Ben JonsonVerified

A comedy first performed in 1610, set in London during a plague. A servant turns his absent master's house into a base for swindling, joining a conman and a prostitute to fleece greedy clients who hope to find the philosopher's stone.

A comedy in which a rich Venetian, Volpone, pretends to be dying to deceive three men who hope to inherit. With his servant Mosca he builds ever more elaborate schemes, which grow dangerous when he desires a beautiful woman.