Jonson's Tortoise and Avian

Studies of Jonson's use of beast fables in Volpone have elucidated the action of much of the play while throwing little light on the interactions of Politic Wouldbe and Peregrine, and especially on Politic's futile attempt to hide himself in the tortoise-shell.' Two recent articles have sought to clarify the play's tortoise symbolism, but have not located beast fable analogues for the event in question. The better of these articles, by Ian Donaldson, divides the tortoise symbolism into three categories: the representation of policy, used ironically here by Jonson; the representation of silence, with justice being done to the ridiculously garrulous Sir Pol; and the representation of the virtue of keeping at home, a quality of the chaste woman which can be seen as one of the central themes of the play. 2