Gender Dynamics in Volpone

Marriage as a social institution has always been used by patriarchy to reinforce traditional gender roles, limiting women’s autonomy and agency within their relationships, among different cultures of the world during different ages of human history. Here is what Shikha Pandey, a student at Vinoba Bhave University, Hazaribag, has to say about the depiction of women in one of her course books, Volpone by Ben Jonson.

In the seventeenth century European society, men had control over all financial affairs, were considered ‘masters’ of their houses, and ruled over their wives and daughters. Marriage as a socio-religious institution divided the gender roles between husband and wife, in which wife usually had a subordinate role. Volpone presents two different views of marriage through the nuptial relationship between the two couples—Corvino and Celia, and Sir Politic Would-Be and Lady Would-Be. 

Jonson tries to show the gender roles through an examination of the characters of Corvino and Volpone, who both try to exhibit male authority over Celia through sexuality. Corvino, her husband, forces her to sleep with Volpone, who tries to seduce her and even attempts to rape her. For a while, it seems that Volpone will get away with this crime of attempted rape, as several men during the play conspire to prove that Celia is lying about her accusation. However, at the end of the play, Volpone receives his punishment, but, to the surprise of a modern reader, not for attempted rape, rather for deceiving the male legacy-hunters. Here, both the pain and perception of women is depicted to be unimportant as compared to crime against men. 

It could be argued that, while Jonson shows sexual oppression and violence to be deplorable, he believes that the oppression of women is less important a matter of concern than the moral lesson concerning the evils of excessive desire and greed. Lust and rape are bad, but only because they are a form of avariciousness, not because it is an insult to the dignity of a woman. The crime Volpone seems most guilty of in the play is excessive greed for wealth or material gain. 

Corvino is depicted as a hegemonic, jealous husband and Celia is a submissive, virtuous woman who quietly suffers. Although Celia is virtuous, she is kept under Corvino’s critically careful and cruel control. Corvino almost always keeps her indoors. He forbids her from even going too close to a window to prevent her from any immoral activity. Corvino’s dominance over Celia is abounding, but it was stereotypical for Italian men to be jealous and controlling of their wives who did this under the name of morality. But the pretence in Corvino’s sham morality is laid bare in a minute, when he gets to know that if he convinces Celia to sleep with Volpone i.e. to commit adultery, which was considered an immoral act, he can become the heir to Volpone’s total wealth. He even threatens Celia to do so; he treats her as if his wife has no will of her own. On one hand, he wants to see her as a devoted wife, on the other hand, he is forcing her to be a whore. Based on a subjective point of view, Corvino should get a puppet instead of a wife–one who would say, “how high?” every time he said, “jump”, provided, of course, she had the permission to speak. 

Mosca compares Celia to gold, invoking Volpone’s greedy desire for both:  

A wench of the first year… Bright as your gold, and lovely as your gold! 

(Act 1, Scene 5) 

This comparison also reveals how a woman is considered a property. In the play, Celia is shown as trafficked objects or properties rather than human. In the court, the audience witness how Italian society distrusts even the most virtuous and obedient women. Simply because of her belonging to the female sex, Celia is perceived too emotional and hysterical to give a trustworthy testimony. This absurdity is amplified by the court’s admittance of Voltore’s testimony even as he writhes on the ground and claims to be possessed by the devils. 

Celia’s lament in court, “I would I could forget I were a creature” (Act 4, scene 5) reminds readers that Renaissance women had no voice or agency in their lives. Her truth at the court is rejected because she is a woman in spite of the fact that she is the victim of the crime she is speaking about. She feels so powerless that she wishes she could die. The difficulty of the position in which Celia finds herself in court shows that seventeenth-century women couldn’t win—no matter how virtuous they were. Women were considered to be naive, and unintellectual, and therefore untrustworthy, inferior creatures. 

The second woman in the play Lady Would-Be, serves as a foil to Celia. Jonson uses her marriage with Sir Politic Would-Be to exemplify a typical English marriage and contrasts it with the typical Italian marriage between Corvino and Celia. Lady Would-Be is more independent than Celia, which reinforces the belief that married English women enjoyed more autonomy than married Italian women. Lady Would-Be enjoys the liberty to wander around Venice independently, whenever and wherever she wants. But Celia’s position is the exact opposite, who is prevented from even leaving her house. Lady Would-Be is also much more talkative than Celia though the play doesn’t exactly suggest that this is a good trait. 

Volpone pokes fun of Lady Would-Be during one of her annoying visits, addressing the audience claiming, “[The] highest female grace is silence” (act 3, scene 4). This comment not only gives deeper insight into Lady Would-Be’s vain, clueless nature, it also highlights how Renaissance culture valued silent, obedient and submissive women. Lady Would-Be, however, breaks the stereotypical image of a Renaissance woman; she is educated, certainly much more than Celia, her long-winded speeches are so filled with literary references and allusions that Peregrin is shocked when she yells at him. 

Based on a subjective point of view, Lady Would-Be’s character does not play any significant role in highlighting the main theme of avarice in the play. Even if her character was not there, the main theme would still have been clear. Jonson has used Lady Would-Be solely to juxtapose and contrast her character with Celia’s. Both the women have been portrayed in such a way that Lady Would-Be’s character turns out to be a laughingstock and avoidable while Celia’s ideal and admirable.  

But the thing worth considering is that the Renaissance society, which sets the benchmark for a good woman, cannot do justice even with a woman like Celia, who perfectly epitomises those hollow and arbitrary benchmarks. This highlights the inherent flaws and inequalities within Renaissance society, where even women who fulfil the prescribed roles and behaviours are not treated fairly or justly. The thing is that neither Renaissance society nor Jonson could give an account of what she went through.

About the Author

Shikha is an avid reader who loves to talk and write about what she reads. She is currently pursuing her Masters in English Literature from Vinoba Bhave University, Hazaribag. She enjoys singing when she isn’t reading. Shikha aspires to become a lecturer.