’s style in order to properly allow the characters to interact and to act.

The sudden appearances of characters, who often jump into the scene without truly understanding the situation, provides the perfect amount of disaster to counteract the seemingly perfect ploys of Volpone and Mosca.  Bonario’s early entrance into the scene between Volpone and Celia exemplifies this, allowing the heroic character to fend of Volpone’s web if only for awhile.  The continuous scenes that each act contains, which seem to flow into one another allows the grande stratagem that Volpone and Mosca have created to exemplify the fluidity of the nature of actions.  Thus does Jonson’s structure of the play serve as another example of the morals of the play.  The structure of the play, which allows characters to weave and tangle themselves within this masterful tapestry, becomes a foundational aspect for the meaning of the play.  The success of greed and the success of these theatrical cons is based upon these brief moments of spontaneity where the characters must act upon their baser instincts, revealing some small portion of their true nature in these actions.  Corvino’s impulsive and destructive nature becomes apparent in Scene 3, just as Bonario’s sense of honor and justice are apparent in his actions when he stops Volpone from grabbing Celia.