Re-exploring the Non-humans: Mirroring
Speciesism and Racism in Ben Jonson’s Volpone
Tanjina
Binte Amin,
Lecturer,
State University of Bangladesh,
Dhaka,
Bangladesh.
Abstract: The term “speciesism” refers to a form of discrimination
favouring individuals or groups who belong to a particular species against
other individuals or groups who do not belong to that particular species. The
belief that non-human beings do not belong to the species “Homo Sapiens” is a
crucial reason behind human’s discriminating treatments to them. Human
propagated many racial prejudices, leading the human world to set comparisons
and discrimination among animal species. Ben Jonson’s beast fable Volpone reflects
the foibles of society, where characters are animals in human shapes. In this
play, human attributes are infused in animals, and their characteristics are
depicted based on traditional beliefs about them. All the dark vices of human
like avarice, lust, and deception, have been displayed by animals based on
stereotypes and superstitions. This paper endeavors to re-read the play and
shed light on the superiority of humans, while also portraying racial
discrimination among animals throughout the play. While anthropocentrism
celebrates human-centeredness, non-anthropocentrism holds that non-human beings
also possess intrinsic values, and this belief is highly important for
establishing environmental ethics. Therefore, this paper examines and
exemplifies speciesism and racism underlying the play by reading it from a
non-anthropocentric perspective.
Keywords: Speciesism, racism,
anthropocentrism, non-anthropocentrism, discrimination.
Introduction:
Morality and
ethics have always been considered as inherent qualities of Homo Sapiens or human beings. As a result,
from the emergence of literature to the present day, humans tend to portray
their flaws and vices through animal characters in literary world. In different
literary pieces of the classical, medieval, and Renaissance period, and even in
Shakespearean literature, animals are connoted as negative entities, and
associated with stereotypes most often(Baker 5). Environmental ethics is an
evolving concept that claims that “we
humans are not so 'enlightened' as once supposed, not until we reach a more
considerate ethic”(Rolston 1). It holds that human beings have moral responsibilities
towards nature and non-humans. On the other hand, the anthropocentric belief that only human beings are valuable and that
they can exploit all natural resources for their survival and well-being poses
a significant threat to the establishment of environmental ethics. This study
is conducted through a thorough reading and deeper analysis of Ben Jonson’s Volpone (Jonson) and explores how non-humans
are represented in anthropocentric literary narratives.
Volpone
is a Jacobean play that depicts a materialistic society, replete with
Renaissance ideals, in which money is a cult and morality is severely
endangered. Jonson here portrays human follies and moral crisis using animal
names and features. This paper examines whether these animals are connected to
the human virtues and vices they represent in the text, and reflects on how
representing human flaws through animal features might be perceived from moral
perspectives.
Theoretical Framework:
Human beings maltreat the members of other
species for different purposes, and humans mete out all kinds of injustice to
one another. The reason behind the oppression of non-humans is the inherent
belief that human beings are the superior species in the world, which is
defined as speciesism. “Speciesism is the unjustified disadvantageous
consideration or treatment of those that are not classified as belonging to one
or more particular species based on species membership alone” (Horta 4). We kill animals
for different purposes. We kill them for food, clothes, and other necessities.
We tame them, depriving them of their freedom, of wild life, and domesticate
them as pets. We use them for many dangerous medical experiments every day. Our
likes and dislikes of animals are based on age-old superstitions and myths
about them. We do all these because of our belief that they do not possess the
qualities and capacities as humans possess. The idea working behind this belief
is that morality and ethics only belong to the human world and work in
human-to-human relationships. “We do not subject animals to different moral
treatment simply because they have fur and feathers, but because they are in
fact different from human beings in ways that could be morally relevant” (Steinbock 247).
It is
important to keep in mind that speciesism is a different idea from racism,
despite having some common features between them. The term ‘racism’ has a close
association with the concept of equality. “The demand for human equality is a
demand that the interests of all human beings be considered equally, unless
there is a moral justification for not doing so” (Steinbock 247). Since human beings differ in many qualities, it is hard
to ensure human equality even in every group or tribe of human. So, where the
idea of equality is in great threat, racism is inevitable. Racism is a form of prejudice that generally includes
negative emotional reactions to members of a group, acceptance of negative
stereotypes, and racial discrimination against individuals; in some cases, it
can lead to violence(American Psychological Association). The speciesist attitude of human beings provokes racial
treatment towards animals. Membership in the species homo sapiens in itself has
no special moral significance, but rather the fact that all men are humans
serves as a reminder that being human involves the possession of morally
relevant characteristics(Williams 115). Thus, racism is a concept or practice that is not
limited to human relationships and is also applicable to human-animal
relationships. As a result, not only do human beings discriminate against
animals because of their superiority over them, but they also practice various
forms of racial discrimination by placing one animal species over another.
Discussion:
Homo Sapiensor more precisely modern human
beings share their origins with Apes, Monkeys, Chimpanzees who belong to the
same order of mammals called primates. Modern human is the outcome of million
years long evolutionary history that led human to be emerged as a distinct
species from its animal origin(Wood 115).By the development of civilization, humans established
their own cultures and religions in different regions of the world, and because
of their physical as well as intellectual differences with other biological
species they started to forget their animalistic origin. Since some religions
believe in the supremacy of human beings over other species, humans love to
distance themselves from nonhumans physically and mentally and exploit them for
serving their own interests in spite of having animal origins (Dhont et al. 32). Humans tend to consider them as subjects and treat the
non-human animals as objects what is reflected in literature through the usage
of animal metaphors and images, mostly in beast fables. As John Simons wrote of
the beast fable:
“Although
the fable is a narrative which operates entirely via the representational
strategy of anthropomorphism, there is no stage at which a reader can doubt, or
is invited to doubt, that what he or she is being offered is a tale which
explores the human condition. Thus, the role of animals in the fable is almost
irrelevant. They are merely vehicles for the human and are not, in any way,
presented as having physical or psychological existence in their own right. …
From the point of view of this study, therefore, the fable has little to offer
and can teach us nothing about the deeper relationships between the human and
the non-human”(Simons 01).
When a
human commits any cruel or violent acts, we call the criminal a brute and the
crime a brutal crime. To designate an individual as a brute suggests that the
action exceeds the boundary of humanness and is associated with animalistic
behaviour. Literature represents lived realities, and it is important to note
that historically literary narratives are shaped by an anthropocentric framework,
articulated by humans and for human audiences. Language plays a very
significant role in reflecting the human-animal relationship in both real life
and literature. In the literature of different regions of the world and of
different periods, the collocation of animals with crimes as well as vices is
very common. From the beginning of early modernity, images of criminals as
beasts or animal metaphors integrate animality, class, and race to certain
humans (Herbrechter 3). Associating animals with evil and vice is a rhetorical
way of dehumanization and suggests that animals are inferior and dangerous.
Thus, animality is not merely used as a descriptive device but as an
ideological tool to reinforce social hierarchies and justify exclusion and
control.
Speciesism through the portrayal of animal characters:
In Volpone, Jonson portrays human
attitudes, behaviors, good and bad qualities through animal characters vividly.
Throughout the play, Jonson reflects human subjecthood and superiority as the
reasons behind speciesist attitudes of human. This paper investigates the
satirical representation of human avarice, lust and hypocrisy through the lens
of environmental ethics. Beast fables are mostly written to deliver a moral
message through entertainment. They present animalized characters with the
stereotypical ideas and superstitions existing in our society from the very outset
of civilization. For instance, a fox traditionally symbolizes cunningness,
greed, deception through disguise, fooling its preys and so on. Jonson also
presents his main character, Volpone, as a greedy worshiper of gold and wealth
who feigns to gain more from his legacy hunters. As we can see in the first
line, Volpone says, “Good morning to the day: and next, my gold! Open the
shrine, that I may see my saint!”(Jonson 61). Here, Jonson portrays the materialistic greed of
Renaissance man through the character Volpone, or the fox. Renaissance humanism
celebrates individual freedom, will power and desire. Also, it supports the
Machiavellian ideology that “the end justifies the means”. Generally, foxes do
various tricks to chase or fool their prey for their survival. On the other
hand, in this highly competitive and capitalistic world, human beings are
deceiving one another for personal gain. Therefore, the purpose of deceiving
others is not the same for humans and foxes or other animals.
Mosca
is the most influential character in Volpone.
In the play, Mosca is a fly, and flies are generally known as “demonic food
polluters” as well as insects dependent on other species for living(Man He 534). Here, Jonson represents parasitism through the
character, Mosca, connecting it with extreme flattery. In plays like Volpone
and The Alchemist, Jonson reflects his contemporary Jacobean society,
driven by greed and corruption, where the culture of patronizing and flattering
was remarkably dominant. Volpone is an aristocratic patron, and Mosca is his
parasite who used to grovel before his patron and flatter other characters to
achieve his personal goals. As Dutton says, “Mosca’s presence alongside Volpone
for so much of the play serves to help humiliation upon the grand and usually
complacent patron”(Dutton 150).
Voltore
is introduced as a greedy vulture who is a lawyer and one of Volpone’s legacy
hunters. Vultures have power of smelling things from near and distant places
and a vulture is the one to arrive first(Man He 535). Jonson associates this power of acute smelling with the
animalized character Voltore, who does not hesitate to stigmatize his noble
profession for legacy hunting. Corbaccio is portrayed as a “filthy great raven”
who deprives his own son of his inheritance(Dutton 186). This is a familiar concept about ravens that they
neglect their offsprings. Corbaccio also lacks fatherly affection for his son
Bonario in the play. Corvino is another carrion bird whose hypocrisy reaches to
the peak when he forces his wife to share bed with Volpone. Deception, threat,
cheat, these are the commonly connoted words that describe the nature of birds
like crows or ravens. Lady Politic represents a talkative parrot who is another
legacy-hunter of Volpone. She has a red glow in her lips and cheeks, which sets
a similarity with parrots and also symbolizes her vanity of external beauty as
well as intellectual shallowness. In animal fables, parrots are prominently known
for their over curiosity as well as mimicking others to draw attention(Man He 535).
Jonson
associates his characters with animals on the basis of our conventional
concepts about those animals, which are accepted and believed by human beings
from the outset of civilization. We know foxes are cunning and tricky, flies
are polluters, vultures are cruel, and crows and ravens are deceitful. But they
were created as such; all these characteristics are inherent in them. They do
all these for eating, feeding, breeding, and most importantly for surviving in
a hostile environment where they are the victims of human beings and of each
other also. As Ayala says, this is a human belief that only humans are created
with reason and knowledge, and human is believed to be the embodiment of moral
values and ethics(Ayala 9018).Corruption and
flattery are not essentially needed for human survival: rather, humans do these
in different socio-economic and institutional contexts. These acts are most
often driven by high ambition that leads individuals to follow unethical means
such as bribery or trickery to meet their self-interests. Such actions reflect
not an inherent necessity but the violation of ethical laws in the social
systems where opportunism is rewarded over ethics. Here lie the stark differences
between the purposes of humans and nonhuman animals. While it is a question of
survival and fulfilling basic needs in case of animals, it can be a mere
purpose of getting more riches in case of human beings. Yet, when a man commits
crime, acts cruelly or violently, he becomes entitled as “inhuman”, “brutal”
and “animalistic”. So, human connotes all these negative wordswith animals to
indicate the darker aspects of their own personalities and this connotation has
been legetimised by human both in reality and literature. By bringing out the
darkest natures of human through nonhuman animal characters, the play also
reflects the speceisist attitude of human beings using a human-dominated
narrative that exposes the power dynamics underlying in human-animal
relationships. The radical change of human beings through complex evolutionary
processes lifted them up to an intellectual level higher than other species.
Their rational faculty and intellectual power lead them to see the natural
world from an anthropocentric lens. Jonson’s evocative representation of
non-human characters in an anthropocentric narrative show show human celebrates
their supremacy over others forgetting their animal root.
Speciesism in Thematic Representations:
Ben Jonson’s Volpone is undoubtedly a
miniature form of Jacobean society, where he exhibits all the follies,
eccentricities, and immoralities of his contemporary society. He draws a vivid
picture of human avarice, fraudulence, flattery, deceit, lust, and other ill
motifs through the story of a fox and his parasite.
Among many important themes, avarice is the
one that works as the leading force throughout the play. This refers to human
desire for accumulating more and more wealth, which has been a focal point of
writers since Greek antiquity and the myth of Midas’ lust for gold (Rawashdeh 27). The play starts with Volpone opening his box of gold
and worshipping it, addressing as “Dear saint”.
“Dear
saint,
Riches,
the dumb god that giv’st all men tongues;
That
canst do nought and yet mak’st men do all things;
The
price of souls;”(Jonson 61)
Here Volpone puts the gold in a godlike
position, which can give men the power of saying what cannot be said or of
doing what is impossible to be done.
In
Mosca’s reply he says,
“Riches
are in fortune
A
greater good than wisdom is in nature”(Jonson 62)
This
line shows that man prioritizes riches over wisdom, indicating the moral
decadence of human beings. Material aspirations lead humans to overshadow
wisdom, which should not be perceived merely as an essential human attribute,
but also a cultivated practice. Literary representations often use animal
metaphors to show greed and excess. But it is important to note that these
practices are not essentially animalistic but outcomes of human instinctual,
undisciplined, and uncontrolled nature.
Jonson’s
attempt to visualise animal victimisation by human beings also becomes visible
in the dialogues throughout the play. When Volpone says, “I use no trade, no
venture; I wound no earth with ploughshares; fat no beasts to feed the
shambles;”(Jonson 62), it suggests man’s consumption of animals in various
unethical ways such as fattening cattle by applying harmful medicines as well
as antibiotics to increase profitability and productivity in the commercial
world. In the capitalistic world, the primary purpose of livestock companies is
not to produce food, but to earn money(Gunderson 261). This is undeniable that by the emergence of industrial
revolution, materialistic greed became the culprit behind animal sufferings.
This line by Volpone also indicates the dishonest and tricky nature of human
beings to make money by exploiting animals.
The
play Volpone shows how excessive greed make people blind to morality and
how they are possessed by monstrous grip of avarice which gradually ruin their
ethical sense and conscience. As Mosca says, “each of them is so possessed and
stuffed with his own hopes”. In Volpone’s language, avarice is “like a
temptation of the devil”(Jonson 153). Jonson also puts light on the triviality of legal
systems in his play by showing their ignorance to truth and consciences.
The
most vivid expression of human avarice through animal metaphors comes through
Volpone saying these lines,
“O,
I shall have instantly my vulture, crow,
Raven
come flying hither, on the news,
To
peck for carrion, my she-wolf and all,
Greedy
and full of expectation”(Jonson 155)
Jonson
creates different sets of characters to portray human avarice in the play.
Corbaccio, Corvino and Voltore are the agents whom Volpone uses to reach his
evil goals. Bonario and Celia are the only faithful characters who are
masterfully created by Jonson to make a contrast with the evil characters.
Finally, Volpone and Mosca are the leading avaricious characters who entrap all
the characters deceitfully. Disappointment of his clients becomes the reason of
Volpone’s happiness and laughter which determines him as a vice-liking person (Rawashdeh 60).
Lust is
another human attribute which is also portrayed in the play by inscribing it in
animal characters. Volpone’s extreme sexual desire is reflected in such a way
that it seems like non-human animals are more libidinous than human. While
human are the living beings known for raping, assaulting or forcefully
fulfilling their sexual desires, animals are depicted as symbols of nasty
sexual desires of human in literary narratives. Jonson sketches his character
Volpone as a libidinous one whose “liver melts” with “an ambitious fire” and
who earnestly desires Celia, wife of Corvino. We see Bonario calling Volpone a
“libidinous swine” and Celia herself says that “it is a vice comes nearer manliness”(Jonson 125).
Beside
avarice and lustfulness, there are other human vices vividly shown through
non-human animals in Volpone. Flattery, groveling, manipulation,
deceitfulness and other human follies are masterfully presented through the
non-human characters. The fox shows his wickedness saying that he is “playing
with their hopes” and his deceitfulness is strongly expressed when he says,
“Vulture,
kite, raven, and gorcrow, all my birds of prey
That
think me turning carcass, now they come:
I
am not for them yet.”(Jonson 66)
In
these lines, the darker aspects of the human world are visualized symbolically
through the birds of prey who run after carrion blindly. Humans victimize each
other to gain success in this materialistic world. Deceit as a thematic aspect
becomes livelier through Mosca’s verbal fraudulence. Mosca’s flattering every
legacy hunter sets his similarity with flies’ humming and polluting places from
place to place.
“All,
sir; ‘tis your right, your own; no man
Can
claim a par: ‘tis yours without a rival,
Decreed
be destiny.”(Jonson 74)
The
above lines are said by Mosca to Corbaccio in such a way as if Corbaccio would
be the heir of Volpone for sure. Mosca became an unconventional villain in
English literature because of his skillful manipulation of language. Not by
using physical force or overt authority like traditional villains, Mosca
practices power through his wit and strategic language. Mosca plays a crucial
role in the play, who was always engaged in following Volpone’s shrewd
instructions and to “pour oil into their ears, and send them hence”. As Volpone
says, “When they e’en gape, and find themselves deluded”, it clearly expresses
that tormenting the carrion birds became a source of entertainment for both
Volpone and Mosca.
Not
only Volpone and Mosca but also other characters expose the darker aspects of
human nature throughout the play. Corvino’s cowardice and disloyalty come to
light when he forces his wife to share bed with old Volpone out of greed.
Voltore’s greed and falsehood led him to dishonour his noble profession. Corbaccio’s
cruelty reaches to the peak when he plans to disinherit his own son. In short,
Jonson portrays almost all the follies and complexities of human relationships
through animal characters selected based on the stereotypical concepts about
them. Butour world and nature show that despite being the best creature, human
beings violate the ethics and order mostly. Wearing the mask of civilization,
they are causing violence, bloodshed, and war throughout the world. Only humans
oppress their own species and others existing in the world for serving their
own interests, demands or happiness. Justice has always been threatened in
human hands. Jonson being a moralist wanted to show us the moral decadence of
human beings and the superiority they possess which leads them to forget or
ignore their own animalistic origin. In this satiric play, animal images are
mocked for the vices which are human qualities in reality. We enjoy the myths
and antics of animals but treat them with contempt(Man He 237). Since speciesism denotes the discriminating treatment
towards others who do not belong to the same species, human’s maltreatment towards
animals in real life and literary narratives are the outcomes of their
speciesist attitude. Speciesism has played a significant role in debates about
the moral consideration of non-human animals (Horta 6–10). Human tendency
of concealing their own faults by collocating those with non-human animals is
well-exhibited in the play Volpone.
Racism in Volpone:
The termracism has a close association with the
concept of equality. This paper also delves deep into the inequalities and
prejudices existing in the play. Jonson chose animal characters to reflect a
human society, and among these animal characters, a hierarchy or chain of being
is noticeable. Because of their ability of playing tricks and manipulating
others, Volpone and Mosca belong to the superior class among animals. On the
other hand, carrion birds belong to the class of lower beasts(Man He 535). This discriminating hierarchy shows that all animals
are not equal to humans.
A
dichotomy of superiority-inferiority is clearly traceable in the play. Being
the master, Volpone holds a superior position while Mosca is always treated as
an inferior slave. Not only Volpone, but also other characters such as Voltore,
Corbaccio or Corvino show superiority over the character Mosca due to their
social status. Addressing Mosca as parasite indicates the enslavement of him by
the rich fox and his legacy hunters. The characters Nano and Castrone who used
to amuse Volpone are also represented as inferior characters. Showing them as
dwarf and eunuch, Jonson perhaps tends to portray the racial treatment of human
beings towards dwarfs and eunuchs though they belong to the species Homo
Sapiens too. Nano is introduced as a dwarf and he is an amusing character whom
we can call Volpone’s fool. Throughout history, dwarfs have been culturally
represented as a popular form of entertainment in media narratives for their
distinctive appearances and they have been maltreated by society for their
disabilities
Discrimination
on the basis of sex is probably the last universally accepted form of
discrimination that has been practiced by a male-dominated society against
racial minorities, which means women(Singer 1). We can see two women characters in Volpone are
represented as victims of patriarchy. Celia is a voiceless character who is
dominated and oppressed by her over-possessive husband, Corvino. She was forced
to sacrifice her honour to meet the greed and desire of a male-dominated
society. “Celia is objectified both by
her husband Corvino and Volpone, for whom Celia is like his gold” (Kurtuluş 24). Lady Politic is presented as a typical and ignored
character throughout the play. She is given all the typical characteristics
which are believed as stereotypical women's attributes in society, such as
flippancy, flattery, vanity, etc. In these ways, the play shows how humans
place an animal species over another and also reflects racial prejudices based
on superiority, gender, and physical features.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, by
mirroring human follies and vices through animal figures powerfully, Jonson not
only represents a particular period but also reflects a common scenario of all
ages. Through the vivid portrayal of avarice, parasitism, corruption, lust and
other darker aspects of human behaviour and thoughts, Jonson’s Volpone elucidates
that sense of superiority and chain of being are the principal factors working
behind the marginalization of both human and non-human others. Jonson’s
unconventional animal fable exhibits the way Speciesism and the supremacy of
human affects the human-animal relation and underscore the ethical
consequences. Human and animal are two essential entities of the world. Without
an equal and non-discriminating human-animal relation, a happy and safe world
cannot be imagined. Ultimately, the play invites readers to question
established prejudices and to think morally and ethically while interacting,
treating, and representing the animals in literature and in the real world.
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