Discussion Topic
The significance and characteristics of the characters' names and nicknames in Volpone
Summary:
In Volpone, characters' names and nicknames are significant as they reflect their traits and roles. Volpone means "fox" in Italian, indicating cunning and deceit. Mosca means "fly," symbolizing parasitic behavior. Other characters, like Voltore (vulture), Corbaccio (raven), and Corvino (crow), have names that represent their predatory and greedy nature, aligning with the animal imagery central to the play's themes.
What is the significance of character names in Volpone?
The names of the dramatis personae give us an insight into their most basic characteristics. The lead character, Volpone, is a sly, cunning individual. Appropriately enough, his name means "sly fox" in Italian. Volpone uses his fox-like cunning to prevent three men from getting their hands on his fortune: Voltore (vulture), Corbaccio (raven), and Corvino (crow). As part of his ruse, Volpone pretends to be on his deathbed. Vultures, ravens, and crows are all birds that feed on carrion, the decaying flesh of dead animals, so the three men's names tell us quite a lot about what kind of people they are.
Corvino's wife Celia, however, is completely different to her mean, miserly husband. She's a thoroughly decent, honest individual, and this is reflected in her name, which derives from the Latin word for heaven.
Volpone likes to keep about the house a number of what would once...
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have been described, in less enlightened times, as abnormal people. There'sAndrogyno, the hermaphrodite (someone with both male and female sex organs), and Castrone, a eunuch (someone who's been castrated).
There's not much depth of characterization here, and there isn't supposed to be. Jonson wants his audience to know exactly where they stand in relation to the characters on stage. That way he can get on with the important business of satirizing the manifest absurdities of contemporary high society.