The Jacobean Context: An Overview

Elizabeth I died in 1603 and James VI of Scotland became James I of England. The play was written in 1605, so falls into the Jacobean period (after Jacobus, Latin for James). In the wider European literary and political contexts, the period is the waning of the High Renaissance. Historians today call it Early Modern because many features of it are recognizably modern while being early in the evolutions that shaped our world.

The new king, ruling until 1625, was of the Scottish family the Stuarts. They were a dynastic disaster. None was an effective king. James I, a learned man but a flawed ruler, shirked the routines of work government involved; disliked contact with his people; was extravagant, constantly in debt and in perpetual conflict with Parliament; was a hard- line right- winger in religion who backed the repression of Catholics and Puritans; drank heavily and was impulsive and tactless. Sir Anthony Weldon, courtier and politician, banished from court for a book criticizing the Scots, dubbed him ‘the wisest fool in Christendom’. The epithet captures something of the discrepancy between his writings on political theory and his practice as a lazy man only intermittently engaged with his role. London celebrated with bonfires when he succeeded peacefully. His apparent engagement with his regal duties generated hope, reflected in the mass of appalling, sycophantic eulogistic verse published. During the 15 March 1603 royal procession through the City two St Paul's choristers sang of London as Troynovant (New Troy), no longer a city but a bridal chamber, suggesting a mystical union and new hope.

This sense of promise soon evaporated when his failings and inconsistencies quickly emerged. Volpone is underpinned by concerns about rule (or misrule) of self and others. The central character is a magnifico from the governing ranks of Venice, thus his misrule of self, his failure to live up to the expectations of his degree, is a significant theme running throughout the play. The moral failings of the other characters too relate to their social positions and become a part of the general criticism.

The previous monarch, Elizabeth, a Tudor, much loved and respected, had been a strong ruler, indeed strong enough to suppress the addressing of many problems which by James I's time had become irresolvable.