Q.1. Who is Volpone?
Ans. Volpone is “a Magnifico,” or nobleman of Venice. He is a con artist who feigns illness to attract legacy hunters. He embodies greed and obsesses over gold. His love of watching others’ greed and flattery tends towards voyeurism.
Q.2. Why does Volpone feign illness?
Ans. Volpone feigns illness to attract legacy hunters.
Q.3. Who is Mosca?
Ans. Mosca is the parasite of Volpone. He is bothersome, obsequious, and conniving. Though he is lower than Volpone at birth, Mosca is effectively the master of the scam.
Q.4. Who is Voltore?
Ans. Voltore is “an Advocate,” or lawyer. He is one of the legacy hunters.
Q.5. Who is Corbaccio?
Ans. Corbaccio is “an old Gentleman”. He is one of the legacy hunters.
Q.6. Who is Corvino?
Ans. Corvino is “a Merchant.” He is one of the legacy hunters.
Q.7. Who are Avocatori?
Ans. Avocarori are the “four Magistrates,” or the judges from the Scrutiny.
Q.8. Who is the Notario?
Ans. The Notario is “the Register,” or officer of the Scrutiny. The Notario acts something like a bailiff would in a modern court of law. He summons witnesses, swears them in, and, in general, runs errands for the Avocatori.
Q.9. Who is Sir Politic Would-be?
Ans. Sir Politic Would-be is “a Knight.” He is a traveller from England who prides himself on knowing the ways of a gentleman. He is a know-it-all who in fact knows not very much at all.
Q.10. Who is Peregrine?
Ans. Peregrine is “a Gentleman-traveller.” Like Sir Politic, Peregrine is a visitor from England who thus serves to connect the storyline to Jonson’s home country.
Q.11. Who is Bonario? Ans. Bonario is “a young Gentleman, son of Corbaccio.” Borario is upstanding, noble, and unfortunately gullible.
Q.12. Who is Lady Would-be?
Ans. Lady Would-be is “the Knight’s wife.” She is the garrulous, vain, and jealous companion of Sir Politic.
Q.13. Who is Celia?
Ans. Celia is the wife of the Merchant, Corvino.
Q.14. Who are the Commendatori?
Ans. The Commendatori are the “Officers.” They are the court officers who detain Corbaccio, Corvino, Voltore, Mosca, and Volpone once their punishments have been handed down.
Q.15. Who are the Mercatori?
Ans. The Mercatori are the “three Merchants.” They are Peregrine’s accomplices in the practical joke he plays on Sir Politic.
Q.16. What is an acrostic?
Ans. An acrostic is a poem in which particular letters in each line, usually the first letters, can be read downwards to form a word or words.
Q.17. Which does Volpone regard as his saint?
Ans. The place where Volpone keeps his gold is a shrine to him and the gold to him is the saint.
Q.18. Why doesn’t Volpone want to compare gold to Venus?
Ans. Volpone does not want to compare gold to Venus. Venus has only one child, Cupid. To Volpone, gold should be compared to a goddess who has twenty thousand children like Cupids.
Q.19. What does Mosca’s name mean?
Ans. Mosca’s name means the fly.
Q.20. How did Volpone earn his wealth?
Ans. Volpone is very cunning. He has earned his wealth in an extraordinary way, that is, robbing others of their wealth by adopting clever methods.
Q.21. Why does Volpone pretend?
Ans. Volpone pretends to be sick in order to dupe Voltore, Corbaccio and Corvino, who aspire to his fortune. They each arrive in turn, bearing extravagant gifts with the aim of being inscribed as Volpone’s heir.
Q.22. What does Corbaccio offer to give Volpone?
Ans Corbaccio offers to give Volpone a sleep-inducing drug
Q.23. What makes Corbaccio different from other legacy hunters?
Ans. Corbaccio’s partial deafness and old age make him different from other legacy hunters.
Q.24. What does Mosca advise Corbaccio to become Volpone’s heir?
Ans. Mosca advises him to make a will in favour of Volpone disinheriting his son, Bonario in order to become Volpone’s heir.
Q.25. What does Corvino bring as a gift for Volpone?
Ans. Corvino brings a pearl as his gift for Volpone.
Q.26. How is Corvino different from other legacy hunters?
Ans. Corvino is different from other legacy hunters because he is a family man, married to an exquisitely beautiful Celia.
Q.27. In order to see Celia, what did Volpone do?
Ans. He disguised himself.
Q.28. Who is the blazing star of Italy?
Ans. Celia, according to Mosca, is the blazing star of Italy.
Q.29. What does Lady Would-be bring Volpone as a gift?
Ans. Lady Would-be brings him a cap she made herself.
Q.30. Who are the two English travellers in Volpone?
Ans. Sir Politic Would-be and Peregrine are the two English travellers in Volpone
Q.31. Who is a pilgrim falcon in Volpone?
Ans. Peregrine is a pilgrim falcon in Volpone.
Q.32. What is a mountebank?
Ans. A mountebank has been defined “as an itinerant quack who from an elevated platform appealed to his audience by means of stories, tricks, juggling and the like, in which he was often assisted by a professional clown.”
Q.33, Who was Scoto of Mantua?
Ans. Scoto of Mantua was an actual juggler and mountebank who performed before Queen Elizabeth in 1576. In Jonson’s play. Volpone disguises himself as Scoto of Mantua.
Q.34. What is the name of Volpone’s panacea?
Ans. Oglio del Scoto.
Q.35. Why does Corvino give a good beating to Volpone in the mountebank scene?
Ans. Corvine sees his wife dropping her handkerchief, the mountebank catching it and kissing it and offering her a divine powder. So, Corvino gives the mountebank (Volpone) a good beating.
Q.36. Why does Corvino ask his wife to be ready in her best attire and her choicest jewels”?
Ans. Corvino asks his wife to be ready in her ‘best attire’ and her ‘choicest jewels’ because he has planned to take her to Volpone’s house and to sleep with him.
Q.37. On what pretext does Corvino take Celia to Volpone’s house?
Ans. Corvino takes Celia to Volpone’s house on the pretext that Volpone has invited them to a solemn feast.
Q.38. What does Mosca tell Bonario about his father going to do?
Ans. Mosca tells Bonario that the latter’s father is going to disinherit him.
Q.39. How does Mosca earn his livelihood?
Ans. Mosca earns his livelihood by flattering his patron and by servile behaviour.
Q.40. What did Corvino want his wife to do with Volpone?
Ans. Corvino wants his wife, Celia, to sleep with Volpone.
Q.41. What did Celia want Corvino to do to her instead of sleeping with Volpone?
Ans. Celia begs not to be forced to sleep with Volpone. She asks that she be locked up instead since she thinks Corvino doubts her chastity.
Q.42. What is Corvino’s opinion about ‘honour’?
Ans. “Honour”, according to Corvino, does not exist in reality, and the loss of it cannot harm anyone.
Q.43. How does Volpone try to seduce Celia?
Ans. At first Volpone tries to seduce her by offering different kinds of alluring things and enjoyment. Being failed, he then tries to seduce her by force.
Q.44. Who rescues Celia from Volpone?
Ans. Bonario rescues Celia from Volpone.
Q.45. Who wounded Mosca?
Ans. Bonario wounded Mosca.
Q.46. Why is Mosca wounded by Bonario?
Ans. When Bonario rescues Celia from the clutches of Volpone, Mosca comes to find his master in despair and, at that time Bonario wounds him with a sword.
Q.47. What is the final joke that Volpone wants to do to the legacy hunters?
Ans. His final joke is that he makes his jesters, Castrone and Nano, declare through the street that Volpone is dead and he tortures the legacy hunters being disguised as a commendatore.
Q.48. Who does Volpone send into the town to announce his death?
Ans. Nano and Castrone.
Q.49. What does Peregrine do to trick Sir Politic?
Ans. Peregrine has recruited 3 real merchants to help him out with the trick.
Q.50. How does Volpone torment the greedy trio in the street?
Ans. In the street, Volpone, disguised as a commendatore, torments Corbaccio, Corvino, and Voltore by pretending he has heard news that they inherited a fortune.
Q.51. How do the judges learn that Volpone is alive?
Ans. The judges learn that the commandatore told Voltore that Volpone is alive.
Q.52. Why is Volpone ordered to be whipped?
Ans. The judges ask Volpone in the guise of the commandatore to be whipped for his insolent lie.
Q.53, When does Volpone reveal his true identity to the court?
Ans. When the judges ask Volpone in the guise of the commandatore to be whipped for his insolent lie, Volpone finds himself in a desperate situation and throws off his disguise and reveals his true identity.
Q.54. What was the final verdict of the judges regarding Bonario and Celia?
Ans. Finally, the judge’s order Bonario and Celia to be released.
Q.55. What is the punishment of Mosca?
Ans. Mosca for having taken the leading part in the fraud. practice, and for deceiving the court, is to be whipped first and then sent as a galley slave.
Q.56. What punishment does Voltore face at the end of the play?
Ans. Voltore’s license to practice is cancelled and is banished from the state.
Q.57. How is Corbaccio punished?
Ans. Corbaccio is ordered to be sent to the monastery of San Spirito and his property is given to his son, Bonario.
Q.58. How is Corvino punished at last?
Ans. Corvino is ordered to return the dowry, three-times, which Celia brought with her at the time of her marriage. She will go back to her father’s house; Corvino shall be rowed about in Venice and then made to stand in the pillory.
Q.59. Who are the members of Volpone’s house?
Ans. Nano, Castrone, Androgyne, Mosca and Volpone.
Q.60. What does the name Voltore mean?
Ans. Voltore means vulture.
Q.61. What does the name ‘Volpone’ mean? / From what animal does the play Volpone take its name?
Ans. Volpone means fox.
Q.62 What is the sub-title of the play Volpone?
Ans. The Fox
Q.63. What gift does Voltore bring for Volpone?
Ans. Voltore has brought with him a gift of a huge gold plate with Volpone’s name and arms engraved on it.
Q.64. What type of comedy is ‘Volpone”?
Ans: Volpone is a comdey of humours.
Q.65. Who are the legacy hunters in “Volpone”?
Ans: Voltore, Corbaccio, and Corvino are the three legacy hunters in Volpone.
Q.66. What is Corvino by profession?
Ans. Corvino is “a Merchant” by profession.
Q.67. Why does Mosca suggest suicide?
Ans: Mosca suggests suicide in order to escape dishonour.
