’s Fake Illness:
In the play, Volpone pretends that he is very sick and about to die. He lies in bed. This is just a part of his scam to loot the legacy-hunters: Voltore, Corbaccio, and Corvino. These greedy people bring expensive gifts for Volpone to impress him, only to be his heir after his death. However, the audience knows that Volpone is not sick at all. The audience knows that Volpone is laughing at the legacy-hunters and deceiving them. This creates dramatic irony. The audience knows the truth, and the legacy hunters do not. The audience laughs at how easily they are fooled.
Mosca’s Tricks: Mosca is Volpone’s parasite servant. He acts as Volpone’s helper. Mosca lies to each of the legacy hunters and makes them believe they are the only heir to Volpone’s wealth. For example, he tells Voltore that Volpone loves him most. He then says the same thing to Corbaccio and Corvino. The audience knows Mosca is lying to all of them. This makes the legacy-hunters foolish and funny. Their excessive greed makes them easy to fool. This dramatic irony also makes the play very entertaining.
Corvino Offers His Wife: One of the most shocking moments of dramatic irony is when Corvino agrees to send his wife, Celia, to Volpone’s bed. Mosca tells Corvino that Celia can heal his master. Mosca says:
“No, it must be one that has no tricks, sir.”
Corvino easily agrees. But the audience knows it is a trick. Volpone is not sick at all—he just wants to go to bed with Celia. This situation is full of tension and disgust. The audience feels sorry for Celia and angry at Corvino’s greed.
Volpone’s Final Scheme: Later in the play, Volpone wants to tease the legacy hunters more. So, he wills his property in Mosca’s name and spreads the fake news of his death. He just wants to see the disappointment of getting nothing in the faces of the legacy-hunters. This again creates dramatic irony. The audience knows Volpone is alive, but the other characters do not. Then, Mosca decides to betray Volpone. He says:
“I'll bury him [Volpone], or gain by him: I am his heir.”
Mosca wants to take all the wealth for himself. The audience is surprised and curious to see what will happen next.
Moral Lesson: The moral lesson of the play also comes in an ironic and interesting way. At the end of the play, we see that all the greedy people are punished by the court. This delivers the moral lesson: avarice (excessive greed) always leads to punishment. Earlier in the play, Volpone actually told this when he was punishing the legacy-hunters for their avarice. He said:
"What a rare punishment is avarice to itself.”
This creates dramatic irony. The audience knows Volpone is also fit for punishment for his own avarice. But Volpone does not realize this.
In fine, dramatic irony in “Volpone” makes the play very entertaining. The audience enjoys watching the greedy characters fall into traps. Jonson uses this technique to make us laugh at human foolishness and also to teach a lesson: avarice always leads to punishment.
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