Muchstudied and frequently performed these comedies by the great Elizabethan playwright Ben Jonson satirize the greed mendacity gullibility and pretension of seventeenthcentury 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 mans 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 philosophers 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 authors novel approach to satire and his distinctive blend of savagery humor moralism and a powerful sense of the absurd