Volpone (or The Fox) is a comedy in five acts, performed about 1605 and ndash;1606 and published in 1607, drawing on elements of city comedy and beast fable. A merciless satire of greed and lust, it remains Jonson's most-performed play and it is ranked among the finest Jacobean era comedies. It is an innovative kind of high-energy, intensely theatrical comedy which sustained both high moral seriousness and exuberant hilarity. It sets out to make its audience think about the troublingly subversive but exhilarating power of money and what it does to those who are consumed by greed for it, but also to give them a very good time in the theatre. It combines its moral into a very funny, entertaining play. The action is fast-paced, non-stop and demands our attention and Jonson boldly breaks rules and generic conventions along the way.
