Volpone's Gold
When Volpone is admiring his shrine at the beginning of the play, he speaks to it as if it is a divine or all-powerful being. In this speech, he uses a series of similes, saying the shrine "Show'st like a flame by night; or like the day / Struck out of chaos, when all darkness fled / Unto the center" (1.1). Here, Volpone compares his gold to fire in darkness or the emergence of daylight, emphasizing the power he believes his wealth holds.
Celia's Worth
When Mosca describes Celia to Volpone, he does so using a simile. He says, "A wench of the first year ... Bright as your gold, and lovely as your gold!" (1.5). Here, Mosca compares Celia to Volpone's gold, communicating her beauty to Volpone through the only language Volpone is able to understand: money.
Judge's Caution
At the end of the play, the Judge who deals the punishment to Volpone and the legacy-hunters warns the characters and the audience about the corruptible power of vice. He says, "Mischiefs feed Like beasts. / Till they be fat, and then they bleed" (5.12). Here, the Judge uses a simile to compare vice to a gluttonous beast that will eventually eat itself to death or be killed.
Volpone
Because of the beast fable at the heart of the play, Volpone himself is a metaphor for the character he represents: the fox. Foxes in literature are associated with slyness, subtlety, cleverness, and stealth. As such, Volpone is characterized as a sneaky conman who dupes the legacy-hunters into thinking he is sick and ailing. Morality ultimately prevails, however, as Volpone is punished for his cunning but greedy behavior.
Volpone's Disease
Toward the end of the play, Volpone's diseases he purports to have become a metaphorical manifestation of his vice. When Volpone says, " 'Fore God, my left leg began to have the cramp" (5.1), he not only suffers a physical ailment but also begins to suffer the consequences of his moral failings.
