Volpone’s queer interlude: Ben Jonson as a rewriter of Lucian of Samosata’s work

Amanda Fiorani Barreto; Leonardo Bérenger Alves Carneiro

doi:10.12957/matraga.2025.90784

Authors

Amanda Fiorani Barreto Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6984-9262
Leonardo Bérenger Alves Carneiro Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8183-0078

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12957/matraga.2025.90784

Keywords:

Ben Jonson, Queer theory, Appropriation, Early modern studies

Abstract

This paper intends to consider Ben Jonson’s (1572-1637) position as an adaptor or appropriator of the Classics, situating his practice in the context of early modern theatre and its production, as well as looking more closely at Act 1, Scene 2 of Volpone, or The Fox (1606) as a case study. To do that, it will make use of Queer Theory (Butler, 2007 [1990]; Carroll, 2012; Sullivan; 2003), considering non-conforming characters and/or situations, as established by the cis-heterosexual matrix; Early Modern Studies (Bentley, 1971; Orgel, 1991; Masten, 1997; Smith, 2022), delineating the different understanding of authorship during the period, compared to today’s; Translation Studies (Lefevere, 2016 [1992]), considering the creation of an image of a given author in a given polysystem; and Adaptation/Appropriation Studies (Hutcheon; O’Flynn, 2012; Sanders, 2022), contrasting the fields’ current understanding of adaptation and appropriation and, consequently, of authorship, and the early modern period’s. Act 1, Scene 2 of Volpone features an interlude by the main character’s so-called “bastard children” — Androgyno, Castrone and Nano — and is a scene that is commonly cut from recent productions of the play. This paper intends to underscore this scene’s queerness, both in and of itself, but also in Jonson’s practice as a rewriter, questioning whether he adapted or appropriated Lucian of Samosata’s work in 1.2 of the play.

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Author Biographies

Amanda Fiorani Barreto, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)

PhD candidate (2024-2028) in Language Studies at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) with a scholarship from CNPq. Her ongoing research aims to identify queerness in Ben Jonson's plays. She also completed her Master's (2020-2022) at PUC-Rio with the FAPERJ 10 scholarship, which rewards academic performance. Her dissertation discussed the works of Ben Jonson (1572-1637) in Brazil, analysing translations, adaptations, stagings and appropriations of his works in Brazilian Portuguese, highlighting his published works in Brazil. She holds undergraduate degrees in Teaching Portuguese/English and Related Literatures and Translation English-Brazilian Portuguese (2013-2019), also from PUC-Rio. During her undergraduate degree, she completed a year-long exchange program at The University of Warwick (2017-2018), further studying the English Renaissance, seventeenth-century literature and the works of Ben Jonson. Her areas of interest are Literature, English Early Modern Theatre, Theatre and Translation.

Leonardo Bérenger Alves Carneiro, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)

Professor do Departamento de Letras da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), onde atua na Graduação e no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos da Lin- guagem (PPGEL), no âmbito da Linha de Pesquisa “Linguagem, Sentido e Tradução”. Exerce também a função de Diretor Brasileiro do Instituto Confucius da PUC-Rio. Doutor (UFRJ) em Letras, desenvolve pesquisa no campo dos Estudos Shakespearianos, em diálogo com os Estudos de Tradução e as Teorias Queer. É membro da International Shakespeare Association (Shakespeare Institute/Universidade de Birmingham), coordena o Grupo de Pesquisa (GrPesq) “Por uma historiografia das traduções e adaptações do cânone shakespeariano”, além de integrar o GrPesq “Shakespeare e as modernidades” e o GT da Anpoll “Dramaturgia e Teatro”. Vem pu- blicando capítulos e artigos geralmente focados na dramaturgia shakespeariana e seus diálogos com as Teorias Queer, da Tradução e da Adaptação. Afiliado: PPGEL/PUC-Rio

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