| Volpone and The Alchemist Contributor(s): Jonson, Ben (Author) |
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ISBN: 0486436306 ISBN-13: 9780486436302 Publisher: Dover Publications OUR PRICE: $5.40 Product Type: Paperback Published: September 2004 Annotation: These much-studied and frequently performed comedies by the great Elizabethan playwright satirize the greed, mendacity, gullibility, and pretension that Jonson saw rampant in 17h-century London society. Both plays feature colorful characters, ingenious plotting, biting wit, and sharp insight into human nature. This is the only edition to include both plays in one, inexpensive volume. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Drama | European - English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh |
| Dewey: 822.3 |
| LCCN: 2004049362 |
| Physical Information: 0.63" H x 5.28" W x 8.32" (0.43 lbs) 243 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Much-studied and frequently performed, these comedies by the great Elizabethan playwright Ben Jonson satirize the greed, mendacity, gullibility, and pretension of seventeenth-century London society. Both plays abound in colorful characters, ingenious plotting, biting wit, and sharp insight into human nature. In Volpone (1605), a crafty rich man attempts to augment his wealth by feigning a mortal illness. His wealthy neighbors, spying the opportunity for an inheritance, vie with each other in courting the "dying" man's favor. The Alchemist (1610) comprises a likewise avaricious cast, headed by a butler and prostitute who join forces with a swindler claiming to possess the philosopher's stone. The trio hosts a parade of eager victims whose hypocrisy and greed place them on a moral footing similar to that of the tricksters. Both plays offer sparkling examples of their author's novel approach to satire and his distinctive blend of savagery, humor, moralism, and a powerful sense of the absurd. |