57 pages • 1 hour read

The Alchemist

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1610

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Act Summaries & Analyses

Dedication-Prologue

Act I, Scenes 1-4

Act II, Scenes 1-6

Act III, Scenes 1-5

Act IV, Scenes 1-7

Act V, Scenes 1-5

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Background

Cultural Context: The Alchemist and the Early Modern Theater

The early modern period, generally considered to be between 1500 and 1700 CE, was a time when English theater flourished. The early modern period can be broken down into shorter, more specific periods: the Elizabethan period from 1558-1603, the Jacobean period from 1603-1625, the Caroline period from 1625-1649, and the Restoration from 1660-1688—though the Restoration lasted until the death of Queen Anne and the end of the Stuart dynasty in 1714. Between these periods of artistic flowering was the Interregnum—the period when the monarchy was deposed and theocratic Puritan rule imposed in its place, during which theater was banned. When legal, theaters were the social centers of London and popular with all social classes. The most notable early modern playwright is undoubtedly Shakespeare, but Ben Jonson is likely the second most notable playwright prior to the Interregnum. People went to the theater for entertainment, and to meet other people and conduct business, including business considered illegal, like sex work. In fact, women at the theater were usually assumed to be sex workers, who wore masks, or “vizards,” a term that became slang for sex worker. Both female characters in The Alchemist perform sex work, and their many disguises play on the idea of masks. The Alchemist provides other commentary on theater attendance as well; Jonson addresses the audience’s vices in the Prologue, noting their penchant for deception and lust. Face’s concluding note meanwhile encourages the audience to continue engaging with the deception of the theater, patronizing both the actors on the stage and the attendants, who may be engaged in other business catering to the vices the play described.

Unlike Shakespeare, whose characters tend to be from the nobility or royalty, Jonson was known for focusing on the experiences of common people and addressing universal concerns, like greed and jealousy. The Alchemist certainly follows this trend, as most of the characters are merchants and lower-class workers. Jonson pokes fun at religion and status, notably with Sir Epicure Mammon, the lusty knight, and Ananias, the pious but greedy deacon. These caricatures would have been particularly humorous to the lower-class members of the audience; the play is pitched for the audience to sympathize with the clever but lowborn Face, Subtle, and Dol, than with the wealthy people they trick

Historical Context: Alchemy and the Galenic Humors

Until the advent of the scientific method and rationalism during the Enlightenment, alchemy was the predominant method of scientific experimentation and the study of the natural world. Subtle’s alchemy in the play is the more fantastic kind of alchemy, which includes the search for the philosopher’s stone, a magical artifact with curative powers and the ability to transform base mental into gold. The idea that this was possible, even in early modern England, was no longer a predominant belief. However, many people believed in spirits, meaning that Subtle’s claims to be able to find and bind supernatural familiars would have been believable to many in the audience.

The predominant medical theory of the early modern period was for an ancient Greek physician, Galen, who rejected a more supernatural understanding of health and created a system focused on the relation of bodily fluids, or humors: black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. Galenic medicine sought to balance the four for ideal health, arguing that when a person has too much or too little of one or another, medical or psychological problems ensue. Each fluid was associated with an element and time of year, and was considered hot, cold, wet, and dry. Most importantly, each humor was associated with a temperament. Blood represented the sanguine, or social, fun-loving, and often lewd traits. Yellow bile, or choler, was associated with anger or aggression (hence the adjective “choleric”). Black bile was paired with melancholy, or sadness and depression. Finally, phlegm represented apathy or disinterest (from which we get the adjective “phlegmatic”).

Get access to this full Study Guide and much more!

8,800+ In-Depth Study Guides
4,700+ Quick-Read Plot Summaries
Downloadable PDFs

The Alchemist is a comedy of humors. Jonson’s audience would have likely recognized the temperaments of the characters through the shorthand of the humors—an easy typology used to quickly establish character. Sanguinity, or the dominance of blood as a humor, is critical to the play: At one point, Face sarcastically calls Dol sanguine, joking about her more phlegmatic temperament compared to Face’s distinctly sanguine demeanor. Sir Epicure Mammon, Dapper, and Lovewit are all also sanguine, as they are generally “lusty” and outgoing. Even Ananias, though supposedly pious, is sanguine, as greed is considered an element of sanguinity, as his desire for counterfeit money shows. Other characters, though, are not sanguine, leading to humor and conflict. Dol and Pliant are phlegmatic, Drugger’s pessimism marks him as “melancholic,” and Kastril, Subtle, and Surly are all cholerically quick to anger.