This paper aims at studying the narrative functions of the stack
Chorus in selected English Renaissance plays: Christopher
Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, Ben
Jonson's Volpone. This study offers a close reading of the spee
ches
delivered by the Chorus, and shows their narration of the events and
their moral commentaries. This emphasizes their didactic
significance because they sum up the events, interpret the vague
ones and endorse the play's desired message . this paper concludes
that Jonson develops the stock Chorus by having recourse to other
characters who perform this communicative and didactic role. Here
lies Jonson's contribution to this conventional figure.
