The highway to get riches – Volpone, or the Fox [627960]

The highway to get riches – “Volpone, or the Fox”
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THE HIGHWAY TO GET RICHES
– Morality or Wealth? –
Following “Volpone, or the Fox” by Ben Jonson
Sabrina Balea
Universidad Catolica de Murcia

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Ben Jonson, the author of a masterpiece inspired by the London bourgeois society in the early
years of the 17th century, introduces us to the sick mind of wealthy people. A comedy with
tragic tone, “Volpone, or the Fox”, written in 1606 and set in Venice, Italy, is a satirical play
about the characters blinded by the power of money who d o anything to have it. Th is
innovative piece can be “disguised as a didactic comedy, is an intel ligent and cynical satire
that compels the audience to rethink their moral expectations” ( Sajjadul Karim , 2011 , 27).
Volpone and Mosca are the characters that give the start of greedy plans whereby money and
gold are their goals of living. But how far can the two pass over the moral aspects and the
limitless deceit in the path of gathering wealth? In order to get rich have you to follow certain
steps?
This paper develops an analysis of the highway to get riches following the charlatan plans of
the Volpone -Mosca couple, the vic tims of the play devoured by avari ce. Characters with
clever intelligence, the two lead to cheating, lying and hypocrisy to be able to reac h their
target. Moreover, this analysis highlights the features and secrets of th e duo Volpone -Mosca,
because one without the other has not managed to reach the desired destination – unclean
enrichment. This research is about transformations caused by gree d and money, all together
because these two are symbols that have succeeded in destroying the identity of some and the
fate of innocent people. In a world of capitalism money means power, and once Volpone and
Mosca have felt the taste of gold, it has becom e a form of making fun of others. Ben Jonson’s
play was born in the same period as Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, a period of immorality we can
say. The action is strategically placed in Venice, symbolic area for this topic, where damage,
evil and greed are dist inguished. Venice is the city of wealth and mafia where money does not
have a particular purpose, but only gives the man a sense of power. Still, since the beginning
of the play, we have been introduced intruder elements during this period of time known fo r
trade and quackery.

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The characters presented in this morality play have names from the animal world, but they
have human characteristics. This trick to hide beneath the skin of innocent beings devilish
attributes make the play more comic and perceived a s a satire at the direct address of
mankind. Volpone, an Italian name with the symbol “Fox”, is a childless and rich man who
fits perfectly into the concept of “foxy cunning”. Mosca, also in Italian being “the Fly”, is the
assoc iate, the one who executes Fox’s desires and hand out to t he scheme of collecting wealth
through amusement. Volpone pretends to be sick and receives gifts from the most affluent
people in so ciety, while Mosca promises to everyone that he will be the heir of his master.
Darkened by gr eed, their plan succeeds to the point where the highway to get riches fails
because of the committing too many immoral deeds.
The plot of the play goes in an energetic and curious way because the dream to absolute
wealth can dramatically change the identi ty. Without being constrained by the opinions of
those around him, the pride and the avidity that Volpone proves lead him to the place where
hell seems to be the heaven with money. Characteristics suggested by his name, the fox is a
manipulative creature w ith a smart mind. The greed is by far the starting point of the journey
to money , otherwise, it is the main peculiarity of the two people analyzed. Jonson, from the
beginning of the creation highlights in a comic form what the characters are and which is t he
startup motto. Volpone, the selfish trickster, deceived by the love of seeing others engaging
for his fortune, begins his speech worshiping the gold that is brighter than the sun “O thou
Son of the Sol/ But brighter than your father”( Act 1, scene 1, lines 10 -11) making him
feeling blessed. Besides venerating wealth, he adores everything that means money, for him
luxury is everything. The opening of the play places Volpone in front of the gold shrine
collected in the same dishonest methods used later w ith Corbaccio, Voltore, and Corvino.
Volpone deludes other people blinded by wealth through his skill with which he is constantly
praising “Yet I glory/ More in the cunning purchase of my wealth, / Than in the glad

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possession” (Act 1, scene 1, lines 31 -33). He prides himself with the dexterity he has enriched
than enjoying his superiority over others. It is not important if he owns what many do not
have, for him it is a begin ning to have as much as possible without work and toil.
Jonson reveals from the beg inning the exuberance with whic h Mosca raises his master in
glory , but not without receiving the due reward for his effort “Hold thee, Mosca” ( Act 1,
scene 1, line 66). The couple, ironically said, made up of th e two remarkable characters has as
a secret a common feature -the greed of wealth. Having managed to hide under a false mask
and deceive the true reality, Volpone gathers a battery of precious gifts such as a pearl and
then Corvino’s wife , Voltore offering a rare silver piece, and Corbacio disinheri ts his son for
his sake. Maybe, we a re wondering how someone can dare to do this sort of deeds , but
immorality is part of this world created by the two.
Just as with little effort cannot be done more, the two robbers carefully prepare the decor of
the room before the arrival of each guest. Moreover, their appetite for receiving gifts is a form
of amusement that raises many intrigues. Mosca, hypocr itical at every word, is amused every
time someone visits them imagining what is in the mind of the one who bri ngs the gift “That
this might be the last gift he should give; / That this would fetch you ”. We cannot speak of
Volpone without Mosca, but neither of Mosca without Volpone. Mosca is the copy of
Volpone, a skillful always having beautiful words with him th at make other avaricious and
greedy men fall for it. In the highway to get riches, the two represent different personalities,
not exactly in terms of qualities but of responsibilities in carrying out the plan. Volpone is the
rapacious one who executes the strategy by enjoying the gifts he has received “Dispatch,
dispatch; I long to have possession of my new present.” (Act 1, scene 2, lines 115 -116), and
Mosca the one w ho realizes the comic by lying others and creating less -awaited situations.
Even if he is dependent on his master, he does not hesitate to praise himself in the monologue

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of Act 3, something similar to one of Shakespeare’s plays “Ariel and Puck”, where he is
under the impression that is a fortune for someone to have such a parasite.
Volpone tes ts many forms of greed, such as the greed to have as many riches as he can , the
greed to see others how to attempt to inherit his fortune, and the last one is flourished by body
lusts for a married woman . Being incapable of realizing how serious his deeds are, the F ox
falls into this addiction and hurts innocent c haracters like Bonario . In order to see wh ere the
generosity of the visitors that bring presents is ending, Volpone does not hesitate to ask for
Celia, Corvino’s wife. Everything would not have bee n possible if Mosca would not have
used the skill of a fool man and would not have stood out that this would help the master die
faster. A simple and honest man would not have coexisted near a personality like Volpone.
This whole circle of characters is ga thered in the same story because of the similarity of
personalities and diabolical interests. The true kindness that Mosca demonstrates conceals
beneath the skin in the intention of putting his hand on the wealth of the rich man he serves.
As all things ta ke time, three years took Mosca out of his life to fight and serve the devil
“Help, with your forced functions, this my posture,/ Wherein, this three years, I have milk’d
their hopes.”( Act 1, scene 2, line 128).
“Money gives you everything ” is the motto that Venetian’s life is guided. Volpone, a man
without a clear heir, quickly finds a way of enrichment due to this attribution . Even if Ben
Jonson promises us in the prologue that we will laugh until our cheeks are red, not the entire
action and the result s seem to bring the smile on our lips. These lusts of greed are found in
every person, and at the same time, many of us find ourselves in the character of Volpone or
Mosca, realizing what negative money is on us. Little remains to be said about this skill
learned from the path to get riches, greed, but for sure the pursued couple sought to satisfy the
lusts by forgetting what is moral or not.

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The me tamorphosis created by the avarice of money brings with it other important abilities
such as lie, hypocrisy, and possession of an unstable identity. Scene 3 of Act 1(lines 28 -30) “I
feel me going -uh! uh! uh! uh! / I am sailing to my port – uh! uh! uh! uh !/ And I am glad, I am
so near my heaven.” shows how hypocritical is the premeditated ill, wanting to induce as
quickly as possible the impression that the guest will soon possess his inheritance. Jonson
takes away our breath in every stage of the play, capturing situations so everything seems to
be a pure reality, not a frame -up of the truth made by these villains . Mosca telling a lie to
each affluent and making a hilarious situation, he complains in front of everyone as if telling
the truth. Not only that he guarantees them their names on Volpone’s testament, but he
changes his true personality in front of every p erson, treating them with impunity and lies.
After he asked Corbaccio for his son’s disinheritance, when he meets his son , he complains
bitterly telling him what his father could dare to do: “And I suffer for you, sir. My heart
weeps blood in anguish – “(lines 114, Act 3, scene 1). Apart from the fact that the two are
deprived of identity, camouflaging on their own pleasure, they make the rest of them
decaying . This can be noticed when Corvino speaks very badly to her wife because she
refuses Volpone’s invit ation, a man with out morality we can conclude . And Corbaccio
neglects and offends his son in the court room when Mosca asks him to be on his side. There
are things that show the influence of the power of money and the desire to have as much as
possible, for getting everything that is human and moral.
As Sajjad Karim’s article (2011, 29) suggests: “Jonson’s plays challenged the audience to
examine the impact of a society go verned by deceit and subterfuge ”. This piece of talent is a
good target where you can ob serve the dehumanization of the greedy men and the methods
through which Volpone and Mosca wanted to reach the paradise of money . Moving to a plan
B, Volpone pretends to be dead, and his fortune is left to the parasite, creating despite those
who have cour ted it for so long. Since no evil has a happy ending, their plan ends in a

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courtroom giving an account of deception and lying to people. And last but not least , those
who have committed unclean things are punished and their wealth is taken. The audience
awaited such an end as a result of injustices. Ben Jonson’s goal is to give to immor al things a
comic and amusing to ne by learning that avarice and deceit lead where you did not expect at
the beginning of the journey. The highway to get riches followed by th e characters analyzed
through their actions can give us a lot of things to think and there are meant to invite readers
not to act in their way.
To sum up, Volpone is a “powerful moral study of human greed, foxy cunning, and goatish
lust”, according to Sajj adul Karim (2011, 27), and only through these syntagms we can reveal
and find out what is the way to get r icher . You do not have to follow certain steps in this
highway , but only to violate the basic rules of mankind. If you prove yourself like the two,
cunning and without care of the others, you are on the right path to sin and dehumanization.
The sly Volpone won money on the back of other greedy, and Mosca took advantages.
Choosing to punish his characters, Jonson used a device met in Dante’s masterpiece “Divine
Comedy” making a correlation with a crime in a poetic area. Volpone’s greed punished him in
a way that any court would do , morally speaking. The end of the comedy is not necessarily
the one that brings a smile as it should; the protagonist usually is the one who at the end of the
play enjoys and is happy. Here only two characters have the opportunity to enjoy: Celia and
Bonario. The play having a sa tirical purpose does not forgive anyone, does not matter if you
are the center of the action; the imm orality of the highway to get ri ches has consequences.
Unrighteousness and immorality are steps toward it, and once you have started it without
realizing you commit the most unfair deeds. By far Jonson’s play shows where the virtue of
the facts is, showing a black side of the Venetian society in order to introduce a good moral to
remember.

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References:
Sajjadul Karim ( 2011 ), Ben Jonson’s Volpone: An Unconventional and Innovative Jacobean
comedy
Ben Jonson, Four Comedies . Retrieved from https://www.someaddress.com/full/url/