Act I

When the play opens, Volpone and Mosca are discussing the great wealth that Volpone has amassed and that he enjoys seeing and touching. Volpone has no family and no heirs, and he enjoys the game of acquiring riches far more then he does the actual wealth he amasses. Volpone is in excellent health, but when his first visitor is announced, the lawyer Voltore, Volpone quickly feigns grave illness for his visitor, who has brought Volpone an expensive gift. Mosca suggests that Volpone is due to die at any moment and that if Voltore visits often, each time with an expensive gift, Voltore will inherit all Volpone's wealth. After Voltore departs, Volpone and Mosca repeat their performance for the next visitor, the miser Corbaccio. After Corbaccio leaves, Corvino enters, and the routine is repeated, with Corvino convinced that he will inherit, just as the two previous visitors...