What is Comedy of Humours? Examine Volpone as a comedy of humours.

Answer

Examine “Volpone” as a comedy of humour. 

Or, Discuss “Volpone” as a comedy of humour. 

“Comedy of Humours” is a genre of comedy play. This kind of play was developed during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. It was popularized by English playwright Ben Jonson (1572-1637). In a comedy of humours, each character is controlled by one strong “humour” (like greed, lie, lust, or foolishness). Their humours control their character trait, and they become overly greedy, lustful, or foolish, etc. These characters act in a funny and strange way. In a comedy of humours, we also find satire of human behaviour and moral lessons.

“Volpone” as a Comedy of Humours: Ben Jonson’s play “Volpone,” published in 1606, is a classic example of a comedy of humours. The characters in the play show strong humour. All the major characters: Volpone, Mosca, Voltore, Corbaccio, and Corvino are controlled by excessive greed. Because of their greed, they act in a funny and foolish way. Now, let us examine how “Volpone” aligns with the genre of comedy of humours.

One Strong Humour: Each character in this play has one strong humour. Hence, they become overly greedy, lustful, cunning, deceiving, or foolish. It makes them humorous and absurd. For example:

Volpone (The Fox): Volpone is driven by greed and deceit. Though he is a very rich man, he wants more gold and money. For this reason, he scams people to take away their wealth. Volpone also worships gold as a saint every morning. As he says,

Open the shrine, that I may see my Saint.”

Mosca (The Parasite): Mosca’s character is overly cunning and deceiving. He always looks for ways to deceive others. At first, Mosca helps Volpone to scam the legacy-hunters. Later, he wants to betray Volpone to get his fortune. Mosca says,

“I’ll bury him [Volpone], or gain by him: I am his heir.”

In this line, Mosca decides to double-cross his