Volpone - Well, this one is just filled with rainbows and sunshine!

I like Jonson. He appeals to my cynical tendencies. Volpone is one of those works where everybody just gets screwed over. Mosca's condemned to life as a galley slave, Volpone is sent to prison, Voltore is disbarred, Corbaccio's property is seized, Corvino is publically humiliated, and Celia...well, good luck, Hon. I like this because it's honest. Volpone is a friendly little reminder that reality does not entail a hero's happy ending, a villain's comeuppance, or a lesson learned. It is human nature to be selfish, to be greedy, to look after one's self. It's humanity's base, primitive origin. Only a nearly negligible percentage of individuals have sought to adopt pristine motives in life and they are almost always abused/taken advantage of by the less than pristine crowd. Jonson knows we know this; thus, he's not going to bullsh*t us with a happy ending. I appreciate honesty, even in the literature I read...especially in the literature I read.

As far as my opinion of the individual characters, I found myself favoring Volpone, not because he is of any higher moral standing than any of the other characters, but because of the way he played with the other characters. Not that I condone that type of behavior, but I believe that between immoral and cunning or immoral and thick, immoral and cunning is the lesser of the two evils. Besides, if you're going to abandon logic for the sake of money, then you deserve whatever comes your way. While I do commend his toying with greedy fools, I feel I must stress my disdain for Volpone. He is, no doubt, a weasel. It becomes unmistakably clear just how sniveling a coward he is in the scene between him and Celia. Had Bonario not burst out from behind the curtain to save her, I still seriously doubt Volpone would have had it in him to rape Celia. He spends so much time trying to convince her to sleep with him because he knows that he has a much higher chance of manipulating her mentally than he does of manipulating her physically.

And just a side note: that song was one of the creepiest passages I have ever read! I pictured the whole thing and it was so disturbing and pathetic and lecherous all at once. That's all I have to say about that.