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Sir Politic Would-be
Lady Would-be is Sir Politic’s wife. In contrast to Celia, who is confined to her home, Lady Would-be is given a lot of freedom, roaming Venice freely. Lady Would-be also contrasts with the Renaissance ideal of a woman, since she is extremely talkative and well educated. She is skilled with language and makes constant literary references, but most of the men in the play (in particular Volpone) find her exceptionally annoying. She constantly chides her staff for not doing a good enough job.
Lady Would-be Quotes in Volpone
The Volpone quotes below are all either spoken by Lady Would-be or refer to Lady Would-be . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 3, Scene 4 Quotes
Before I feign'd diseases, now I have one.
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Volpone says this during a visit from Lady Would-be, and the joke is that Lady Would-be is so annoying (she talks so much) that it’s as if Volpone has contracted a real disease. This is an example of Jonson seeming to play into the stereotype that women tend to be talkative, and that this is an irritating quality to men. Lady Would-be is exceptionally well-educated for a woman at that time, but instead of being respected for this, Jonson plays up the talkative woman joke at Lady Would-be’s expense. This is particularly notable because Lady Would-be’s skill set is so Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedi
I have a little studied physic; but now
I'm all for music, save, i' the forenoons,
An hour or two for painting. I would have
A lady, indeed, to have all letters and art,
Be able to discourse, to write, to paint,
But principal, as Plato holds, your music,
And so does wise Pythagoras, I take it,
Is your true rapture: when there is concent
In face, in voice, and clothes: and is, indeed,
Our sex's chiefest ornament.
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Lady Would-be says this to Volpone while attempting to prescribe him treatments to get better. According to her, a lady should be able to read and write, to paint and talk, and to play music, which is an extremely progressive statement, as women back then were not typically educated. At the same time, Lady Would-be says that what she values most is harmony (“concent”) between a woman’s face, voice, and clothing. Lady Would-be is obsessed with appearances and superficiality, so despite her education, literacy, and skill with language, she still locates her value as a person in her appearance. While Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt re
Act 3, Scene 7 Quotes
If you have ear that will be pierc'd - or eyes
That can be open'd-a heart that may be touch'd-
Or any part that yet sounds man about you –
If you have touch of holy saints: or heaven-
Do me the grace to let me scape: - if not,
Be bountiful and kill me. You do know,
I am a creature, hither ill betray'd,
By one whose shame I would forget it were:
If you will deign me neither of these graces,
Yet feed your wrath, sir, rather than your lust
(It is a vice comes nearer manliness,)
And punish that unhappy crime of nature,
Which you miscall my beauty.
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Celia speaks these lines in the scene during which Corvino offers Celia up to Volpone in exchange for money. By this point, Celia is desperate to stave off Volpone, and she makes the extreme plea that killing her would be more generous than raping her, because it would leave her innocence intact. Celia understands that Volpone is possessed by his excessive desires, and she requests that he indulge one excessive desire—wrath—over the other, lust. She also seems to blame herself, to some degree, for his lust, as she calls her own beauty a “crime of nature” and invites him to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in
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Lady Would-be Character Timeline in Volpone
The timeline below shows where the character Lady Would-be appears in Volpone. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 5
...the morning’s exploits. Mosca returns and explains that the person knocking was a messenger from Lady Would-be , the wife to the English knight Sir Politic Would-be. She has asked how Volpone...
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Volpone says he’ll meet Lady Would-be after he is drunk, and then he’ll wonder at the bravery of English men who...
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Act 2, Scene 1
...Peregrine that he’s a “poor knight,” and Peregrine is a little confused that the “fine Lady Would-be ” wanted to go to Venice for information on fashion and behavior, since Venice is...
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Act 3, Scene 3
...and prepares to pretend he is sick. Nano shouts to Volpone that the visitor is Lady Would-be , to which Volpone responds that she is so tormenting that he’s worried she will...
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Act 3, Scene 4
Lady Would-be and Nano enter the room where Volpone lies pretending to be sick. Lady Would-Be tells...
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Lady Would-be continues scolding her servants, saying that she doesn’t want the Italians to see her and...
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Lady Would-be asks Volpone how he has slept, and he responds that he can’t sleep because he...
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Volpone asks Lady Would-be to drink and leave, but that only starts her talking about a drink recipe. Volpone...
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...saying that an old poet wrote that the best quality of women is silence, but Lady Would-be only responds by asking which poet he means and naming a long list of poets...
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Act 3, Scene 5
Mosca enters the room in the house where Lady Would-be is talking to Volpone. Volpone tells Mosca to get rid of Lady Would-be, who has...
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Lady Would-be runs off with Nano to look for her husband, and Volpone praises Mosca for his...
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Act 4, Scene 2
A distance away from Sir Politic and Peregrine, Lady Would-be , Nano, and two waiting women enter the piazza. Lady Would-be is looking for Sir...
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One of the waiting women points out Sir Politic, and Lady Would-be assumes that Peregrine is the female prostitute dressed in men’s clothing. Sir Politic sees his...
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Lady Would-be then addresses Peregrine, saying that she doesn’t want to publicly flight with another woman, since...
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Sir Politic tries to say that Peregrine is a gentleman, but Lady Would-be cuts him off to yell that she is ashamed of him and that he should...
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Act 4, Scene 3
Mosca enters the piazza where Lady Would-be has been screaming at Peregrine. Mosca asks Lady Would-be what’s wrong, and she replies that...
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Act 4, Scene 6
Lady Would-be enters the court and immediately curses out Celia as a whore. She then apologizes at...
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...and tips Mosca before exiting. Mosca then reassures Voltore, who also exits. Mosca turns to Lady Would-be and says he’ll bring her home. At first, she resists, but he starts to say...
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Act 5, Scene 2
...trying to accomplish. Volpone explains that all at once he’ll get Voltore, Corbaccio, Corvino, and Lady Would-be to come running, thinking that he is dead and that they are heir, only to...
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...behind a curtain as Voltore, Corbaccio, and Corvino become enraged and depressed. Mosca says that Lady Would-be will also come, and he says that gold is the most effective medicine and the...
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Act 5, Scene 3
...Mosca ignores him, too. Corvino enters, and wonders why Voltore and Corbaccio are also there. Lady Would-be enters and asks Mosca if she is the heir, but he just keeps taking inventory....
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Volpone watches in glee as Voltore, Corbaccio, Corvino, and Lady Would-be scan the will to determine who has been named heir. They all realize it’s Mosca,...
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Act 5, Scene 4
After Peregrine and the merchants exit, Sir Politic asks a servant where Lady Would-be is and if she knew about the ruse. He complains that he will be the...
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