Jonson-Volpone and The Alchemist

Much-studied and frequently performed these comedies by the great Elizabethan playwright Ben Jonson satirize the greed mendacity gullibility and pretension of seventeenth-century London society. Both plays abound in colorful characters ingenious plotting biting wit and sharp insight into human nature. In Volpone (1605) a crafty rich man attempts to augment his wealth by feigning a mortal illness. His wealthy neighbors spying the opportunity for an inheritance vie with each other in courting the “dying” man’s favor. The Alchemist (1610) comprises a likewise avaricious cast headed by a butler and prostitute who join forces with a swindler claiming to possess the philosopher's stone. The trio hosts a parade of eager victims whose hypocrisy and greed place them on a moral footing similar to that of the tricksters. Both plays offer sparkling examples of their author's novel approach to satire and his distinctive blend of savagery humor moralism and a powerful sense of the absurd.