{"product_id":"volpone-and-the-alchemist","title":"Volpone and The Alchemist","description":"Much-studied and frequently performed, these comedies by the great Elizabethan playwright Ben Jonson satirize the greed, mendacity, gullibility, and pretension of seventeenth-century London society. Both plays abound in colorful characters, ingenious plotting, biting wit, and sharp insight into human nature. In Volpone (1605), a crafty rich man attempts to augment his wealth by feigning a mortal illness. His wealthy neighbors, spying the opportunity for an inheritance, vie with each other in courting the “dying” man’s favor. The Alchemist (1610) comprises a likewise avaricious cast, headed by a butler and prostitute who join forces with a swindler claiming to possess the philosopher's stone. The trio hosts a parade of eager victims whose hypocrisy and greed place them on a moral footing similar to that of the tricksters. Both plays offer sparkling examples of their author's novel approach to satire and his distinctive blend of savagery, humor, moralism, and a powerful sense of the absurd.","brand":"Dover Publications","offers":[{"title":"perpetual","offer_id":44458992238689,"sku":"9780486153643","price":1.5,"currency_code":"KWD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0268\/9869\/4241\/files\/480_e4e12a56-0c69-4864-8cb2-f9bbd7814a4e.jpg?v=1778568607","url":"https:\/\/ebooks.aafaqeducation.com\/products\/volpone-and-the-alchemist","provider":"ebook.aafaqeducation","version":"1.0","type":"link"}