Extension of Volpone’s Horizon: Digital Appropriation and Serres’ Parasite Discourse

This paper explores Jacobean Volpone appropriations through online remediations such as DVDs, streaming platforms, YouTube clips, and reviews on digital platforms. It also analyzes Serre’s discourse on parasites, concluding that Jacobean Volpone is expanding its externality in the postmodern era. Before delving into the movie analysis, the paper investigates various adaptations of Volpone across plays, movies, musicals, and operas. Focusing on the Stage on Screen production directed by Freeston and Serre’s postmodern analysis of parasitism, the paper examines the dynamics between the host, Volpone, and the server, Mosca. Mosca, as a server, plays the role of a parasitic disruptor, breaking the flow of messages and creating a new system that generates a unique atmosphere for the host’s pleasures. Additionally, Mosca acts as a thermal exciter, inciting the parasites vying for Volpone’s inheritance to engage in competition. Ultimately, all the parasites, including Volpone himself, are subjected to punishment.