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Similes
Definition of Soliloquy
A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself, relating his or her innermost thoughts and feelings as if... read full definition
A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself, relating his or her innermost... read full definition
A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself... read full definition
Key Examples in Volpone
Act 3, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Precious Parasite:
In Act 3, Scene 1, the audience gets a chance to peek inside Mosca's deceitful mind for the first time. In a soliloquy, Mosca egotistically muses on his own parasitic virtue and espouses the versatility of his grift:
O! your parasite
Is a most precious thing, dropt from above,
Not bred 'mongst clods and clodpoles, here on earth. I muse, the mystery was not made a science,
It is so liberally profest! Almost
All the wise world is little else, in nature,
But parasites or sub-parasites.
Related Themes:
Act 5, Scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—The Thrill of the Chase:
In Act 5, Scene 5, Volpone leaves Mosca alone in his house as he leaves to check in on the court proceedings. Soliloquizing on his machinations to the audience, Mosca builds upon the metaphorical animal identities of the play's characters and reveals his plot against Volpone, or "the fox."
Unlock with LitCharts A+[...] My fox
Is out on his hole, and ere he shall re-enter,
I’ll make him languish in his borrowed case,
Except he come to composition with me.[...]
So, now I have the keys and am possessed.
Since he will needs be dead afore his time,
I'll bury him, or gain by him. I'm his heir,
And so will keep me, till he share at least.
To cozen him of all were but a cheat
Well placed; no man would cònstrue it a sin.
Let his sport pay for 't. This is called the fox-trap.
Related Themes:
Act 5, Scene 11
Explanation and Analysis—The End of the Road:
In Act 5, Scene 11, as the rest of the characters head to court for their final judgement before the avocatori, Volpone addresses the audience in a soliloquy laden with metaphor:
Unlock with LitCharts A+To make a snare for mine own neck!
And run
My head into it wilfully, with laughter!
When I had newly ‘scaped, was free and clear!
Out of mere wantonness! O, the dull devil
Was in this brain of mine when I devised it,
And Mosca gave it second; he must now
Help to sear up this vein, or we bleed dead.
