means sly fox in Italian The fox is known for its cunning and trickery In the play Volpone is a greedy old man who schemes to deceive people He worships gold as a saint Good morning to the day and next my gold Open the shrine that I may see my Saint He is rich but wants more money Volpone pretends to be sick on his deathbed So when the legacy hunters come to impress Volpone with valuable gifts expecting to be his heir he loots them Volpone s parasite servant Mosca even convinces Corbaccio to disinherit his son Bonario and give his property to Volpone Volpone is also a lustful man He manipulates Corvino to sleep with his beautiful wife Celia His cleverness and deceit define his character Mosca Mosca means fly in Italian A fly is often seen as a parasite living off others Mosca Volpone s servant embodies this role Mosca helps Volpone in his scheme In the end the parasite Mosca tries to deceive his own master He schemes to take over Volpone s large fortune I'll bury him Volpone or gain by him I am his heir In this line Mosca decides to use his manipulative skills He is ready to take what he believes he deserves from his master Voltore Voltore means vulture in Italian Vultures are scavengers feeding on the dead and dying Voltore a lawyer represents this scavenging nature He preys on Volpone's imminent death to gain his fortune Voltore brings an antique precious plate for Volpone to impress him so that he can be his heir Corbaccio Corbaccio means raven in Italian Ravens are often associated with greed and death His greed drives him to disinherit his own son He is convinced to give his property to Volpone to impress him Corvino Corvino means crow in Italian Crows are also known for their greed and cunning Corvino is a merchant willing to sacrifice his wife s honor for the chance to inherit Volpone s riches Moral Morality is the predominant purpose of beast fables The moral of the play lies in the trial All the evildoers who are like beasts are punished Volpone s property is given to the hospital and he is kept in prison until he becomes sick Mosca is beaten by a whip and then sent as a galley slave Corbaccio is sent to a monastery where he would learn how to die well and his son Bonario inherits his property Voltore is suspended from his profession and banished from Venice Corvino must pay three times more money to Celia which he had taken as dowry At the beginning of the play Volpone mocks the legacy-hunters because of their greed What a rare punishment is avarice to itself In the end all the greedy get their punishment It teaches the audience the moral lesson grasp all lose all To wrap up Ben Jonson uses these names to create a satirical commentary on human nature He uses animal characteristics to expose the vices of greed hypocrisy and corruption in society The characters struggle for wealth and power is much like animals in a beast fable