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The Alchemist

Name: The Alchemist
Author: Ben Jonson

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A fast-moving con game in which every victim wants to believe.

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The Alchemist

When a household is left unattended, three confidence tricksters promise wealth, love, status, and miraculous transformation to a parade of eager clients. Jonson’s plot is both farce and social diagnosis.

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Ben Jonson died in 1637; The Alchemist was first published or performed in 1610. This entry uses the original English text.

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The Alchemist

Ben Jonson

VorschaukapitelTHE ALCHEMISTVorschau

By Ben Jonson

VorschaukapitelINTRODUCTIONVorschau

The greatest of English dramatists except Shakespeare, the first literary

dictator and poet-laureate, a writer of verse, prose, satire, and

criticism who most potently of all the men of his time affected the

subsequent course of English letters: such was Ben Jonson, and as such his

strong personality assumes an interest to us almost unparalleled, at least

in his age.

Ben Jonson came of the stock that was centuries after to give to the world

Thomas Carlyle; for Jonson's grandfather was of Annandale, over the

Solway, whence he migrated to England. Jonson's father lost his estate

under Queen Mary, "having been cast into prison and forfeited." He entered

the church, but died a month before his illustrious son was born, leaving

his widow and child in poverty. Jonson's birthplace was Westminster, and

the time of his birth early in 1573. He was thus nearly ten years

Shakespeare's junior, and less well off, if a trifle better born. But

Jonson did not profit even by this slight advantage. His mother married

beneath her, a wright or bricklayer, and Jonson was for a time apprenticed

to the trade. As a youth he attracted the attention of the famous

antiquary, William Camden, then usher at Westminster School, and there the

poet laid the solid foundations of his classical learning. Jonson always

held Camden in veneration, acknowledging that to him he owed,

"All that I am in arts, all that I know;"

and dedicating his first dramatic success, "Every Man in His Humour," to

him. It is doubtful whether Jonson ever went to either university, though

Fuller says that he was "statutably admitted into St. John's College,

Cambridge." He tells us that he took no degree, but was later "Master of

Arts in both the universities, by their favour, not his study." When a

mere youth Jonson enlisted as a soldier, trailing his pike in Flanders in

the protracted wars of William the Silent against the Spanish. Jonson was

a large and raw-boned lad; he became by his own account in time

exceedingly bulky. In chat with his friend William Drummond of

Hawthornden, Jonson told how "in his service in the Low Countries he had,

in the face of both the camps, killed an enemy, and taken opima spolia

from him;" and how "since his coming to England, being appealed to the

fields, he had killed his adversary which had hurt him in the arm and

whose sword was ten inches longer than his." Jonson's reach may have made

up for the lack of his sword; certainly his prowess lost nothing in the

telling. Obviously Jonson was brave, combative, and not averse to talking

of himself and his doings.

In 1592, Jonson returned from abroad penniless. Soon after he married,

almost as early and quite as imprudently as Shakespeare. He told Drummond

curtly that "his wife was a shrew, yet honest"; for some years he lived

apart from her in the household of Lord Albany. Yet two touching epitaphs

among Jonson's "Epigrams," "On my first daughter," and "On my first son,"

attest the warmth of the poet's family affections. The daughter died in

infancy, the son of the plague; another son grew up to manhood little

credit to his father whom he survived. We know nothing beyond this of

Jonson's domestic life.

How soon Jonson drifted into what we now call grandly "the theatrical

profession" we do not know. In 1593, Marlowe made his tragic exit from

life, and Greene, Shakespeare's other rival on the popular stage, had

preceded Marlowe in an equally miserable death the year before.

Shakespeare already had the running to himself. Jonson appears first in

the employment of Philip Henslowe, the exploiter of several troupes of

players, manager, and father-in-law of the famous actor, Edward Alleyn.

From entries in "Henslowe's Diary," a species of theatrical account book

which has been handed down to us, we know that Jonson was connected with

Inhaltsverzeichnis

In dieser Ausgabe

01Full text
02THE ALCHEMIST
03INTRODUCTION
04FELIX E. SCHELLING. THE COLLEGE, PHILADELPHIA, U.S.A.
05DRAMAS:
06POEMS:
07PROSE:
08WORKS:
09SELECTIONS:
10LIFE:
11THE ALCHEMIST TO THE LADY MOST DESERVING HER NAME AND BLOOD:
12LADY MARY WROTH.
13BEN JONSON. TO THE READER.
14DRAMATIS PERSONAE.
15SCENE,—LONDON. ARGUMENT.
16PROLOGUE.
17[DASHES SUBTLE'S VIAL OUT OF HIS HAND.]
18[TO FACE.]
19[TO SUBTLE.]
20[SEIZES SUB. BY THE THROAT.]
21[TO FACE.]
22[THEY SHAKE HANDS.]
23[BELL RINGS WITHOUT.]
24[EXIT DOL.]
25[RE-ENTER DOL.]
26FACE. O,
27[EXIT DOL.]
28[EXIT.]
29[ENTER DAPPER.]
30[RE-ENTER SUBTLE IN HIS VELVET CAP AND GOWN.]
31[GOING.]
32[HE TAKES THE FOUR ANGELS.]
33[OFFERING TO WHISPER FACE.]
34[GOES TO SUBTLE.]
35[TAKES HIM ASIDE.]
36[DAPPER GIVES HIM THE MONEY.]
37[KNOCKING WITHIN.]
38[ASIDE TO FACE.]
39[EXIT.]
40[EXEUNT FACE AND DAPPER.]
41[RE-ENTERS, FOLLOWED BY DRUGGER.]
42[RE-ENTER FACE.]
43[POINTING TO THE PLAN.]
44[EXIT DRUGGER.]
45[RE-ENTER DOL.]
46[EXIT FACE.]
47[EXEUNT.] ACT 2. SCENE 2.1. AN OUTER ROOM IN LOVEWIT'S HOUSE.
48ENTER SIR EPICURE MAMMON AND SURLY.
49THIS DAY YOU SHALL BE SPECTATISSIMI.
50[ENTER FACE, AS A SERVANT.]
51[EXIT.]
52[ENTER SUBTLE.]
53[RE-ENTER FACE.]
54[EXIT FACE.]
55[RE-ENTER FACE.]
56[GIVES FACE THE MONEY.]
57[EXIT.]
58DOL [APPEARS AT THE DOOR].—
59[DOL RETIRES.]
60[RE-ENTER FACE.]
61[EXIT FACE.]
62[RE-ENTER FACE.]
63[EXIT.]
64[EXIT.]
65[RE-ENTER FACE.]
66[GOING.]
67[GIVES HIM MONEY.]
68[EXIT.]
69[RE-ENTER FACE.]
70[TO SURLY.]
71[WHISPERS MAMMON.]
72[WALKS ASIDE.]
73[EXIT.]
74[GIVES HIM MONEY.]
75[EXIT.] [RE-ENTER SUBTLE AND DOL.]
76[KNOCKING WITHOUT.]
77[DOL GOES TO THE WINDOW.]
78[EXIT FACE WITH THE GOWN.]
79[EXIT DOL.]
80[ENTER ANANIAS.] [ALOUD.]
81[RE-ENTER FACE.]
82[EXIT FACE.]
83[EXIT ANANIAS.]
84[RE-ENTER FACE, IN HIS UNIFORM, FOLLOWED BY DRUGGER.]
85[EXIT ABEL.]
86[EXEUNT.] ACT 3. SCENE 3.1. THE LANE BEFORE LOVEWIT'S HOUSE.
87ENTER TRIBULATION WHOLESOME AND ANANIAS.
88[KNOCKS.]
89[THE DOOR IS OPENED, AND THEY ENTER.] SCENE 3.2.
90A ROOM IN LOVEWIT'S HOUSE. ENTER SUBTLE, FOLLOWED BY TRIBULATION AND ANANIAS.
91[KNOCKING WITHOUT.]
92[EXEUNT TRIB. AND ANA.]
93[ENTER FACE IN HIS UNIFORM.]
94[EXIT.]
95[ENTER DOL.]
96[RE-ENTER SUBTLE.]
97[KNOCKING WITHOUT.]
98[EXIT DOL.]
99[RE-ENTER DOL.]
100[EXIT DOL.]
101[GOES TO THE WINDOW.]
102[EXIT SUB.] [ENTER DAPPER.]
103[ENTER ABEL, FOLLOWED BY KASTRIL.]
104[POINTS TO DAPPER.]
105[EXIT.]
106[EXIT ABEL.]
107[ASIDE.]
108[ENTER SUBTLE, DISGUISED LIKE A PRIEST OF FAIRY,
109WITH A STRIPE OF CLOTH.]
110[THEY BLIND HIM WITH THE RAG,]
111[HE THROWS AWAY, AS THEY BID HIM.]
112[ASIDE TO SUBTLE.]
113[DOL PLAYS ON THE CITTERN WITHIN.]
114[THEY PINCH HIM.]
115[ASIDE TO SUB.]
116[THEY PINCH HIM AGAIN.] DAP. O, O!
117[TAKES IT OFF.]
118[ENTER DOL HASTILY.]
119[EXIT DOL.]
120[RE-ENTER DOL, WITH FACE'S CLOTHES.]
121[KNOCKING WITHOUT.]
122[THEY THRUST A GAG OF GINGERBREAD IN HIS MOUTH.]
123FACE [SPEAKING THROUGH THE KEYHOLE].
124[EXEUNT WITH DAPPER.] ACT 4. SCENE 4.1. A ROOM IN LOVEWIT'S HOUSE.
125ENTER FACE AND MAMMON.
126[EXIT.]
127[RE-ENTER FACE, WITH DOL RICHLY DRESSED.]
128[ASIDE.]
129[EXIT.]
130[RE-ENTER FACE.]
131[GIVES HIM MONEY.]
132[EXEUNT MAM. AND DOL.]
133[ENTER SUBTLE.]
134[EXIT.]
135[ENTER KASTRIL, FOLLOWED BY DAME PLIANT.]
136[KISSES HER.]
137[KISSES HER AGAIN.]
138[RE-ENTER FACE, IN HIS UNIFORM.]
139[KISSES HER.]
140[TAKES HER ASIDE.]
141[EXIT.]
142[EXIT, FOLLOWED BY KAST. AND DAME P.] [RE-ENTER FACE.]
143[RE-ENTER SUBTLE.]
144[EXIT.]
145[RE-ENTER FACE, INTRODUCING SURLY DISGUISED AS A SPANIARD.]
146[THEY TAKE HANDS.]
147[EXIT FACE.]
148[EXEUNT SUB. AND SURLY.] SCENE 4.2. ANOTHER ROOM IN THE SAME.
149ENTER FACE, KASTRIL, AND DAME PLIANT.
150[ENTER SUBTLE, WITH A PAPER.]
151[ENTER SURLY.]
152[EXIT WITH DAME PLIANT.]
153[ASIDE TO FACE, WHO GOES OUT.]
154[EXEUNT.] SCENE 4.3. ANOTHER ROOM IN THE SAME.
155ENTER DOL IN HER FIT OF RAVING, FOLLOWED BY MAMMON.
156[ENTER FACE, HASTILY, IN HIS SERVANT'S DRESS.]
157MAM. O,
158[THEY ALL SPEAK TOGETHER.]
159[ENTER SUBTLE, THEY RUN DIFFERENT WAYS.]
160[A LOUD EXPLOSION WITHIN.]
161[RE-ENTER FACE.]
162[SUBTLE FALLS DOWN AS IN A SWOON.]
163[KNOCKING WITHIN.]
164SUB [SEEMING TO COME TO HIMSELF].
165[ASIDE.]
166[EXIT MAMMON.]
167[EXEUNT.] SCENE 4.4. ANOTHER ROOM IN THE SAME.
168[ENTER SURLY AND DAME PLIANT.]
169[ENTER SUBTLE.]
170[ATTEMPTS TO PICK THEM.]
171[STRIKES HIM DOWN.]
172[ENTER FACE, IN HIS UNIFORM.]
173[FACE SLIPS OUT.]
174[SEIZES SUBTLE AS HE IS RETIRING.]
175[RE-ENTER FACE, WITH KASTRIL.]
176[ASIDE.]
177[TO HIS SISTER.]
178[ENTER DRUGGER, WITH A PIECE OF DAMASK.]
179[ASIDE TO DRUG.]
180[ENTER ANANIAS.]
181[EXIT SURLY.]
182[EXIT.] [SUBTLE TAKES ANANIAS ASIDE.]
183[ASIDE.]
184[EXIT DRUGGER.]
185[EXIT.]
186[ENTER DOL, HASTILY.]
187[FACE GOES TO THE WINDOW.]
188[EXEUNT.] ACT 5. SCENE 5.1. BEFORE LOVEWIT'S DOOR.
189ENTER LOVEWIT, WITH SEVERAL OF THE NEIGHBOURS.
190[KNOCKS AT THE DOOR.]
191[EXIT.]
192[ENTER FACE, IN HIS BUTLER'S LIVERY.]
193[RE-ENTER THIRD NEIGHBOUR, WITH HIS TOOLS.]
194[ENTER SURLY AND MAMMON.]
195[HE AND SURLY KNOCK.]
196[EXEUNT MAM. AND SUR.]
197[ASIDE.]
198[ENTER KASTRIL.]
199[ENTER ANANIAS AND TRIBULATION.]
200[EXEUNT ANA., TRIB., AND KAST.]
201[ASIDE.]
202[ASIDE.]
203[ASIDE.]
204FACE [SPEAKS THROUGH THE KEYHOLE, WHILE LOVEWIT ADVANCES TO THE DOOR UNOBSERVED].
205[ASIDE.]
206[EXEUNT NEIGHBOURS.]
207[ENTER FACE, IN HIS UNIFORM.]
208[EXIT FACE.]
209[UNBINDS HIS EYES.]
210[ENTER DOL, LIKE THE QUEEN OF FAIRY.]
211[DAPPER KNEELS, AND SHUFFLES TOWARDS HER.]
212[EXIT.]
213[RE-ENTER FACE.]
214[EXIT SUBTLE.]
215[RE-ENTER SUBTLE.]
216[EXIT.]
217[THEY KISS.] [RE-ENTER FACE.]
218[EXIT.]
219[RE-ENTER SUBTLE.]
220[EXIT.]
221[RE-ENTER FACE.]
222[LOUD KNOCKING.]
223[EXEUNT.] SCENE 5.3. AN OUTER ROOM IN THE SAME.
224ENTER LOVEWIT IN THE SPANISH DRESS, WITH THE PARSON.
225LOUD KNOCKING AT THE DOOR.
226[ENTER FACE, AS BUTLER.]
227[MAMMON, SURLY, KASTRIL, ANANIAS, TRIBULATION,
228AND OFFICERS, RUSH IN.]
229[MAMMON, ANA., AND TRIB. GO IN.]
230[GOES IN.]
231[RE-ENTER MAMMON.]
232[EXEUNT MAM. AND SUR.] [RE-ENTER ANANIAS AND TRIBULATION.]
233[EXEUNT ANA. AND TRIB.] [ENTER DRUGGER.]
234[EXIT DRUG.]
235[TO THE PARSON.]
236[EXIT PARSON.]
237[ENTER KASTRIL, DRAGGING IN HIS SISTER.]
238[EXEUNT KAS. AND DAME P.]
239[ADVANCING.]
240[ADVANCING TO THE FRONT OF THE STAGE.]
241[EXEUNT.]

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