Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Volpone, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Theatre and Appearance vs Reality
Money and Commerce
Greed and Corruption
Gender Roles and Women
Language
Summary
Analysis
In his house, Corvino calls for Celia, who enters crying. He tells her to dry her tears, and says that he was only testing her before when he screamed at her. He says he isn’t jealous, and never was. He’s confident in her, and he tells her to go and get ready in her nicest clothes and best jewelry, since they are invited to a feast at Volpone’s, where she’ll see just how far from jealous he is.
Throughout the play, characters bounce between acts of deception and acts of legitimate corruption and greed, though sometimes the two are difficult to differentiate. In this example, Corvino claims to have been testing Celia by feigning jealousy, though it is clear that Corvino was honest then and he is deceiving her now.
Themes
