Metzger has a Ph.D., and specializes in literature and drama at The University of New Mexico, where she is a Visiting Lecturer in the English Department and an Adjunct Professor in the University Honors Program. In the following essay, she discusses the role of Venice in Ben Jonson's Volpone.

The setting for Ben Jonson's Volpone, is Venice. Many Renaissance playwrights, including William Shakespeare, used Venice as a setting for their plays, since this location represented, what many Englishmen considered to be the world's center of vice and debauchery. But, it can be argued that Jonson used Venice better than any other playwright because he depicted it in greater detail. This detail was essential, since Jonson used several of the myths associated with Venice its sexuality, its wealth, and its corruption. Ralph Cohen, in his essay, "The Setting of Volpone,'' points out that Venice is...