What this play provides is avarice at it’s purest form. Each of the characters are flawed by not just their desire to acquire greater wealth, but by the lengths they will go to, and actions they are willing to take, in order to gain their financial desires. It is not that the reflection of greed in men is so startling- it’s the implications these actions have on the characters in the end. Jonson wrote this play with the intention of reflecting these characters greed as something to be looked down upon.
My question rests in whether or not these actions themselves are so vile, or if the way they are delivered in this play’s context are? Take the Ocean’s Eleven films. When we watch greed, corruption, stealing, lying, disguising oneself so to gain monetary surplus, we generally celebrated the men who did this. Due to the intricacy of the plan we watch unravel, we find excitement in theft. But when we watch Volpone and Mosca plan and execute ways of tricking people so to gain money, we find it appalling.
Does anyone truly believe that ANY of the characters involved in the Ocean’ Eleven heist were in dire need of money? Quite the opposite in the case of Danny Ocean who, portrayed as a man who has pulled off enough heists in his past, undoubtably has a comfortable amount in the bank.
What I’m saying is that the audience’s interpretation of who should be vilified is the direct result of Jonson’s personal thoughts of “greed.” He wants everyone to look immoral, so he makes them seem evil, sneaky, unlikeable, etc.; and if we didn’t get his message by the characters’ interactions, he made sure to have them all be punished in some way at the end. What we see in the Ocean’s films are characters’ being portrayed as cool, suave, charismatic, sexy, funny, likable, clever, intelligent, etc.; and if we didn’t get the message by the characters’ interactions, the movie ends with everyone of them getting away with the heist and making an exorbitant amount of money.
Perhaps we view these acts of avarice different in the Ocean’s films because it is a group of people conning and stealing from a large institution (Casino.) Maybe it’s because it appears that no one is directly being hurt or victimized by the groups’ actions. Essentially I just see a stark difference in how an audience is meant to perceive the immorality and con-artists, and that is the direct result of the playwright, or screenplay writer’s, intention.
A final thought I have on this topic... do you think the celebration of con-artists seen in the Ocean’s films would have been well-received during Jonson’s time? Is this type of screenplay the reflection of a more socially accepted and more deeply rooted prevalence of avarice in modern society?
Allison, as I started reading your post, I thought to myself that perhaps why we are in favor of the Ocean's men is because the film portrays the casino's owner in such a negative light. So I agree with your statement about the conning being towards a large institution. You make a great overall point, and I think that greed is absolutely the overwhelming theme to the play. It seemed every time you began to like a character, Jonson threw in a negative, selfish characteristic.
ReplyDeleteThis rumination was so interesting to me! I never even made the connection between Volpone and current movies like Ocean's Eleven. The main difference is that Volpone is a satire, while in Ocean's Eleven the characters are treated like legitimate people that the audience is supposed to sympathize with. This is really telling, because (as you said) there's a level of admiration instilled in the audience while watching Ocean's Eleven. On the other hand, in Volpone the audience is being told indirectly that the greed of the characters is ridiculous. I think that the main difference is that Ocean's Eleven wasn't really made for any kind of moralistic purposes - audiences like heists, so Hollywood made them a movie about a heist. I'm sure that during Volpone's time, there were also plays that existed with no moralistic purposes or themes, but simply for entertainment. I think that greed was still pretty prevalent in Volpone's day, which is why he wrote a whole play about it. There are many recent movies that also criticize the greed of modern life, just like Volpone's play did in his time.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading Volpone I also thought of Oceans 11, and ultimately cast Danny Ocean, George Clooney as Volpone in my modern day cast. I was very excited to read your rumination to see the connects you saw. I also think the reason we sympathize with the characters in Ocean 11 is the negative light that casinos are presented in.
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