Available Formats
Paperback, 2nd edition
Published: 13th June 2019
Hardback
Published: 14th November 2024
Paperback
Published: 14th November 2024
Volpone: Revised Edition
By (Author) Ben Jonson
Edited by Robert N. Watson
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Methuen Drama
13th June 2019
2nd edition
United Kingdom
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
822.3
Paperback
216
186g
The sharpest, funniest comedy about money and morals in the 17th century is still the sharpest and funniest about those things in the 21st. The full play text is accompanied by incisive commentary notes which communicate the devastating comic energy of Volpones satire. The introduction provides a firm grounding in the plays social and literary contexts, demonstrates how careful close-reading can expand your enjoyment of the comedy, shows the relevance of Jonsons critique to our modern economic systems, and provides a clear picture of how the main relationships in the play function on the page and stage. Supplemented by a plot summary and annotated bibliography, it is ideal for students of Jonson, city comedy and early modern drama.
Robert N. Watson is Distinguished Professor of English at UCLA, USA. He is the editor of Ben Jonson: Four Plays (Bloomsbury), Every Man in His Humour by Ben Jonson (New Mermaids series) and Critical Essays on Ben Jonson. He teaches Shakespeare, English Renaissance poetry and historical ecocriticism at UCLA.