Friday, October 23, 2009
Types and Imagery
We discussed in class that in Volpone the characters (and institutions, I might suggest) are types rather than individuals. What traits of human nature, or stereotypes of institutions (I'm thinking of the Scrutineo [Act 4.4]) are exposed and exploited in the play through the various characters? How does the animal imagery emphasize the stereotype?
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Trait of human nature or stereotype of institutions that is shown in Volpone is mostly greed. Corvino, Voltore, and Corbaccio are very greedy characters. They are all willing to do whatever it takes to win the position as the heir and get Volpone’s money. Corvino is willing to give up his wife just for the money and Corbaccio is willing to disinherit his own son for Volpone. All of the animal imagery of these characters is carrion birds, which are animals that feed off of dead organisms. Volpone is the “dead” organisms for these characters to feed on because they are all waiting for him to die so they will get the money.
ReplyDeleteThere are traits of human nature that are exposed in the play through its characters. One characteristic of human nature that is shown in some of the characters is being malicious. The malicious behavior is shown mainly in Volpone, Mosca, and Corvino. These three characters go to the extremes to get what they want, even if that means that their actions may harm or negatively affect others. Moreover, each name has its own meaning, which is a specific animal. Throughout the play, the characters' actions reflect the true meaning of their name.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with mary_tran's posting on the characters being greedy. Voltore, Corvino, and Corbaccio all take extreme measures and make shocking decisions just so that they can get their hands on the fortunes that Volpone will leave to them when he supposedly passes away. It is very obvious that these men each want the fortune all to themselves by their actions. Without hesitiation, Corvino agrees to offer his wife to Volpone so that he'll become heir and Corvino does the same when he tells Mosca that he will disinherit his son. Greed plays a very major part in this play and their actions show how far a person will go to get a hold of what he wants.
ReplyDeleteVolpone the liar and sneak whose name represents the fox tricks people by acting deathly ill, making Mosca his fake heir, and when he dresses up as a guard to learn what his disappointed expectant heirs were saying. Nobody wants to work hard for what they want, but we have to. He gets away without working by scamming people all his life. Mosca is also sneaky, but more intelligent than Volpone. His name “the parasite” is great for his personality. He used Volpone to get what he wants; he feeds off his host until there is no reason to feed anymore (I know someone just like him). Voltore stands back at a distance and hovers over, waiting for Volpone’s death just like a volture. He is always looking for situations where he can get what he wants without the fight. Sir-politic is a man that lies to sound smart. He says things that might help him get future up the social or economic chain, just like a politician. Carbacco and Corvino are the epitomes of human nature with the way they will hurt the ones they love for their own happiness and pleasure. The Scrutineo is a joke. They incarcerate Bonario and Celia without any true evidence, and they are easily fooled by Corvino’s and Volpone’s exorcism trick. They are just as gullible as the expectant three heirs. Money is the root of all evil, and that is portrayed throughout this play.
ReplyDeleteThe traits of greed, deception, and determination seem to be exposed throughout the course of the play. These traits are possessed by most every character of the play: Volpone, Mosca, Corbaccio, Corvino, and Voltore. Each character possesses such a great amount of determination to satisfy their greed, that they will commit great acts of deception in order to obtain what they desire. Volpone feigns sickness and imminent death to cheat people out of their tresasures. Mosca aids in Volpone's deceptions, and commits such acts of his own, in order to cheat Volpone out of his wealth. Corvino offers his wife to Volpone and does not hesitate to condemn her to an ill fate when things don't go as planned. Corbaccio is quick to disinherit his son and place Volpone as his sole heir upon death. Voltore sees no harm in condemning two innocent people to a gruesome fate in order to acquire wealth. The three "players," named after carrion birds, live up to their names by feeding of the soon-to-be "dead" Volpone. Furthermore, the characters possess traits similar to those possessed by the animals they are named after. As such, these characters are not much different than the animals themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe traits of human nature of the "characters" were greed, mostly in Volpone's character and lust for money and women. Which are some of the main traits found in human beings today. Also arrogance and ignorance withing Lady Would-Be,Pergrine, and Sir Politic. They believed more of what they heard than what they actually saw for themselves. Celia was of a meek nature who let others take advantage of her. Which in today's world a meek and quiet nature could get you killed if you're with a partner who is abusive physically and mentally. The animal imagery fit every character quite well especially Mosca's character who was the fly,parasite. Because he literally stuck to Volpone until he devised a plan to get one over on him.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with mary tran because like she said, only though her main trait focused on greed, everyone was willing to do almost anything to get money. Unfortunately for them all by the end of the story the money went to charity, and none of them recieved a dime.
ReplyDeleteVolpone loves to con people which goes good to his name fox because he is as sly as a fox. Voltore (Vulture) is the lawyer enough said! Corbaccio (the raven) brings a bag of bright chequins (zechino) to voltore when he is pretending to be sick. Raven's love love love shiny things. Corvino(crow)is the hardest one for me to see the connection between and even now I still can not see it.
ReplyDeleteThe Volpone passage is a reflection of or society today. Human nature plays a big part in these characters. Volpone's character is greedy and sneaky. In today's society most people are all about money. They only think about how to get money and how much they can get. Lady Would-Be's character sees her husband with someone else and automatically thinks her husband is cheating. Lady Would-Be may have jumped to a huge conclusion, but a married women would become furious if she seen her husband with someone else. The character Mosca was Voplone's servant. Mosca always followed volpone around and remain by his side. Mosca means fly in italian, this character fits this discription perfectly. Volpone means fox in italian, Volpone is sneaky and greedy just like a fox. All the characters names give the reader discriptions of who they are.
ReplyDeleteI agree with mary_tran. All of the characters have characteristics of the actual animal that they are named after. This story may have been written in the 17th century, but these human nature roles are still alive in people today.
ReplyDeleteGreed and betrayal are the main characteristics of human nature in this play. Greed is displayed through Volpone, the three heirs, and Mosca. Their main focus is wealth and they will go above the optimum to grasp it, with disregard that they might bring harm to those around them, or even by committing immoral acts. Betrayal is displayed in this play through Mosca and Volpone's relationship. Mosca is the only person Volpone trusts and value the most out of his servants. He tells Mosca every detail of his scheme and even sign his will over to Mosca. Sure it is foolish on his part but Volpone also felt betrayed by Mosca, the only person he trust the most. However, Volpone being the sly and greedy fox as his name suggests, he would not let others have the advantage over him. Volpone then betrays Mosca in return to get back the advantage for himself.
ReplyDeleteI agree with KDPeter's comment: "Money is the root of all evil, and that is portrayed throughout this play." It sums up the whole lesson of the play in which Ben Jonson portrayed. Money makes people greedy in which from that greed, a very negative outcome occurs which will harm that person and even those around them.
ReplyDeleteIn Jonson's Volpone, human characteristics are represented through the actions of the main characters Volpone, Mosca, Voltore, Corbaccio, and Corvino. As humans we often fall into the categories of greed, deceit, and lies. Volpone is the perfect example of these characteristics. His animal representation is that of a fox, an animal known to be conniving and sly, both of which Volpone is in the play. Mosca is another example of a human characteristic: deceit. Throughout the play Mosca tricked everyone around him and deceived everyone, even Volpone in the end. The animal representations of the characters further portray the actual behaviors of humans towards others when greed, power, and money get involved.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mary Tran's comparison of Volpone being the dead thing the other characters feed on, as their animalistic representation of vultures suggest. Through the whole play, the three heirs would do absolutely anything to further their chances of gaining Volpone's wealth once he died.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hanh Do when she says that greed and betrayal are the main characteristics of human nature throughout this play. Greed is definitely very apparent with Volpone, Corbaccio, Corvino, Voltore, and even Mosca. They all go to the extremes just to get the inheritance. There are several instances of betrayal in the play. There were two that really stuck out to me. The first is when Corvino betrays his wife and goes against their marriage for the money. The second would have to be when Mosca betrays Volpone in the court. It really was pretty foolish of Volpone to sign the will to Mosca like Hanh had said.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Carla T. The story portrays what the world is today, and I guess has been forever. Ben Jonhson did very well in letting the spirt of greed shine through in each characters role.
ReplyDeleteIn this Play, the stereotypes fit the characters. Each given name has a meaning and the character acts like that animal. Volpone's Stereotype explains him really good. Mosca's is the one that is really noticeable. I know the Characters were considered "types", but they portrayed a lot more than a "type." The characters really did play the part though.
ReplyDeleteI believe with Stephanie on this one. The whole thing about Volpone being a fox, and he was sly. Mosca being a fly, and he acted like a fly. The Characteristics of each person was correct because they fit the type.
ReplyDeleteThe traits of human nature that the characters of Volpone have down to perfection are that of manipulation and greed. All characters in the play are affected one way or another by said traits. Mosca, driven by his greed, manipulates everyone in his attempt to get what he wants. Mosca may be the chief manipulator but Volpone and Corvino are not far behind. Volpone’s greed leads him to great dishonest actions. He feigns sickness in order to acquire more and more treasures. Corvino’s greed leads him to manipulate and disrespect his wife so that he may gain what he is after. Corbaccio, Voltore, they’re all in the same. Both institutions are willing commit acts of betrayal in order to get what they want. Their names are representative of who they are. These creatures are feeding off the dead or soon to be dead and show no shame in doing so. They’re all just a bunch of animals.
ReplyDeleteI’ll have to agree with Kyle. The traits he mentions are indeed traits exposed throughout the play. He is correct in mentioning that almost every character in the play possesses them. They are all greedy and determined to get what they want. Their greed and determination leads them to “commit great acts of deception.” What’s worse is that these characters do not stop and think of whom they are hurting in the process. Corbaccio so readily disinherits his son because he believes all the treasure will be his by doing so. They deeply resemble animals as only animals would not think commit such primitive, undiscerning acts.
ReplyDeleteI’ll also have to agree with Carla. She points out how today in our society people are all about money. She is correct in saying so. Too often we hear of frauds by high end executives. It seems that Volpone has more to say about our society than we thought.
This play suggests that there is a distinct way of how the English think of Italians. These stereotypes are placed upon the Italian characters, whereas the English characters in the play show a clear difference versus the Italians. The Italian characters show greed, selfishness, jealousy, and deceptiveness. For example, Donne uses the subplot with Peregrine and Sir Politic in order to show how they approach things in a reasonable way. For instance, in Act 2 Scene 1, Sir Politic explains how he is in Italy strictly for the reason that his wife is “Laid for [the] height of Venice” (12). Here we can make a distinct relation between an English husband and his wife. By understanding this quote, we can tell that Sir Politic isn’t a controlling husband. Whereas, in Act 4 Scene 5, Corvino, an Italian, calls his wife a “Whore” for throwing down her handkerchief to Volpone (26). Here we can see the strong jealousy portrayed by an Italian. Further along in the play, we also see an act of kindness by Sir Politic towards his wife. He feels terribly sorry for accidentally talking to a “prostitute in disguise,” therefore, he writes his “Apology / To give her satisfaction” (5. 4. 30-31). By understanding these differences between the Italian characters and the English characters, we can identify Donne’s stereotypes put upon Italians.
ReplyDeleteI believe the main human trait expressed throughout the play is greed. Volpone, Voltore, Corbaccio, Corvino, and Mosca all show they are greedy in many ways throughout the play. The extreme lengths they go through to try to become Volpone's heir makes them greedy because they are striving for material things and willing to do anything for it. They do not think about anyone other than themselves. Volpone expresses greed the most with Mosco along right behind him. Volpone's plan so deceive all the "players" throughout the play is for his own pleasure or entertainment. He wants the gifts and the attention just to exploit and play with all these men's heads. The whole play is based on all these characters want to satisfy their own greed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with mary_tran's idea of all the characters being greedy and the point she made about how Corvino was willing to give up his own wife to Volpone's heir. Corvino is very jealous and controlling throughout the play when it comes to his wife, so the fact that he would let Celia sleep with Volpone shows to what great length he was willing to go to in order to satisfy his own greed. I also agree with the point about how Corbaccio disinheriting his own son. Bonario was loyal to his father throughout the play and the fact his father, who is old and ill himself, was willing to disinherit him in oder to be the heir of Volpone shows how much he is also willing to give up for greed.
ReplyDeleteThe traits of human nature that are displayed in Volpone are greed and selfishness. Most of the characters are trying to get something for themselves and they wont stop at anything until they do. Voltore, Carbaccio, and Corvino are all trying their best to get in Volpone's will. They all commit acts of selfishness to try and obtain what they want. These three character are all named after birds that feed on the dead. That is what they are doing to Volpone. They are circling him, waiting for him to die, so that they get what they want.
ReplyDeletei agree with Courtney that Volpone is also being greedy, when it comes to tricking the others. He just wants to get something for himself. he is not thinking about the others. Also, when he tries to sleep with Celia, he is being selfish.
ReplyDeleteThe traits of human nature of the characters were greed and gullible. In Volpone’s character he shows greed for money and Celia, Volpone also believes in Mosca and thinks he will not be betrayed. Sir Politic would be and Lady Politic would be are both very gullible and believe everything they are told. Both greed and being gullible can bring problems in today’s world because having greed like Volpone and deceiving many people like he did would probably give him years of prison and also maybe even getting killed by the people he deceived. Trust is another trait of human nature Corvino, Carbaccio, and Volture all trusted the words of Mosca when he told them they would be Volpone’s heirs. So many people have trouble trusting anybody in the 21s t century. The characters actions go with the meaning of their name, so each character acts like the animal they are.
ReplyDeleteI agree with mary_tran. Corvino, Volture, and Carbaccio will do anything to get money, to be Volpone’s heir. Corvino has the most greed, offering his wife to Volpone is taking it to the extreme. Corvino showed that being Volpone’s heir was more important than his wife. And Carbaccio and old man that is probably going to die before Volpone, Carbaccio disinherits his son so he could become Volpone’s heir, why would anyone as old as Carbaccio want a fortune for himself he should think about his son’s future. Overall greed plays major parts in each character and their actions
ReplyDeletetraits that are shown through this play demostrated by the characters is greed and how its in human nature for people to do anything to obtain this state of being rich.The other trait was being gulliable yes volpone and everyone else was very gullible in this play thinking doing wrong would justify their ends...no the bad guy always get caught.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with the statements made by Carla T. Many of the traits shown by each character of the play are, indeed, a reflection of what traits are possessed among society today. Many people are focused more on money and wealth rather than other, more important, concerns in the world today. Rather than focus on family, friends, love, and growth, many people are concerned more with material items and wealth. However, just as KDPeters stated at the end of her post, "Money is the root of all evil." Therefore, it should be observed that possessing such negative traits as greed, deception, and betrayal will only result in a fate not dissimilar from those of the characters of the play.
ReplyDeleteMary Tran said it all. And, I think the only real moral person in the whole story is Celia. Everyone else acted as their animal selves. Even Bonario (who somewhat proves to be the hero) was at Volpone's house worried about his own wealth.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with mary_tran that greed is a major theme in Volpone. Also the way she explained how Volpone is the dead carcass that the three birds are feeding on is a great way to show the greed from a different point of view. Because in reality it is really three people after another person's money rather then the three birds after a dead carcass.
ReplyDeleteI believe in Volpone there are two main traits of human nature that reappear in every Act, greed and deception. We first encountered greed when Volpone is at his estate glorifying his fortune at the beginning of the play. He then get the idea to use is fortune to get what he desires from Corvino, Corbaccio, and Voltore and Mosca using this as their sign of weakness; what better way to deceive them than to name one of them as his heir. Volpone acts as if he is deathly ill to get all of their attention, being that Corvino, Corbaccio, Voltore are all birds that eat dead animals while Mosca is there as a spectator while finding a way to cheat Volpone from all that he owns. Corvino is willing to prostitute his wife Celia in order to win Volpone’s right to name him his heir. Corbaccio goes to the great lengths to disinherit is own son from his own will in order to name Volpone as the sole heir. And Voltore will use any means necessary, including the knowledge of the law to keep him in the race to inherit Volpone fortune. At this point they are no longer humans (in a sense) but animals willing to kill for what they think is rightfully theirs.
ReplyDeleteThe traits in Volpone, greed, pride etc are effectively portrayed through the animal types. The characters are portrayed acting at their lowest basest animal instinctual level. This brings out the ends justifies the means issue we discussed earlier. As for the traits of institutions, they are shown much like the other characters--grossly corrupted by greed and wealth. You can see this when one of the judges tries to marry off his daughter to mosca because he is wealthy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with KDPeters statement, “Money is the root of all evil.” Volpone does a good job illustrating that point several times until it’s nothing else in life exist or matters. I also agree with Hanh post as well because everyone involved wants to be on top. And the only way Volpone would do that is by betraying is parasite Mosca. Even though he lost everything else.
ReplyDeleteThe characters within the play of Volpone are very much types, rather than actual individuals, which in my opinion is quite sad. Their wants for more more more and greed and deception are so apparent and strong that their actual personalities barely show through. All we know of who each character is is by how they carry out their greedy ways. They're all cheats, liars, deceivers, manipulators and self corrupt narccisits. The animalia theme in the story just emphasizes their animalistic ways. They're reduced to acting like greedy vultures, or pesky flies. The characters are even exploited by being humiliated, like when Corvino gets rowed through the water ways with donkey ears on his head. It's a perfect punishment for him, since he acts like an ass throughout the whole play.
ReplyDeleteI would also agree with some of the other bloggers that these traits are a reflection of society today. The greed, deception, lies, the "me me me" mentality. It's like all people can think about is themselves. Volpone is a play that very much resembles actual human behavior and shows very real human characteristics. Humans are very greedy/needy creatures, and sometimes those things can spiral out of control, like in Volpone. When you're willing to give up your wife for another man to sleep with in exchange for money, that's pretty sad. It's like the characters have no morals or integrity. But then again, it's just a play . . .
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mary Tran when she said "Volpone is the “dead” organisms for these characters to feed on because they are all waiting for him to die so they will get the money." This touches on the reason that all the characters have typical names of carrion birds that come along with their characteristics.
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