Volpone: portrayals of Celia and Lady Would-be

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Q. Compare and contrast the portrayals of Celia and Lady Would-be in Volpone

Answer: Ben Jonson's play Volpone is a famous example of the seventeenth century English comedy. This drama reflects greed, cunning, deception and moral collapse of society. The play has two main female characters-Celia and Lady Would-be. Both of them reflect the society in their own ways in which they live.

In this article we will analyze the characters of Celia and Lady Would-Be and see how Jonson has presented them.

Depiction of Celia

Celia is a beautiful, gentle and decent woman. She is the wife of a businessman named Corvino. She is subject to her husband's property and command. Celia's life is like a closed cage. Her husband is very jealous and cruel. She never let Celia go out and her freedom has been completely taken away.

The character of Celia is a symbol of purity and female-respect. When the Volpone frauds her at her home and tries to behave badly on her, Celia opposed him with full courage. She does not even care about life to save the purity of her body and soul. She says she would like to die but will not do wrong.

The character of Celia shows how important true moral values are in today's society. She represents the women of her time who were tied to the rules of society but still did not leave her self-esteem and dignity.

Depiction of lady would-be

Lady would-be is the wife of Sir Politic Would-be. She is a high –minded and talkative woman. She tries to force her English style and ideas in a city like Venice. Her behavior sometimes looks ridiculous and strange.

Lady would-be considers herself an educated and modern woman, but she repeatedly talks about stupidity. She likes to listen to her praise and interfere with everything. She wants to prove herself a scholar but she gets entangled in her own words.

Her attraction towards Volpone shows that she can be very easily appeared. When she finds Volpone alone and starts expressing her love on him, it shows the weakness and greed of her character. Jonson has presented the character of Lady Would-Be as a comic personality that is an example of the artificial, appearance and hollow educated women of the time.

Difference between Celia and Lady would-be

Both Celia and Lady would-be are women of the same society but their thoughts, behavior and methods of life are completely different. Celia is quiet, decent and self-respecting, while Lady would-be is fickle, arrogant and inconvenience.

Celia is a symbol of morality and purity, while Lady would-be symbolizes humor and irony. Celia shows the helplessness of women in society, while Lady Would-Be shows a woman who becomes a humor in the circle of proving herself important in the society.

Celia also has strength in silence and the words of Lady would- be also show weakness. Celia is an ideal woman in society, while Lady would-be is an example of fake modernity that is only pretending.

Therefore, Ben Jonson has introduced two types of women-elements through Celia and Lady Would-Be. Celia is the traditional woman of the time - suppressed but morally strong. At the same time, Lady would-be is a depiction of a new woman who has forgotten her reality in the desire of freedom.

Through these two characters, Jonson has sarcastically satirized the diversity of female life in his play “Volpone” and the status of women in society. On the other hand, Celia earns the sympathy of readers, while Lady would-be causes humor.

It is clear from both these illustrations that Ben Jonson not only highlighted the evils of men, but also showed different forms of women in the mirror of society. “Volpone” is not just a comic drama; it is an intensive and real depiction of the social status of that time.