The Alchemist
by Ben Jonson
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1610
- Form
- Comedy
- Language
- English
- Length
- Short · 130 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe AlchemistNew Mermaids, Bloomsbury, 2010Elizabeth Cook's annotated student edition; the alchemical jargon needs the notes.
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A comedy first acted in 1610. While his master Lovewit has fled the plague, the servant Face sets up with the conman Subtle and the prostitute Dol Common in the empty London house, where they pose as an alchemist and his assistants. A stream of gulls arrives, the clerk Dapper, the tobacconist Drugger, the greedy Sir Epicure Mammon, two Puritan brethren and the angry boy Kastril, each promised what he wants. The plot keeps the unities of place and time to the hour and collapses when Lovewit returns.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Alchemist are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.