The Alchemist | play by Jonson | Britannica.com play by Jonson Hamlet The Alchemist, comedy in five acts by Ben Jonson , performed in 1610 and published in 1612. The play concerns the turmoil of deception that ensues when Lovewit leaves his London house in the care of his scheming servant, Face. With the aid of a fraudulent alchemist named Subtle and his companion, Dol Common, Face sets about dispensing spurious charms and services to a steady stream of dupes. These include the intemperate knight Sir Epicure Mammon, the pretentious Puritans Ananias and Tribulation Wholesome, the ambitious tobacconist Abel Drugger, the gamester law clerk Dapper , and the parvenu Kastril with his widowed sister, Pliant. The shrewd gambler Surly nearly exposes the sham by posing as a Spanish don seeking the hand of Pliant, but the gullible parties reject his accusations. When Lovewit reappears without warning, Subtle and Dol flee the scene, leaving Face to make peace by arranging the marriage of his master to the beautiful and wealthy Dame Pliant.

Engraving of a scene from the play The Alchemist (1610) by Ben Jonson. Photos.com/Jupiterimages Ben Jonson June 11?, 1572 London, England August 6, 1637 London English Stuart dramatist, lyric poet, and literary critic. He is generally regarded as the second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I. Among his major plays are the comedies Every Man in His... in English literature: Jonson ...of the villain easily eclipses the sordid legacy hunters whom he deceives; Epicoene (1609) is a noisy farce of metropolitan fashion and frivolity; The Alchemist (1610) exhibits the conjurings and deceptions of clever London rogues; and Bartholomew Fair (1614) draws a rich portrait of city life parading through... in comedy: Rise of realistic comedy in 17th-century England ...of the clever young gentleman who gains his uncle’s inheritance in Epicœne or the one who gains the rich Puritan widow for his wife in Bartholomew Fair.

In Volpone and The Alchemist, the schemes eventually fail, but this is the fault of the manipulators, who will never stop when they are ahead, and not at all due to any insight on the part of the victims. The... 4 References found in Britannica Articles Assorted References place in English literature (in English literature: Jonson ) use of type names (in type name ) External Links Corrections? Updates? Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your feedback. MEDIA FOR: You have successfully emailed this. Error when sending the email. Try again later. Edit Mode Submit Tips For Editing We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Encyclopædia Britannica articles are written in a neutral objective tone for a general audience. You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered. Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources. At the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context.

(Internet URLs are the best.) Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions. Submit Thank You for Your Contribution! Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article. Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed. Uh Oh There was a problem with your submission. Please try again later. Close Date Published: April 09, 2015 URL: Access Date: January 19, 2017 Share Ben Jonson - The Alchemist The Alchemy web site on Levity.com Ben Jonson - The Alchemist Ben Jonson (1573-1637) was one of the foremost of the Jacobean dramatists. He wrote a number of plays (both comedies and tragedies) and a series of stylised masques for the Court. He had a keen eye for the follies of his contemporaries, and in this play he particularly satirises human gullibility.

He displays considerable understanding of alchemy and makes many jokes based on its symbolism (and in two places even refers to Dee and Kelly). He obviously expected the audience for this play to have some knowledge of alchemical ideas. Jonson's The Alchemist written in 1610, thus presents us with a satirical window through which we can see one way in which alchemy was perceived in the opening decade of the 17th century. The characters in the play:- Subtle - The Alchemist. Face - The house-keeper, otherwise Lovewit's butler Jeremy. Dol Common - The conspirator of Subtle and Face. Lovewit - The owner of the house in which Subtle sets up his work. Dapper - A Lawyer's Clerk, who wants Subtle to help him in gambling. Abel Drugger - A Tobacco merchant, who wants Subtle to assist him, through magic in setting up an apothecaries shop. Sir Epicure Mammon - A Knight, who wants Subtle's help in making him wealthy. Tribulation Wholesome - A Pastor of Amsterdam. Ananias - A Deacon, colleague of Tribulation.

These religious brothers want Subtle's help in minting money to help establish Puritanism in Britain. Kastril - The angry boy, recently come into an inheritance. He wants Subtle's help in aiding him to win fights. Dame Pliant - A widow, sister of Kastril, wants to know her fortune in marriage. Pertinax Surly - A Gamester, who sees through the deceptions. Neighbours, Officers, Attendants. The action takes place in Lovewit's house in London, while he is away in the country. If you have problems understanding these alchemical texts, Adam McLean now provides a study course entitled How to read alchemical texts : a guide for the perplexed . Alchemical texts The Alchemist (play) The Alchemist (play) “ David Garrick as Abel Drugger in Jonson’s The Alchemist” by Johann Zoffany . The Alchemist is a comedy by English playwright Ben Jonson . First performed in 1610 by the King’s Men , it is generally considered Jonson’s best and most characteristic comedy; Samuel Taylor Coleridge claimed that it had one of the three most perfect plots in literature.

The play’s clever fulfilment of the classical unities and vivid depiction of human folly have made it one of the few Renaissance plays (except the works of Shakespeare ) with a continuing life on stage (except for a period of neglect during the Victorian era). Contents 9 External links Background The Alchemist premiered 34 years after the first permanent public theatre ( The Theatre ) opened in London; it is, then, a product of the early maturity of commercial drama in London. Only one of the University wits who had transformed drama in the Elizabethan period remained alive (this was Thomas Lodge ); in the other direction, the last great playwright to flourish before the Interregnum , James Shirley , was already a teenager. The theatres had survived the challenge mounted by the city and religious authorities; plays were a regular feature of life at court and for a great number of Londoners. The venue for which Jonson apparently wrote his play reflects this newly solid acceptance of theatre as a fact of city life. In 1597, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men (a.k.a. the King’s Men) had been denied permission to use the theatre in Blackfriars as a winter playhouse because of objections from the neighbourhood’s influential residents.

Some time between 1608 and 1610, the company, now the King’s Men , reassumed control of the playhouse, this time without objections. Their delayed premiere on this stage within the city walls, along with royal patronage, marks the ascendance of this company in the London play-world (Gurr, 171). The Alchemist was among the first plays chosen for performance at the theatre. Jonson’s play reflects this new confidence. In it, he applies his classical conception of drama to a setting in contemporary London for the first time, with invigorating results. The classical elements, most notably the relation between Lovewit and Face, are fully modernised; likewise, the depiction of Jacobean London is given order and direction by the classical understanding of comedy as a means to expose vice and foolishness to ridicule. Synopsis An outbreak of plague in London forces a gentleman, Lovewit, to flee temporarily to the country, leaving his house under the sole charge of his butler, Jeremy. Jeremy uses the opportunity given to him to use the house as the headquarters for fraudulent acts.

He transforms himself into “Captain Face,” and enlists the aid of Subtle, a fellow conman, and Doll Common, a prostitute. The play opens with a violent argument between Subtle and Face concerning the division of the riches which they have, and will continue to gather. Face threatens to have an engraving made of Subtle with a face worse than that of the notorious highwayman Gamaliel Ratsey . Doll breaks the pair apart and reasons with them that they must work as a team if they are to succeed. Their first customer is Dapper, a lawyer’s clerk who wishes Subtle to use his supposed necromantic skills to summon a “familiar” or spirit to help in his gambling ambitions. The tripartite suggest that Dapper may win favour with the “Queen of Fairy,” but he must subject himself to humiliating rituals in order for her to help him. Their second gull is Drugger, a tobacconist, who is keen to establish a profitable business. After this, a wealthy nobleman, Sir Epicure Mammon, arrives, expressing the desire to gain himself the philosopher’s stone , which he believes will bring him huge material and spiritual wealth.

He is accompanied by Surly, a sceptic and debunker of the whole idea of alchemy . He is promised the philosopher’s stone and promised that it will turn all base metal into gold. Surly however, suspects Subtle of being a thief. Mammon accidentally sees Doll and is told that she is a Lord’s sister who is suffering from madness. Subtle contrives to become angry with Ananias, an Anabaptist , and demands that he should return with a more senior member of his sect (Tribulation). Drugger returns and is given false and ludicrous advice about setting up his shop; he also brings news that a rich young widow (Dame Pliant) and her brother (Kastril) have arrived in London. Both Subtle and Face in their greed and ambition seek out to win the widow. The Anabaptists return and agree to pay for goods to be transmuted into gold. These are in fact Mammon’s goods. Dapper returns and is promised that he shall meet with the Queen of Fairy soon. Drugger brings Kastril who, on being told that Subtle is a skilled match-maker, rushes to fetch his sister.

Drugger is given to understand that the appropriate payment might secure his marriage to the widow. Dapper is blindfolded and subjected to ‘fairy’ humiliations; but on the reappearance of Mammon, he is gagged and hastily thrust into the privy. Mammon is introduced to Doll. He has been told that Doll is a nobleman’s sister who has gone mad, but he is not put off, and pays her extravagant compliments. Kastril and his sister come again. Kastril is given a lesson in quarrelling, and the widow captivates both Face and Subtle. They quarrel over who is to have her. Surly returns, disguised as a Spanish nobleman. Face and Subtle believe that the Spaniard speaks no English and they insult him. They also believe that he has come for a woman, but Doll is elsewhere in the building ‘engaged’ with Mammon, so Face has the inspiration of using Dame Pliant. She is reluctant to become a Spanish countess but is vigorously persuaded by her brother to go off with Surly. The tricksters need to get rid of Mammon.

Doll contrives a fit and there is an ‘explosion’ from the ‘laboratory’. In addition, the lady’s furious brother is hunting for Mammon, who leaves. Surly reveals his true identity to Dame Pliant and hopes that she will look on him favourably as a consequence. Surly reveals his true identity to Face and Subtle, and denounces them. In quick succession Kastril, Drugger and Ananias return, and are set on Surly, who retreats. Drugger is told to go and find a Spanish costume if he is to have a chance of claiming the widow. Doll brings news that the master of the house has returned. Lovewit’s neighbours tell him that his house had many visitors during his absence. Face is now the plausible Jeremy again, and denies the accusation—-he has kept the house locked up because of the plague. Surly, Mammon, Kastril and the Anabaptists return. There is a cry from the privy; Dapper has chewed through his gag. Jeremy can no longer maintain his fiction.

He promises Lovewit that if he pardons him, he will help him obtain himself a rich widow (i.e., Dame Pliant). Dapper meets the “Queen of Fairy” and departs happily. Drugger delivers the Spanish costume and is sent to find a parson. Face tells Subtle and Doll that he has confessed to Lovewit, and that officers are on the way; Subtle and Doll have to flee, empty handed. The victims come back again. Lovewit has married the widow and claimed Mammon’s goods; Surly and Mammon depart disconsolately. The Anabaptists and Drugger are summarily dismissed. Kastril accepts his sister’s marriage to Lovewit. Lovewit pays tribute to the ingenuity of his servant, and Face asks for the audience’s forgiveness. Analysis In The Alchemist, Jonson unashamedly satirises the follies, vanities and vices of mankind, most notably greed-induced credulity. People of all social classes are subject to Jonson’s ruthless, satirical wit.

He mocks human weakness and gullibility to advertising and to “miracle cures” with the character of Sir Epicure Mammon, who dreams of drinking the elixir of youth and enjoying fantastic sexual conquests. The Alchemist focuses on what happens when one human being seeks advantage over another. In a big city like London, this process of advantage-seeking is rife. The trio of con-artists – Subtle, Face and Doll – are self-deluding small-timers, ultimately undone by the same human weaknesses they exploit in their victims. Their fate is foreshadowed in the play’s opening scene, which features them together in the house of Lovewit, Face’s master. In a metaphor which runs through the play, the dialogue shows them to exist in uneasy imbalance, like alchemical elements that will create an unstable reaction. Barely ten lines into the text, Face and Subtle’s quarrelling forces Doll to quell their raised voices: “Will you have the neighbours hear you? Will you betray all?” The con-artists’ vanities and aspirations are revealed by the very personae they assume as part of their plan.

The lowly housekeeper, Face, casts himself as a sea captain (a man accustomed to giving orders, instead of taking them), the egotistical Subtle casts himself as an alchemist (as one who can do what no one else can; turn base metal into gold), and Dol Common casts herself as an aristocratic lady. Their incessant bickering is fuelled by vanity, envy and jealousy, the root of which is Subtle’s conviction that he is the key element in the ‘venture tripartite’: FACE: ‘Tis his fault. He ever murmurs and objects his pains, and says the weight of all lies upon him. The ‘venture tripartite’ is as doomed as one of the Roman triumvirates . The play’s end sees Subtle and Dol resume their original pairing, while Face resumes his role as housekeeper to a wealthy master. Significantly, none of the three is severely punished (the collapse of their scheme aside). Jonson’s theatrical microcosm is not a neatly moral one; and he seems to enjoy seeing foolish characters like Epicure Mammon get their comeuppance.

This is why, while London itself is a target of Jonson’s satire, it is also, as his Prologue boasts, a cozening-ground worth celebrating: “Our scene is London, ‘cause we would make known/No country’s mirth is better than our own/No clime breeds better matter for your whore…” The Alchemist is tightly structured, based around a simple dramatic concept. Subtle claims to be on the verge of projection in his offstage workroom, but all the characters in the play are overly-concerned with projection of a different kind: image-projection. The end result, in structural terms, is an onstage base of operations in Friars, to which can be brought a succession of unconsciously-comic characters from different social backgrounds, who hold different professions and different beliefs, but whose lowest common denominator – gullibility – grants them equal victim-status in the end. Dapper, the aspirant gambler, loses his stake; Sir Epicure Mammon loses his money and his dignity; Drugger, the would-be businessman, parts with his cash, but ends up no nearer to the success he craves; the Puritan duo, Tribulation and Ananias, never realise their scheme to counterfeit Dutch money.

Jonson reserves his harshest satire for these Puritan characters—perhaps because the Puritans, in real life, wished to close down the theatres. (Jonson’s play Bartholomew Fair is also anti-Puritan.) Tellingly, of all those gulled in the play, it is the Puritans alone whom Jonson denies a brief moment of his audience’s pity; presumably, he reckons their life-denying self-righteousness renders them unworthy of it. Jonson consistently despises hypocrisy, especially religious hypocrisy that couches its damning judgments in high-flown language. Tribulation and Ananias call their fellow men “heathens” and in one case, say that someone’s hat suggests “the Anti-Christ.” That these Puritans are just as money-hungry as the rest of the characters is part of the ironic joke. In many English and European comedies, it is up to a high-class character to resolve the confusion that has been caused by lower-class characters. In The Alchemist, Jonson subverts this tradition. Face’s master, Lovewit, at first seems to assert his social and ethical superiority to put matters to rights.

But when Face dangles before him the prospect of marriage to a younger woman, his master eagerly accepts. Both master and servant are always on the lookout for how to get ahead in life, regardless of ethical boundaries. Lovewit adroitly exploits Mammon’s reluctance to obtain legal certification of his folly to hold on to the old man’s money. Stage history A scene from a Los Angeles theatre production Internal references indicate that the play was written for performance at Blackfriars; ironically, given its initial scenario, plague forced the company to tour, and The Alchemist premiered at Oxford in 1610, with performance in London later that year. Its success may be indicated by its performance at court in 1613 and again in 1623. Evidence of a more ambiguous kind is presented by the case of Thomas Tomkis ‘s Albumazar, performed for King James I at Cambridge in 1615. A tradition apparently originating with Dryden held that Jonson had been influenced by Tomkis’s academic comedy. Dryden may have mentioned Jonson to increase interest in a somewhat obscure play he was then reviving; he may also have been confused about the dates.

At any rate, the question of influence now runs the other way. Albumazar is, primarily, an adaptation of Giambattista della Porta ‘s “L’Astrologo”; however, both the similarity in subject matter and Tomkis’s apparent familiarity with commercial dramaturgy make it possible that he was aware of The Alchemist, and may have been responding to the play’s success. The play continued onstage as a droll during the Commonwealth period; after the Restoration , it belonged to the repertory of the King’s Men of Thomas Killigrew , who appear to have performed it with some frequency during their first years in operation. The play is not known to have been performed between 1675 and 1709, but the frequency of performance after 1709 suggests that it probably was. Indeed, the play was frequently performed during the eighteenth century; both Colley Cibber and David Garrick were notable successes in the role of Drugger, for whom a small amount of new material, including farces and monologues, in the latter half of the century was created.

After this period of flourishing, the play fell into desuetude, along with nearly all non-Shakespearean Renaissance drama, until the beginning of the twentieth century. William Poel ‘s Elizabethan Stage Society produced the play in 1899. This opening was followed a generation later by productions at Malvern in 1932, with Ralph Richardson as Face, and at the Old Vic in 1947. In the latter production, Alec Guinness played Drugger, alongside Richardson as Face. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival staged a fast-paced, nearly farcical production in 1961; Gerard Larson played Face, and Nagle Jackson Face, under Edward Brubaker’s direction. The performance received generally favourable reviews; however, a 1973 production set in the Wild West setting did not; the setting was generally considered inconsistent with the tone and treatment of the play. In 1962, Tyrone Guthrie produced a modernised version at the Old Vic, with Leo McKern as Subtle and Charles Gray as Mammon.

Trevor Nunn ‘s 1977 production with the Royal Shakespeare Company featured Ian McKellen as a “greasy, misanthropic” Face, in a version adapted by Peter Barnes . The original was played at the Royal National Theatre , with Alex Jennings and Simon Russell Beale in the central roles, from September to November 2006. A contemporary dress production directed by Michael Kahn opened the 2009/2010 season at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC. Another contemporary dress production was directed by Tariq Leslie and produced by the Ensemble Theatre Co-operative at the Jericho Arts Centre, Vancouver, Canada in the summer of 2012. [1] The Stratford Shakespeare Festival ‘s 2015 season included a production directed by Antoni Cimolino with Stephen Ouimette as Subtle, Jonathan Goad as Face and Brigit Wilson as Dol.

[2] A new RSC production directed by Polly Findlay and featuring Ken Nwosu as “Face”, Hywel Morgan as “Lovewit”, Siobhan McSweeney as “Dol” and Mark Lockyer as “Subtle” is scheduled to open at London,’s Barbican Theatre on 2 September 2016. [3] Publication history A quarto of the play appeared in 1612 published by Walter Burre , printed by Thomas Snodham and sold by John Stepneth. See also Notes ^ Jericho Arts Centre website , Archived from the original on 8 July 2012, retrieved 8 July 2012 ^ The Alchemist (Ben Jonson) (Pepys' Diary) " David Garrick as Abel Drugger in Jonson's The Alchemist" by Johann Zoffany . The Alchemist is a comedy by English playwright Ben Jonson . First performed in 1610 by the King's Men , it is generally considered Jonson's best and most characteristic comedy; Samuel Taylor Coleridge claimed that it had one of the three most perfect plots in literature.

The play's clever fulfilment of the classical unities and vivid depiction of human folly have made it one of the few Renaissance plays (except the works of Shakespeare ) with a continuing life on stage (except for a period of neglect during the Victorian era). Contents 9 External links Background The Alchemist premiered 34 years after the first permanent public theatre ( The Theatre ) opened in London; it is, then, a product of the early maturity of commercial drama in London. Only one of the University wits who had transformed drama in the Elizabethan period remained alive (this was Thomas Lodge ); in the other direction, the last great playwright to flourish before the Interregnum , James Shirley , was already a teenager. The theatres had survived the challenge mounted by the city and religious authorities; plays were a regular feature of life at court and for a great number of Londoners. The venue for which Jonson apparently wrote his play reflects this newly solid acceptance of theatre as a fact of city life. In 1597, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (a.k.a. the King's Men) had been denied permission to use the theatre in Blackfriars as a winter playhouse because of objections from the neighbourhood's influential residents.

Some time between 1608 and 1610, the company, now the King's Men , reassumed control of the playhouse, this time without objections. Their delayed premiere on this stage within the city walls, along with royal patronage, marks the ascendance of this company in the London play-world (Gurr, 171). The Alchemist was among the first plays chosen for performance at the theatre. Jonson's play reflects this new confidence. In it, he applies his classical conception of drama to a setting in contemporary London for the first time, with invigorating results. The classical elements, most notably the relation between Lovewit and Face, are fully modernised; likewise, the depiction of Jacobean London is given order and direction by the classical understanding of comedy as a means to expose vice and foolishness to ridicule. Synopsis An outbreak of plague in London forces a gentleman, Lovewit, to flee temporarily to the country, leaving his house under the sole charge of his butler, Jeremy. Jeremy uses the opportunity given to him to use the house as the headquarters for fraudulent acts.

He transforms himself into "Captain Face," and enlists the aid of Subtle, a fellow conman, and Doll Common, a prostitute. The play opens with a violent argument between Subtle and Face concerning the division of the riches which they have, and will continue to gather. Face threatens to have an engraving made of Subtle with a face worse than that of the notorious highwayman Gamaliel Ratsey . Doll breaks the pair apart and reasons with them that they must work as a team if they are to succeed. Their first customer is Dapper, a lawyer's clerk who wishes Subtle to use his supposed necromantic skills to summon a "familiar" or spirit to help in his gambling ambitions. The tripartite suggest that Dapper may win favour with the "Queen of Fairy," but he must subject himself to humiliating rituals in order for her to help him. Their second gull is Drugger, a tobacconist, who is keen to establish a profitable business. After this, a wealthy nobleman, Sir Epicure Mammon, arrives, expressing the desire to gain himself the philosopher's stone , which he believes will bring him huge material and spiritual wealth.

He is accompanied by Surly, a sceptic and debunker of the whole idea of alchemy . He is promised the philosopher's stone and promised that it will turn all base metal into gold. Surly however, suspects Subtle of being a thief. Mammon accidentally sees Doll and is told that she is a Lord's sister who is suffering from madness. Subtle contrives to become angry with Ananias, an Anabaptist , and demands that he should return with a more senior member of his sect (Tribulation). Drugger returns and is given false and ludicrous advice about setting up his shop; he also brings news that a rich young widow (Dame Pliant) and her brother (Kastril) have arrived in London. Both Subtle and Face in their greed and ambition seek out to win the widow. The Anabaptists return and agree to pay for goods to be transmuted into gold. These are in fact Mammon's goods. Dapper returns and is promised that he shall meet with the Queen of Fairy soon. Drugger brings Kastril who, on being told that Subtle is a skilled match-maker, rushes to fetch his sister.

Drugger is given to understand that the appropriate payment might secure his marriage to the widow. Dapper is blindfolded and subjected to 'fairy' humiliations; but on the reappearance of Mammon, he is gagged and hastily thrust into the privy. Mammon is introduced to Doll. He has been told that Doll is a nobleman's sister who has gone mad, but he is not put off, and pays her extravagant compliments. Kastril and his sister come again. Kastril is given a lesson in quarrelling, and the widow captivates both Face and Subtle. They quarrel over who is to have her. Surly returns, disguised as a Spanish nobleman. Face and Subtle believe that the Spaniard speaks no English and they insult him. They also believe that he has come for a woman, but Doll is elsewhere in the building 'engaged' with Mammon, so Face has the inspiration of using Dame Pliant. She is reluctant to become a Spanish countess but is vigorously persuaded by her brother to go off with Surly. The tricksters need to get rid of Mammon.

Doll contrives a fit and there is an 'explosion' from the 'laboratory'. In addition, the lady's furious brother is hunting for Mammon, who leaves. Surly reveals his true identity to Dame Pliant and hopes that she will look on him favourably as a consequence. Surly reveals his true identity to Face and Subtle, and denounces them. In quick succession Kastril, Drugger and Ananias return, and are set on Surly, who retreats. Drugger is told to go and find a Spanish costume if he is to have a chance of claiming the widow. Doll brings news that the master of the house has returned. Lovewit's neighbours tell him that his house had many visitors during his absence. Face is now the plausible Jeremy again, and denies the accusation—-he has kept the house locked up because of the plague. Surly, Mammon, Kastril and the Anabaptists return. There is a cry from the privy; Dapper has chewed through his gag. Jeremy can no longer maintain his fiction.

He promises Lovewit that if he pardons him, he will help him obtain himself a rich widow (i.e., Dame Pliant). Dapper meets the "Queen of Fairy" and departs happily. Drugger delivers the Spanish costume and is sent to find a parson. Face tells Subtle and Doll that he has confessed to Lovewit, and that officers are on the way; Subtle and Doll have to flee, empty handed. The victims come back again. Lovewit has married the widow and claimed Mammon's goods; Surly and Mammon depart disconsolately. The Anabaptists and Drugger are summarily dismissed. Kastril accepts his sister's marriage to Lovewit. Lovewit pays tribute to the ingenuity of his servant, and Face asks for the audience's forgiveness. Analysis In The Alchemist, Jonson unashamedly satirises the follies, vanities and vices of mankind, most notably greed-induced credulity. People of all social classes are subject to Jonson's ruthless, satirical wit.

He mocks human weakness and gullibility to advertising and to "miracle cures" with the character of Sir Epicure Mammon, who dreams of drinking the elixir of youth and enjoying fantastic sexual conquests. The Alchemist focuses on what happens when one human being seeks advantage over another. In a big city like London, this process of advantage-seeking is rife. The trio of con-artists – Subtle, Face and Doll – are self-deluding small-timers, ultimately undone by the same human weaknesses they exploit in their victims. Their fate is foreshadowed in the play's opening scene, which features them together in the house of Lovewit, Face's master. In a metaphor which runs through the play, the dialogue shows them to exist in uneasy imbalance, like alchemical elements that will create an unstable reaction. Barely ten lines into the text, Face and Subtle's quarrelling forces Doll to quell their raised voices: “Will you have the neighbours hear you? Will you betray all?” The con-artists' vanities and aspirations are revealed by the very personae they assume as part of their plan.

The lowly housekeeper, Face, casts himself as a sea captain (a man accustomed to giving orders, instead of taking them), the egotistical Subtle casts himself as an alchemist (as one who can do what no one else can; turn base metal into gold), and Dol Common casts herself as an aristocratic lady. Their incessant bickering is fuelled by vanity, envy and jealousy, the root of which is Subtle's conviction that he is the key element in the ‘venture tripartite’: FACE: ‘Tis his fault. He ever murmurs and objects his pains, and says the weight of all lies upon him. The ‘venture tripartite’ is as doomed as one of the Roman triumvirates . The play's end sees Subtle and Dol resume their original pairing, while Face resumes his role as housekeeper to a wealthy master. Significantly, none of the three is severely punished (the collapse of their scheme aside). Jonson's theatrical microcosm is not a neatly moral one; and he seems to enjoy seeing foolish characters like Epicure Mammon get their comeuppance.

This is why, while London itself is a target of Jonson's satire, it is also, as his Prologue boasts, a cozening-ground worth celebrating: “Our scene is London, ‘cause we would make known/No country’s mirth is better than our own/No clime breeds better matter for your whore...” The Alchemist is tightly structured, based around a simple dramatic concept. Subtle claims to be on the verge of projection in his offstage workroom, but all the characters in the play are overly-concerned with projection of a different kind: image-projection. The end result, in structural terms, is an onstage base of operations in Friars, to which can be brought a succession of unconsciously-comic characters from different social backgrounds, who hold different professions and different beliefs, but whose lowest common denominator – gullibility – grants them equal victim-status in the end.

Dapper, the aspirant gambler, loses his stake; Sir Epicure Mammon loses his money and his dignity; Drugger, the would-be businessman, parts with his cash, but ends up no nearer to the success he craves; the Puritan duo, Tribulation and Ananias, never realise their scheme to counterfeit Dutch money. Jonson reserves his harshest satire for these Puritan characters—perhaps because the Puritans, in real life, wished to close down the theatres. (Jonson's play Bartholomew Fair is also anti-Puritan.) Tellingly, of all those gulled in the play, it is the Puritans alone whom Jonson denies a brief moment of his audience's pity; presumably, he reckons their life-denying self-righteousness renders them unworthy of it. Jonson consistently despises hypocrisy, especially religious hypocrisy that couches its damning judgments in high-flown language. Tribulation and Ananias call their fellow men "heathens" and in one case, say that someone's hat suggests "the Anti-Christ." That these Puritans are just as money-hungry as the rest of the characters is part of the ironic joke.

In many English and European comedies, it is up to a high-class character to resolve the confusion that has been caused by lower-class characters. In The Alchemist, Jonson subverts this tradition. Face's master, Lovewit, at first seems to assert his social and ethical superiority to put matters to rights. But when Face dangles before him the prospect of marriage to a younger woman, his master eagerly accepts. Both master and servant are always on the lookout for how to get ahead in life, regardless of ethical boundaries. Lovewit adroitly exploits Mammon's reluctance to obtain legal certification of his folly to hold on to the old man's money. Stage history A scene from a Los Angeles theatre production Internal references indicate that the play was written for performance at Blackfriars; ironically, given its initial scenario, plague forced the company to tour, and The Alchemist premiered at Oxford in 1610, with performance in London later that year. Its success may be indicated by its performance at court in 1613 and again in 1623.

Evidence of a more ambiguous kind is presented by the case of Thomas Tomkis 's Albumazar, performed for King James I at Cambridge in 1615. A tradition apparently originating with Dryden held that Jonson had been influenced by Tomkis's academic comedy. Dryden may have mentioned Jonson to increase interest in a somewhat obscure play he was then reviving; he may also have been confused about the dates. At any rate, the question of influence now runs the other way. Albumazar is, primarily, an adaptation of Giambattista della Porta 's "L'Astrologo"; however, both the similarity in subject matter and Tomkis's apparent familiarity with commercial dramaturgy make it possible that he was aware of The Alchemist, and may have been responding to the play's success. The play continued onstage as a droll during the Commonwealth period; after the Restoration , it belonged to the repertory of the King's Men of Thomas Killigrew , who appear to have performed it with some frequency during their first years in operation.

The play is not known to have been performed between 1675 and 1709, but the frequency of performance after 1709 suggests that it probably was. Indeed, the play was frequently performed during the eighteenth century; both Colley Cibber and David Garrick were notable successes in the role of Drugger, for whom a small amount of new material, including farces and monologues, in the latter half of the century was created. After this period of flourishing, the play fell into desuetude, along with nearly all non-Shakespearean Renaissance drama, until the beginning of the twentieth century. William Poel 's Elizabethan Stage Society produced the play in 1899. This opening was followed a generation later by productions at Malvern in 1932, with Ralph Richardson as Face, and at the Old Vic in 1947. In the latter production, Alec Guinness played Drugger, alongside Richardson as Face. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival staged a fast-paced, nearly farcical production in 1961; Gerard Larson played Face, and Nagle Jackson Face, under Edward Brubaker's direction.

The performance received generally favourable reviews; however, a 1973 production set in the Wild West setting did not; the setting was generally considered inconsistent with the tone and treatment of the play. In 1962, Tyrone Guthrie produced a modernised version at the Old Vic, with Leo McKern as Subtle and Charles Gray as Mammon. Trevor Nunn 's 1977 production with the Royal Shakespeare Company featured Ian McKellen as a "greasy, misanthropic" Face, in a version adapted by Peter Barnes . The original was played at the Royal National Theatre , with Alex Jennings and Simon Russell Beale in the central roles, from September to November 2006. A contemporary dress production directed by Michael Kahn opened the 2009/2010 season at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC. Another contemporary dress production was directed by Tariq Leslie and produced by the Ensemble Theatre Co-operative at the Jericho Arts Centre, Vancouver, Canada in the summer of 2012.

[1] The Stratford Shakespeare Festival 's 2015 season included a production directed by Antoni Cimolino with Stephen Ouimette as Subtle, Jonathan Goad as Face and Brigit Wilson as Dol. [2] A new RSC production directed by Polly Findlay and featuring Ken Nwosu as "Face", Hywel Morgan as "Lovewit", Siobhan McSweeney as "Dol" and Mark Lockyer as "Subtle" is scheduled to open at London,'s Barbican Theatre on 2 September 2016. [3] Publication history A quarto of the play appeared in 1612 published by Walter Burre , printed by Thomas Snodham and sold by John Stepneth.

See also Notes ^ Jericho Arts Centre website , Archived from the original on 8 July 2012, retrieved 8 July 2012 CS1 maint: Unfit url ( link ) ^ Ben Jonson Biography - life, parents, death, mother, young, information, born, time Ben Jonson Biography London, England English writer, playwright, and poet Ben Jonson was an English playwright and poet best known for his satiric comedies (types of comedies that poke fun at human weaknesses). In many peoples opinion he was, next to William Shakespeare (1564–1616), the greatest dramatic genius of the English Renaissance (roughly the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries). Early career Ben Jonson was probably born in or near London, England, about a month after the death of his father, a clergyman (someone who works for the church). His father gained his position when King Henry VIII (1491–1547) ruled England, but lost it after Queen Mary (1516–1558) took the throne. Jonson's mother then married a bricklayer. This may be why he did not continue his schooling.

His stepfather made him work in the more practical business of bricklaying. Jonson also spent some time as a soldier and a traveling actor. He married sometime between 1592 and 1595. Many people thought that English literature, and particularly drama, had already reached as high as it could when Ben Jonson began his career. But Jonson helped it gain even higher goals. Jonson's special gift was his strong sense of artistic form and control. Although an accomplished scholar, he could also write in the way everyday people spoke. It was because of this skill that he was liked by both people who were well read and by people who did not have an advanced education. Major works Jonson's first major play was Every Man in His Humour. It was performed by a theater group called the Lord Chamberlain's Men. William Shakespeare performed the lead role. This play is a model of what is called the "comedy of humors," in which each character's action is ruled by a whim (impulse) or affectation (artificial behavior meant to impress others).

After this play Jonson wrote Every Man out of His Humour in 1599 or early 1600, followed closely by Cynthia's Revels (1601) and Poetaster (1601). Jonson gained fame when he wrote Volpone, or the Fox in 1606. It was loved not only by the people in London but also by the scholars at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. This was a major success for Jonson. After Volpone, Jonson wrote Epicoene, or the Silent Woman (1609), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fair (1614). Ben Jonson. . Later years After Bartholomew Fair, Jonson did not write very well. However, many young poets and playwrights considered him a hero and called themselves "sons of Ben" or the "tribe of Ben." He was always considered an impressive and respected figure. Much of the information about Jonson's personal life comes to us after this last period of playwriting.

He spent a lot of time with the Scottish poet William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585–1649) in 1618. Drummond wrote down all the conversations he had with Jonson. Drummond said that Jonson was "a great lover and praiser of himself, a contemner [despiser] and scorner of others, given rather to lose a friend than a jest." In other words, Jonson made many jokes about other people and considered himself superior to others. Jonson also wrote many other nondramatic writings, including a grammar of English, a miscellaneous (made of many different parts) collection of notes, and reflections on various authors entitled Timber, or Discoveries (also printed in 1640). He also wrote a large number of poems, almost all of them written in response to particular events in the poet's experience. Most of his poetry was written in short lyric (songlike) forms, which he handled with great skill.

Jonson's poetic style also tends to be simple and unadorned yet highly polished, as in the epigram (a short witty poem) on the death of his first daughter, which begins "Here lies to each her parents ruth [sorrow],/Mary, the daughter of their youth." After the death of King James I of England (1603–1625) in 1625, Jonson suffered a number of setbacks. His talents were not fully appreciated by the new king, and as a result Jonson was frequently short of money. He was paralyzed in 1628 due to illness and confined for the remainder of his life to his home in Westminster. He continued his scholarly study of the classics, which had occupied him throughout his active life. Jonson died on August 6, 1637. Because he was considered one of the most accomplished writers of the time, he was given the special honor of being buried in Westminster Abbey, in England. For More Information Barish, Jonas A. Ben Jonson and the Language of Prose Comedy. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1960. Cave, Richard Allen. Ben Jonson.

New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991. Kay, W. David. Ben Jonson: A Literary Life. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995. Partridge, Edward B. The Broken Compass: A Study of the Major Comedies of Ben Jonson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1958. Riggs, David. Ben Jonson: A Life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989. User Contributions: Ben Jonson - Poet | Academy of American Poets Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets. For over three generations, the Academy has connected millions of people to great poetry through programs such as National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world; Poets.org, the Academy’s popular website; American Poets, a biannual literary journal; and an annual series of poetry readings and special events. Since its founding, the Academy has awarded more money to poets than any other organization.

browse poems & poets poet Ben Jonson The poet, essayist, and playwright Ben Jonson was born on June 11, 1572 in London, England. His father, a minister, died shortly before his birth and his mother remarried a bricklayer. Jonson was raised in Westminster and attended St. Martin's parish school and Westminster School, where he came under the influence of the classical scholar William Camden. He left the Westminster school in 1589, worked briefly in his stepfather's trade as a bricklayer, then served in the military at Flanders, before working as an actor and playwright for Philip Henslowe's theater company. In 1594, Jonson married Anne Lewis and began to work as an actor and playwright. Jonson and Lewis had at least two children, but little else is known of their marriage. In 1598, Jonson wrote what is considered his first great play, Every Man in His Humor. In a 1616 production, William Shakespeare acted in one of the lead roles. Shortly after the play opened, Jonson killed Gabriel Spencer in a duel and was tried for murder.

He was released by pleading "benefit of clergy" (i.e., by proving he could read and write in Latin, he was allowed to face a more lenient court). He spent only a few weeks in prison, but shortly after his release he was again arrested for failing to pay an actor. Under King James I, Jonson received royal favor and patronage. Over the next fifteen years many of his most famous satirical plays, including Volpone (1606) and The Alchemist (1610), were produced for the London stage. In 1616, he was granted a substantial pension of 100 marks a year, and is often identified as England's first Poet Laureate. His circle of admirers and friends, who called themselves the "Tribe of Ben," met regularly at the Mermaid Tavern and later at the Devil's Head. Among his followers were nobles such as the Duke and Duchess of Newcastle as well as writers including Robert Herrick , Richard Lovelace , Sir John Suckling , James Howell, and Thomas Carew.

Jonson was also friends with many of the writers of his day, and many of his most well-known poems include tributes to friends such as Shakespeare , John Donne , and Francis Bacon. Ben Jonson died in Westminster on August 8, 1637. A tremendous crowd of mourners attended his burial at Westminster Abbey. He is regarded as one of the major dramatists and poets of the seventeenth century. by this poet The Alchemist (Jonson): Novel Summary | Novelguide The Alchemist (Jonson): Novel Summary Total Votes: 306 Act 1, Scene 1 Text: Ben Jonson, The Alchemist and Other Plays, Edited with an Introduction by Gordon Campbell, Oxford’s World Classics, 1995. Dedication The play is dedicated to Mary, Lady Wroth, niece of Sir Phillip Sidney. The Sidneys were one of the great families of the time and synonymous with virtue and patriotism. Her uncle was the great poet and diplomat. Her approval of his book will give it its value. To the Reader Jonson criticizes what passes on the stage at the present time as unworthy.

He asks for discriminating readers of his work and more harmony and skill in the art of drama. Summary of Act 1, scene 1 The scene is set in Blackfriars, London, in 1610, in Ben Jonson’s own time, the time the play was first written and performed. It takes place in the home of Lovewit, a gentleman who has gone to the country in fear of the plague, and left the house in charge of his butler, Jeremy. While his master is gone, the respectable Jeremy becomes the notorious Face, a con-man who uses the house for his money-making schemes. Scene I opens with an argument between Jeremy-Face and his fellow conspirators—Subtle, who pretends to be an alchemist (a sort of wise magician who can transform base metals into gold), and Doll Common, a prostitute. Their argument reveals how they became a team to scam a number of gullible Londoners who come to the house to consult “Doctor” Subtle. Face and Subtle are threatening one another with violence, Face with a sword, and Subtle with a bottle of acid.

Subtle claims he has been a true alchemist, transforming the poor servant Jeremy into the well-dressed Captain Face. Face says he found Subtle as a loser starving in the tavern called Pie Corner. Doll Common serves as a peacemaker, saying they must cooperate if they are to avoid being caught and punished for their crimes (such as the practice of cropping the ears of criminals, or “ear rent,” line 169). The disagreement starts because the men are arguing over their share in the spoils, each claiming to be the brains of the scheme. Subtle must maintain the role of the learned philosopher who can cure any ill, but Face is the one who spots the “gulls” or victims and recruits them to come to the house where they are taken. Doll is a supporting player, doing what she is told. They each use many disguises to con the money from the victims. At the end of the scene the first victim or gull arrives, and they scatter to take their places. Face has told Dapper, a law clerk, that Subtle will raise a spirit (a “familiar,” line 192) to assist him in his gambling so he will win.

Commentary on Act 1, scene 1 An alchemist refers to a philosopher-scientist who could turn base metals into gold. Alchemy was a compendium of ancient knowledge that included astrology, medicine (the elixir for long life), magic, and chemistry. Subtle dresses as an old “doctor” who has found the secret of making gold. Face finds out what people are looking for and promises Subtle can give them what they want through his experiments to produce the philosopher’s stone, that powder that transmutes all metals to gold. They will have wealth, power, sexual potency, long life, and success. The three conspirators shape each scam to suit the victim, playing out their illusions and collecting the cash. In this scene we learn the origin of each of these con-artists and how they operate. The dynamic scene puts the audience in the middle of their flimsy but brilliant teamwork. They do not trust each other and explain why. Face saw the potential of Subtle, who was starving and in rags. He gave Subtle use of his master’s house, bought the costumes and equipment, gave him the idea and brought the customers. Subtle, however, seems to believe his role in part.

He is called a “Witch” (line 107) by Face who refers to Subtle’s “conjuring” (line 40). In addition, Subtle claims to know how to cast horoscopes and find things through divination, to tell fortunes with a glass ball and call up spirits. Subtle claims he has actually transformed from “his own great art” (lines 64-70) the life of the poor servant, Jeremy, who only knew how to perform petty theft and pimping before they met. Subtle has taught him to gamble and play the part of a Captain. Each threatens to expose the other. Doll accuses them of “civil war” (line 83). She flatters Subtle as “Sovereign” (line 88) and calls Face “General” (line 90) and herself their “republic,” (line 110), a pun on her profession as public property. They are supposed to share equally in “The venture tripartite” (line 135). The men even share Doll, drawing straws for her, each night.

During the play, all the conspirators continue to try to cheat each other as well as the customers. The fact that the two men are rivals threatening to expose each other, and the mention of the possible return of the owner, Lovewit, shows they face danger in continuing their schemes. Face has mentioned a “statute of sorcery” (line 112), a law that prosecuted any form of witchcraft. Even though they are pretending, they could be taken seriously. They also seem to be altering coins to make them look like gold, another crime (line 114).

Question: Who wrote the play 'The Alchemist' in 1610?
Answer: Ben Jonson