Volpone

How is this a satire?

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Volpone was, and continues to be, admired for its balance of scathing satire against human greed with classical restraint and formalism. Like many of his plays, Volpone demonstrates an attentiveness to the superficiality of theater. All of the main characters are explicitly associated with an animal -- the fox, the wolf, the raven, the crow, etc. -- which lends the play the character of a fable. But this surface glitter does not distract from the strong characterizations that drive the play. Jonson's balance of theatrical convention and innovation, of commedia del arte tradition and English muscularity, invites comparison more to Moliere than to Shakespeare. Volpone is widely considered by critics to be Jonson's best play: the one in which his formal and human concerns achieve their most perfect balance.

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