Volpone, or The Fox
The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature
|
2003
|
|
© The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information)
Copyright
Volpone, or The Fox, a comedy by
Jonson, performed 1605–6, printed 1607.
Volpone, a rich Venetian without children, feigns that he is dying, in order to draw gifts from his would-be heirs. Mosca, his parasite and confederate, persuades each of these in turn that he is to be the heir, and thus extracts costly presents from them. One of them, Corvino, even attempts to sacrifice his wife to Volpone in hope of the inheritance. Finally Volpone, to enjoy the discomfiture of the vultures who are awaiting his death, makes over his property by will to Mosca and pretends to be dead. Mosca takes advantage of the situation to blackmail Volpone, but rather than be thus defeated Volpone chooses to reveal all to the authorities. They direct that Volpone shall be cast in irons, Mosca whipped and confined to the galleys, Corvino made to parade in ass's ears, and his wife be returned to her family with a trebled dowry. A secondary plot involves Sir Politic Would-be, an English traveller who has absurd schemes for improving trade and curing diseases, and his Lady. The names of the principal characters, Volpone (the Fox), Mosca (the fly), Voltore (the vulture), Corbaccio (the crow), Corvino (the raven), indicate their roles and natures.
Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.
|
Jim Wright, defendant. (column)
Magazine article from: National Review; 7/22/1988; ; 700+ words
; JIM WRIGHT, DEFENDANT LAST WEEKEND, defending himself...boss's book on public time, Congressman Jim Wright waged an artful defense, which no...profit on the enterprise. At this point, Jim Wright could have introduced an interesting and...
|
|
Jim Wright, Writing Back; The Ex-Speaker Sells His Version of His Ouster
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 10/28/1993; ; 700+ words
; Jim Wright may have gone out with...could come back, Jim Wright can come back," mused...resurrection of Jim Wright - he's a public person...of his martyrdom. "Jim would force the hard...And they were people Jim Wright had done a lot...
|
|
|
The Ambition and the Power: Jim Wright and the Will of the House.
Magazine article from: National Review; 12/31/1989; ; 700+ words
; The Ambition and the Power: Jim Wright and the Will of the House Hubris...has given us a case study in both. Jim Wright's hubris knew no bounds...we have a more serious matter. Jim Wright entered into direct negotiations...
|
|
|
Jim Wright's Final Hour in The Spotlight
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 6/1/1989; ; 700+ words
; For weeks, the Jim Wright Story had been played out on television without Jim Wright. Yesterday, in a spirit of grim inevitability...watching a man fight for his political life, because Jim Wright's political life was really already over...
|
|
|
Quis custodiet? (investigation of House Speaker Jim Wright)
Magazine article from: National Review; 4/21/1989; ; 700+ words
; ...they're investigating Jim Wright anyway-for the peccadillos...find out. Although Speaker Jim Wright is largely responsible...over $7,000 to "The Jim Wright Appreciation Fund" in connection...election of Representative Jim Chapman in August 1985...
|
|
JIM WRIGHT: ASSERTIVE MODERATE PLEDGES HOUSE COMPROMISE
Newspaper article from: The Boston Globe; 1/5/1987; ; 700+ words
; ...First and foremost, Jim Wright is not Tip O'Neill...Short-lived as Wright's trial balloon...likes thinking that Jim may be dictatorial...when he was young, Wright can still spar verbally...much question that Jim Wright is going to...
|
|
Jim Wright and Newt Gingrich.(Commentary)(Editorials)
Newspaper article from: The Washington Times; 12/30/1996; 700+ words
; Jim Wright, the House speaker who resigned...publishing deal in which Mr. Wright got an astonishing 55 percent...quo for an appearance by Mr. Wright. The committee found that...Fort Worth, Tex. In short, Jim Wright was engaged in the classic...
|
|
The Jim Wright shuffle. (on Central America) (editorial)
Magazine article from: The Nation; 9/5/1987; ; 700+ words
; The Jim Wright Shuffle The Jim Wright Shuffle was choreographed in advance. In early August, before the President Reagan/Speaker Wright peace plan for Central America became public, the Speaker conferred with Guido Fernandez, Costa Rica...
|
|
|
Jim Wright makes it the old-fashioned way. (investigation of corruption charges)
Magazine article from: National Review; 10/23/1987; ; 700+ words
; JIM WRIGHT MAKES IT THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY IT IS TIME for the Reagan Justice Department...investigation of growing corruption charges against Speaker of the House Jim Wright. The allegations against Wright have been mounting for months, and they...
|
|
Jim Wright, God's gift to Ed Meese
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 6/17/1988; ; 700+ words
; ...nation's capital. Speaker Jim Wright, god's gift to Ed Meese...Those books, unlike Mr. Wright's, are expected to find...outcome would be for Mr. Wright to be on the receiving...would have to get rid of Jim Wright or shut up about...
|
|
Jim Wright
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
Jim Wright (James Claud Wright, Jr.), 1922-, U.S. congressman, speaker of the U.S...Tex. Following service in the U.S. army during World War II, Wright was a Texas state representative (1947-49) and mayor of Weatherford...
|
|
Wright, Tom
Book article from: Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television
WRIGHT, Tom (Thomas Wright) PERSONAL Full name, Harold Thomas Wright; born November 29, in Englewood, NJ. Addresses...attorney, Invasion of Privacy, Trimark Pictures, 1996. Jim, My Fellow Americans, Warner Bros., 1996. Alton...
|
|
Crace, Jim
Book article from: Contemporary Novelists
CRACE, Jim Nationality: British. Born...c/o Viking/Penguin, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, England...1979. * Critical Studies: Jim Crace by Judy Cooke, London...the British Council, 1992. Jim Crace comments: I count myself...
|
|
Song of Ceylon
Dictionary entry from: International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers
...CEYLON UK, 1934 Director: Basil Wright Production: GPO Film Unit for...screenplay: John Grierson, Basil Wright, and others, based, in part...in 1680; photography: Basil Wright; editor: Basil Wright; sound...reprinted 1972. Lovell, Alan, and Jim Hillier, Studies in Documentary...
|
|
Dixon, Julian C. 1934
Book article from: Contemporary Black Biography
...resignation of Speaker of the House Jim Wright in 1989, he was instrumental in maintaining...hearings implicating House Speaker Jim Wright, late 1980s; oversaw District...ensnared the powerful House Speaker Jim Wright ballooned from a single botched...
|
