A close reading of Ben Jonson's play Volpone in the light of its little-known links with the sensational Gunpowder Plot.

Introduction; 1. Jonson's life and the Epistle to Volpone; 2. Commendatory verses and 'metempsychosis'; 3. 'Sir Pol': dating, identification and satiric method; 4. Volpone and beast fable; 5. Volpone's Venice; 6. Patronage, plotting, and diabolic possession in the 'main-' and 'bye-plots'; Conclusions and aftermath.