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The third act begins with a
soliloquy from Mosca, indicating that he is growing increasingly conscious
of his power and his independence from Volpone. Mosca then runs into Bonario,
Corbaccio's son, and tells the young man of his father's plans not to let
him be the heir. He has Bonario come back to Volpone's house with him, in
order to watch Corbaccio sign the documents (hoping that Bonario might kill
Corbaccio then and there out of rage, thus allowing Volpone to gain his
inheritance early). Volpone then prepares for his seduction of Celia, while
Mosca hides Bonario in a corner of the bedroom. But Celia and Corvino arrive
first—Celia complains about being unfaithful, while Corvino tells her to be
quiet and do her job. When Celia and Volpone are alone together, Celia
refuses Volpone's advances. Volpone says that he will rape her. But Bonario,
who has been witnessing the scene from his hiding place the entire time,
rescues Celia.
Celia and Bonario have informed the judges of Venice about
Volpone's deceit, Volpone's attempt to rape Celia, Corbaccio’s
disinheritance of his son, and Corvino's decision to prostitute his wife.
But an evil lawyer turns the case against both of them. The judges order
that Celia and Bonario be arrested and separated.
In the final act, Volpone returns home tired and worried that
he is actually growing ill, for he is now feeling some of the symptoms he
has been faking. To dispel his fears, he decides to engage in one final
prank on the legacy hunters. He spreads a rumor that he has died and then
tells Mosca to pretend that he has been made his master's heir. The plan
goes off perfectly, and all three legacy hunters are fooled. Volpone then
disguises himself as a Venetian guard, so that he can gloat in each legacy
hunter's face over their humiliation, without being recognized. But Mosca
lets the audience know that Volpone is dead in the eyes of the world and
that Mosca will not let him "return to the world of the living" unless
Volpone pays up, giving Mosca a share of his wealth.
—A Room in Volpone’s House.
Enter Volpone and Mosca.
Volp. Good morning to the day; and next, my gold!—
Open the shrine, that I may see my saint.
[Mosca withdraws the curtain, and discovers piles of gold, plate, jewels,
etc.
Hail the world’s soul, and mine! more glad than is
The teeming earth to see the long’d-for sun
Peep through the borns of the celestial Ram,
Am I, to view thy splendour darkening his;
That lying here, amongst my other hoards,
Shew’st like a flame by night, or like the day
Struck out of chaos, when all darkness fled
Unto the centre. O thou son of Sol,
But brighter than thy father, let me kiss,
With adoration, thee, and every relick
Of sacred treasure in this blessed room.
Well did wise poets, by thy glorious name,
Title that age which they would have the best;
Thou being the best of things, and far transcending
All style of joy, in children, parents, friends,
Or any other waking dream on earth:
Thy looks when they to Venus did ascribe,
They should have given her twenty thousand Cupids;
Such are thy beauties and our loves! Dear saint,
Riches, the dumb god, that giv’st all men tongues,
Thou canst do nought, and yet mak’st men do all things;
The price of souls; even hell, with thee to boot,
Is made worth heaven. Thou art virtue, fame,
Honour,-and all things else. Who can get thee,
He shall be noble valiant, honest, wise—
(Act I, Scene i)
Volpone’s satire is directed against "avarice,"
which can be thought of as greed that extends not just to money but also to
all objects of human desire. The play's main thesis is stated by Volpone
himself, "What a rare punishment / Is avarice to itself." The punishment—and
the central irony of the play—is that while greed drives the search for
money, power, and respect, it ends up making everyone in the play look
foolish, contemptible, and poorer, both spiritually and financially. A
similar idea is stated by both Celia, when she asks in Act III, Scene vii,
"Whither [where] is shame fled human breasts?" and by the judge at the end
of the play in his plea that the audience should "learn" from the play what
happens to those who succumb to greed, emphasizing that the play's stance on
greed is a didactic one, intended to teach the audience what greed's real
consequences are. Volpone himself starts out as an instrument of this
lesson—he dupes the Corvino, Corbaccio and Voltore into parting with their
goods in the hope of inheriting his—but ends up an object of the lesson as
well, for succumbing to his greedy want for sensual pleasure.
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