The Importance of Names in Volpore.

In Ben Jonson's Volpone nearly all the characters have symbolic names, usually related to animals in some way.  The meanings of most of the characters names are revealed early in the play and the title itself contains the translation of Volpore's name to English, that being fox.   Besides Volpone, there is also Voltore the vulture, Corvino the crow, and Corbaccio the raven whom he has been conning since before the play, and continues to con over the course of it.   The symbolism of those animals hasn't changed much in most cultures between the time Jonson wrote the play and today.

First lets look at Volpone, the fox that leads all of the other characters around in circles until the end of the play.    Volpone, who should be a simple well to do Italian nobleman is revealed as a simple greedy trickster at the beginning.   He does the things you would expect a fox to do if it were a human too.   Pretends to be dying, disguising himself as other people, and even fakes his own death in the end.   He tricks others for his own gain until eventually he is forced to reveal himself when his confidant decides to trick him back.   The obvious moral being that the trickster will always have to pay for his tricks in the end.

Followed by the sneaky fox, we have the carrion birds, Corvino, Voltore, and Corbaccio.   Each of them try to live up to their names as they attempt to take all of Volpone's estate, similar to how the living bird feasts on the long since dead.   Unfortunately for them, they are too greedy and gullible to realize that the fox they're after isn't anywhere near dead at all.   They are tricked into giving him gifts for good health, and, for Corvino at least, to offer him his wife for a night just to show the endless depths of their hunger for Volpone's wealth.   In the end all they gain is their own misfortune just like Volpore.

When the play comes to its close, all the greed that each character had has turned against them as Volpore reveals the truth.   Of the three birds, Corvino is humiliated just as he tried to humiliate his wife, Corbaccio loses all he owns for trying to give it to Volpore, and Voltore loses his job trying to manipulate a court of law to his benefit.   Finally, Volpore himself is sent to jail just like a thief deserves.   A fitting reprisal for all of them.

 However, Jonson's play is also quite true to how things usually end up for schemer's in today's world.  One example was Bernie Madof who has been in jail for the damage he has done to many people by trying to rob them of money.   Similarly, even though he wasn't specifically after money, Osama Bin laden has also had his "justice" as the White house put it, even though he desired to end life rather than steal money.   These are but two of many such examples of how a person's greed for one thing or another tends to eventually bite back.  "You reap what you sow" indeed.