Many critics of Jonson's Volpone have argued that it is not a true comedy but rather a mix of tragedy, comedy, and satire. Many have also claimed that it follows the traditional beast-fable that can be found in the tales of Aesop. Although Volpone takes on some characteristics of tragedy, it seems to follow closer to the conventions of comedy. But it is not the traditional form of comedy. It is a play that takes on the form of a comical satire as well as a morality play. It also adapts the features of a fable in that it strives to teach a moral. Yet this play, even though it adopts these traditions, puts a different twist on what people would expect from a comedy or morality play. Jonson presents his audience with an unconventional way of approaching the subjects he is satirizing by creating a new form of comedy that embodies aspects of all three genres.

Since we are considering Volpone to be a comedy, What type of comedy is it? Rather than the city comedies that were popular at the time I believe this play to be more like a satirical comedy. Why a satire? Because he is criticizing his age and social atmosphere. He also has as a main influence of his play the satiric works of Juvenal. Like Juvenal, Jonson is satirizing the whole of his country. Whether it is the corruption of the court that we find in Voltore or the immorality of the legacy hunters Jonson is satirizing the importance of money during his time.

But there is a striking difference between Volpone and the traditional idea of comical satire.

The contrast between Volpone and the comical satire is immediately apparent. Gone are the static spokesman, the conveniently formulated ideal, and the easy dispensation of comic justice from a lofty vantagepoint. (Dessen 75)

Instead in Volpone we see an author who is concerned with "conveying an anatomy of the time's deformity through comedy." (Dessen 75) The deformity that Jonson is trying to comment on is the overemphasis on the importance of money. This deformity is seen in the first two lines of the play where Volpone wakes up and says "Good morning to the day; and next, my gold: open the shrine, that I may see my saint" (1.1,1-2).

In this opening scene the audience can see that the world of Volpone is not in order. When God is supposed to be the object of worship it is clear that the greed that envelops most of the characters of the play is the subject of Jonson's comedy. This play is also a satire on the morals of the time. In this first scene Jonson is paving the way for a satire as well as a morality play.

The satire consists of the deformity that exists in Jonson's London. It is a satire on the "very fabric of justice" in London as well as the worth people put on wealth over "such basic concerns as the ties between husband and wife, (and) the ties between father and son." (Dessen 80-81) The main thrust of this satire on social values is addressed in the situation of Corvino and his wife.

In the Mountebank scene we see the traditional values take hold of Corvino. During the scene Corvino's wife, Celia acts out the part of the flirt with Volpone. Corvino witnesses this and thinks it is the "death of mine honor" (2.1, 1). Up to this point in the play he is the jealous husband. But once Mosca presents him with an opportunity to prostitute his wife for the gain of money, he is quick to lose his honor in exchange for the inheritance.

Jonson wants his audience to see what the effect of greed has on traditional values. He shows the audience how disgusting Corvino is in betraying his values in order to gain money. He is criticizing the "materialism of the age" for "elevating gold 'above God." (Dessen, 78) His comedy "makes avarice the prevailing theme." (Baum 85) The characters of Jonson's comedy are so wrapped up in becoming Volpone's heir they completely forget any sense of honor.

In the scene following the speech Corvino gives about his honor being lost because of Celia's flirtation with Volpone (disguised as the Mountebank) the audience sees a complete turnaround of his attitude. Before, he had seen the death of his honor and decided to lock up Celia so that he could be sure of her faithfulness. Now after being presented with the opportunity to profit from his wife, he does not care about his honor but rather about the money he will obtain. Celia's remark about "What spirit is this that hath entered him?" (3.7, 47-48) is Jonson's way of showing the crudeness and ugliness of Corvino's actions.

Jonson uses Celia as a counter example of what people should and would have traditionally done in such a circumstance. Her speech, when confronted with Volpone's proposition, is the way that people would be expected to respond.

Oh God, and his angels! whither, whither is shame fled human breasts? That with such ease, men dare put off your honors and their own? Is that, which ever was cause of life, now placed beneath the basest circumstance? And modesty an exile made for money? 3.7. 132-138

She can not believe that people would sell their honor. Jonson uses Celia as his voice to comment on the upside down morality that is in the play.

Jonson further satirizes his society by showing how "Corvino and Corbaccio are willing to sacrifice their dearest possession in hope of gain." (Baum, 85) The relationship between father and son is something that is traditionally sacred. But once Corbaccio finds out that the only way he can become Volpone's heir is to disinherit his son, Bonario, and name Volpone his heir he is quick to do so. Through Corbaccio's action Jonson is giving the audience a glimpse at how greed effects traditional social values.

The corruption of the court that is seen in the open contempt for the court that Voltore has when he lies is also a satire on London's corrupt justice system. In the first trial scene we see the court’s inability to see that Celia and Bonario are innocent while their accusers are the ones that are guilty. In this scene "Jonson is showing us how the disease which until now had been largely confined to Volpone's chambers is literally being carried in to . . . infect the halls of justice." (Dessen 93)

Jonson, in Volpone, is looking at the state that he sees exists around him. Through the relationships between Corvino and Celia and Corbaccio and Bonario he is showing his audience the ugly effect money has on traditional values. These people are willing to give up their most sacred traditions and values in exchange for money. By making the characters of Corvino and Corbaccio so virulent the audience can see Jonson's satire of the social values that were beginning to infect London.

But Volpone is not a true satiric comedy. In this play we see the remnants of the Christian morality play. Like the morality plays of the 1400's and 1500's we see in Volpone "a similarity between Volpone-Mosca and the morality vice." (Dessen 75) But it "is not a morality play" in that it there is no main character that gives a speech "on the major premise of the play." (Dessen 79) Jonson has used the morality play as a partial source for his comedy. By doing so Volpone becomes somewhat of a moral comedy. It mixes the characteristics of satirical comedy with the moralizing of the morality play.

It is a like a morality play because of its "immoral and moralizing vice."(Dessen 76) It uses the characters of Volpone and Mosca to present the vice of greed. But unlike morality plays there is no distinct voice to represent greed. Almost all of the characters are infected with this vice instead of there being one well-defined character of vice. But Volpone and Mosca are clear examples of what this vice is.

In his characterization of gold as an object that is worshipped Jonson has presented the audience with a situation where moral virtue takes a back seat to monetary gain. It is also like a morality play in that it has character types. Where Corvino, Corbaccio and Voltore are clearly characters of vice, the characters of Celia and Bonario are even more distinct as virtuous characters. These characters represent virtue in a world full of vice.

In the rape scene we see the virtuous character of Celia crying out to God to be saved. But unlike the morality play, it is not God who saves Celia but rather the luck that has placed Bonario in a position to rescue her. But even in the speech of Bonario when he interrupts Volpone Jonson is satirizing as well as moralizing.

Forbear, foul ravisher, libidinous swine, free the forced lady, or thou diest, impostor. But that I am loth to snatch thy punishment Out of the hand of justice, thou shouldst yet be made the timely sacrifice of vengeance, before this altar, and this dress, thy idol. Lady lets quit this place, it is the den of villany; fear naught, you have a guard: and he, ere long shall meet his just reward.

3.7, 266-274

In this tiny speech of Bonario's we see both the satire of conventional traditions and the vice that infects Volpone. "His speech is meant to be taken as a straight forward assertion of the play’s values." (Watson 93)

It is a satire of conventional values in that the speech makes Bonario seem rather naive when he is confronted with such a character as Volpone. Calling him a "foul ravisher" and "libidinous swine" shows how strong and sometimes farcical the language of the virtuous can be. Even though it is a satire on the traditional virtues, Jonson is clear to point out that Bonario is a character to be exemplified more so then Volpone.

But more than a satire on the traditional morality it is a satire on the type of drama that was prevalent. In his dedication Jonson makes it clear that he will deal justice out in its’ proper manner rather than what was conventional for the theater at the time. He is trying to "disarm the moral critics of the theater." (Watson 82) Rather than have the rogue escape through the use of his wit Jonson has the rogue brought down by the use of wit.

In the speech by Bonario "Jonson is again exploiting the clash of generic expectation, both to generate a new sort of comedy and to force the audience to recognize that innovation." (Watson 83) It is in this speech that we see a foreshadowing of the downfall of Volpone. Even though he escapes in act four he will "meet his just reward" (3.7, 274) by the end of act five. This would not be what the audience would expect.

By adopting some of the characteristics of the morality play Jonson hoped to "imitate justice" and to "instruct to life" (lines 112-113) through the combination of a satiric comedy and morality play. The harshness of the punishments at the end of the play fall more in line with the morality play than with the comical satire. "The surprisingly blunt exposure and punishment in Volpone pits the indulgent conventions of satiric comedy, in which wit is the sole criterion for success, against the forces of conventional moralism."(Watson 83)

In the conventional play Volpone would have escaped just as he did at the end of Act four. But instead of fitting the expectations of a comical satire Jonson is determined to make this play one based on morals. Throughout the comedy he has satirized both the conventions of his times and the lack of morals that was beginning to infect London at the time. His new form of comedy was more like the ancient fables of Aesop than a comedy of Elizabethan standards.

There has been much discussion of Volpone as a beast fable. This is because it uses animal names for its characters as well as its use of a moral ending. And yet it is not exactly the traditional fable. In the traditional fable we have a character that is similar to the witty character in a comic satire. But in Volpone this character is not as successful as the fable prototype.

By referring to Volpone as a fable we can see that Jonson was certainly influenced by the fable form. In trying to develop a play that would be both satirical and moral Jonson adapts the fable. This genre enables him to combine a satire of man with the moral he is trying to convey to his audience. As stated in his dedication, he is trying to give his audience a play that will show them how to live. The use of the fable is able to do this.

It is common in many fables to have the wit victorious. In a popular beast fable there is a fox that outwits a vulture. He claims to love the singing of the vulture and is able to get the vulture to sing. By doing this the vulture drops the food that was in his mouth. Then the fox runs away with the food. Volpone is like this in that the fox is able to outwit "the birds of prey and finally entraps them by feigning death." (Watson 85)

The fable that Jonson creates in Volpone has two plots. In the main plot we have the fox and the fly that are the wits of the fable. Then there are the 'birds of prey'. The vulture (Voltore), The Raven (Corbaccio), and the old crow (Corvino). These creatures are known for there predatory status. It is the fox (Volpone) who sets the trap for the birds and Mosca is the parasitic fly that lives off the fox.

Volpone's trap is very successful in getting the birds to give him money. This is the satirical element of the fable. By choosing the raven as the person who rejects his son in favor of becoming the fox's heir, Jonson is showing how Corbaccio is failing as a father just as a raven who does not provide for its children is not fulfilling the role of nature. (White, 141-142) The old crow, Corvino, is also betraying his nature by using his wife as a means to monetary gain. Jonson uses the beast fable in the main plot to satirize the upside down nature of society.

By having the plans of the fox fail Jonson is violating the tradition of the fable. Volpone tells them (the audience) that a strictly ethical conclusion in Jonsonian comedy will take the conventional and comfortable form . . . because the real world does not work that way, and Jonson will not yield his realism to any pleasant literary formula. (Watson 96-97)

But this is intentional because Jonson is concerned with creating a new sort of comedy. He is creating a comedy that is at the same time satirical and moral.

This new sort of comedy can best be seen in the sub-plot. The sub-plot is connected with the moral aspect of the fable. It is in the subplot that we see Jonson attempting to show his audience the dangers of living like the characters of the main plot. "It is on the thematic level that the presence of the Would-be's can be justified and their antics related to the major motifs of the play." (Barish 93)

The Would-be's are seen as parrots of the vices seen in the main characters. They are used by Jonson to show the folly that is involved in the English frame of mind in trying to imitate the Venetian court. Jonson uses the sub-plot to show what could happen to England if the country does not watch what it is doing.

Sir Would-be is "a comic distortion of Volpone" (Barish 94) while Lady Would-be is a rather paltry copy of a Venetian lady. But Jonson is clear that this couple is not involved in the vice of the main plot but rather involved in the folly of imitating that vice. Jonson used the Would-be's to show the danger of parroting the decadence of the main characters. In the subplot he shows how it is still possible for England to escape the terrible outcome that befalls the other creatures of the fable.

The play is structured so that the creatures involved in folly may escape while those involved in true vice are punished. Jonson is telling his audience that there is only one possible outcome for society if it succumbs to vice. But he makes it clear that he does not think England has become like the corrupt world of Volpone. His hopes are that the audience will learn from this play and escape public punishment just like the Would-be's have been able to.

In Volpone the audience is presented with a new type of comedy. It is like no other play before it. It is the meshing together of the different forms by Jonson to present a comedy that is both satirical and moral. It deals with social issues, such as the potential danger of putting gold above God, as well as the moral issues that are brought up in the treatment of Celia by Corvino. This comedy is one that challenges the audience to look at their actions critically as well as laugh at the fate of others. It is this combination of the moral and satirical that makes this play so unique for its time. The use of the fable lets the reader treat the subject of moral action in a detached way while the comical action entertains the audience. In Volpone Jonson was successful in combining three genres in order to create a new form of comedy.

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