Ben Jonson, Volpone

Stella Achilleos (University of Cyprus)

Ed. by William M. Hamlin, Washington State University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1605

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Comedy
Play

Resources

Ben Jonson’s Volpone (or The Fox, as the play is subtitled) first appeared in print in a quarto edition in early 1607. According to the title page of this edition, the play was initially performed by Shakespeare’s acting company, the King’s Men, at the Globe “in the yeere 1605”, a date that, as scholars have argued, probably means around February or March 1606. As the title page of this edition also suggests, by this time the play had also been performed at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Volpone is widely regarded as Jonson’s first great play, one that initiated an important period of creativity and acclaim that included the production of Jonson’s other major comedies (Epicoene …

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3457 words

Citation: Achilleos, Stella. "Volpone". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 February 2014 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8647, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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