Synopsis and Scene-By-Scene Summary and Commentary

Abstract

Volpone is an old and wealthy Venetian nobleman who worships gold. He has no children or relatives and maintains an unnatural household made up of a dwarf, a hermaphrodite, a eunuch, and a parasite called Mosca. Volpone and Mosca conspire together to defraud greedy legacy hunters. The three main would-be heirs are Voltore an advocate, Corvino a merchant, and Corbaccio, an old gentleman. Volpone pretends to be bedridden and mortally ill, while Mosca raises their hopes, in turn, of becoming his sole heir. As a result they attempt to outdo each other in the magnificence of their presents to him.