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.