VOLPONE BY Ben Jonson - General Questions 1
A. “Volpone,” said Coleridge, ” shows how impossible it is to keep up any pleasurable interest in a tale in which there is no goodness of heart in any of the prominent characters.” Would you agree?
B. Discuss the view that Volpone is nearer tragedy than comedy.
C. “Jonson’s world, though complete in itself, is not a large one. You cannot live in it for long at a time. In a sense its very completeness is against it. Nothing breaks through from the hidden world of longing or suffering.” Does this comment reflect your experience of Volpone?
D. In Volpone, the villains are energetic and captivating while the virtuous characters are few and unconvincing. How, then, does Jonson preserve the moral balance of the play?