Volpone

Volpone, comedy in five acts by Ben Jonson, performed about 1605/06 and published in 1607. Volpone (“Fox”), a wealthy Venetian without heirs, devises a scheme to become wealthier by playing on people’s greed. With the complicity of his servant Mosca (“Fly”), Volpone pretends to be near death. He accepts valuable gifts from three fortune hunters, each of whom receives personal assurance from Mosca that he alone is to inherit all of Volpone’s wealth. The three...