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Electronic Research Journal of Behavioural Sciences, Volume 4 (2021)
ISSN: 2652-7782. http://erjbehaviouralsciences.com/
Reflection of Jacobean London in the Alchemist; Daily life of
London through Jonson’s Observations
Hazhar Ramadhan Ahmed
Lecturer and Ph D Researcher, University of Raparin College of Basic Education, Kurdistan
Regional Government, Iraq.
Email: e_hazhar.ahmed@uor.edu.krd
Abstract:
Jonson as a playwright was a determined realist. His realism and the vivid picture of
London life makes this play among the most informative plays of the period. This play makes it
possible to reconstruct whole areas of Elizabethan society. The paper analyses which aspects of
the city of London give vivid pictures of the gallants of the time and their habits such as smoking
and wearing and quarreling. The paper concludes that there are many contemporary allusions in
the play. Above all, The Alchemist is a realistic play that contains vivid pictures of the life of the
times, and the thoughts and desires which dominated the minds of the people.
Keywords: Ben Jonson, theme of The Alchemist, Jacobean London, Daily life of London, The
Alchemist, etc.
Introduction:
Jonson as a play Wright was a determined realist. This realism as a quality of his work is
part of his classical views about drama. One difference between the romantic spirit and the
classic spirit is that the former tends toward escape from the actual conditions of life, while the
latter tends to work realistically within those conditions. This appears when we compare Twelfth
Night or The Tempest with Every man in his Humour or Bartholomew Fair. Shakespeare’s
comedies contain many highly imaginative and fanciful situations and episodes, while Jonson’s
comedies move in the hard light of everyday London (Gurr, 1996; Arnold, 1965). This realism,
the vivid picture of London life, makes Jonson’s comedies among the most informative plays of
the period. From Jonson’s comedies alone it would be possible to reconstruct whole areas of
Elizabethan society. A study of these comedies is indispensable if we would like to know the
brilliant and amusing surface of the most colorful era in English history. Every Man in His
Humour gives us vivid pictures of the gallants of the time and their habits of smoking and
wearing and quarreling (Dykeman, 1988; Donaldson, 1997; Amir & Aurangzeb, 2020;
Aurangzeb, 2020). Also, there are many other contemporary allusions in the play. The Silent
woman is one of the most sparkling comedies ever written, and it combines its gaiety with the
close and realistic study of contemporary manners. Above all, The Alchemist is a realistic play
that contains vivid pictures of the life of the times, and the thoughts and desires which dominated
the minds of the people (Lake, & Questier, 2002; Craig, 1999).
The Action of the Play, Interwoven With the Events of the Time:
Of all his plays, The Alchemist most reflects the Jacobean London in which Jonson lived.
Its very plot, for instance, hinges upon an actual event of the year in which this play was written
17Electronic Research Journal of Behavioural Sciences, Volume 4 (2021)
ISSN: 2652-7782. http://erjbehaviouralsciences.com/
and produced. The city of London was visited by the plague during the summer of 1610. This
event is central to the play. It is because of his fear of the plague that a man called Lovewit quits
his house in the city and goes to the countryside to spend his days there. He leaves his city house
in the charge of his servant Jeremy who, under the assumed name to Face, enters into a triple
partnership with Subtle, a professional alchemist, and Dol Common, a prostitute. The object of
the partners is to practice alchemy and any other profitable form of swindling which may suggest
itself. The lure of the promised gold draws to them a large number of dupes. Mammon, a knight,
hopes to have all the metallic articles in his house transformed into gold and thus to rise to great
heights of wealth, luxury, and sexual pleasure (Amir, & Ahmad, 2020a; Amir, & Ahmad,
2020b).
The Puritans, Ananias, and Tribulation propose to establish Puritanism firmly by
enlisting soldiers and bribing magistrates with the gold which they would be able to obtain
through the philosopher’s stone to be provided by the conspirators (Malin, 1992). Dapper, a
lawyer’s clerk, seeks a familiar or an attendant spirit to advise him in his gambling. Drugger, a
tobacconist demands a magic sign to draw customers to his shop, and he also seeks directions for
the placing of his shelves in the most fortunate position (Russell, 1929; Priyadharshni, 2019;
Greenhill, 1993). Kastril is taught how to become a fashionable town gallant; and his sister,
Dame Pliant, is told her fortune in marriage. Each, in turn, is robbed of his goods and his money.
The swindlers’ success is complete until the return of Face’s master when everybody, with the
exception of Face, finds himself or herself in trouble.
Even from this skeleton of the play, it can be seen how much the action is interwoven
with the everyday events of Jonson’s time. It was a time when people made feverish and
desperate efforts to become rich. It was therefore also a time when all kinds of swindlers,
mountebanks, quacks, impostors, and charlatans exploited those seeking wealth and flourished at
their cost. Contemporary London, indeed, provides Jonson with a fertile ground for the exercise
of his satirical imagination (Dykeman, 1988; Donaldson, 1997; Amir & Aurangzeb, 2020;
Aurangzeb, 2020).
Popular Belief in Alchemy in Those Days:
The plot of The Alchemist provided Jonson with an excellent opportunity for satirizing
two social evils of the time: the profession of alchemy, and Puritanism. An alchemist was a
person who claimed that he would turn any metal into gold with the philosopher’s stone, and
who made the further claim that the elixir or the philosopher’s stone which he could manufacture
was capable of curing all kinds of diseases as well.
The alchemical theory was based on the belief that every substance of nature had an
essential principle or element out of which it had grown, as a chicken grows out of an egg, and
that, further, there was an element common to all these essential principles, a universal essence.
Thus the alchemist believed that, since there was property common to all substances, one
substance could be turned into another and that, further, an imperfect substance could be
developed into a perfect one by his art and skill.
The philosopher’s stone was imagined as consisting of the elements of seven metals, each
of which was called by the name of a heavenly body: gold the sun, silver being the moon, iron
being Mars, and so on. Of these seven metals, quicksilver or mercury was the most important,
while Sulphur was the most important of the elements of the four spirits. These metals and
spirits, when adequately distilled and mixed, formed the philosopher’s stone. Popular belief in
18Electronic Research Journal of Behavioural Sciences, Volume 4 (2021)
ISSN: 2652-7782. http://erjbehaviouralsciences.com/
alchemy had had a fluctuating history. In the Middle Ages alchemy enjoyed a lot of prestige, and
the names of many scholars, including Paracelsus, could be counted among its votaries. Then in
Elizabethan England, alchemy enjoyed a great vogue. Queen Elizabeth is herself said to have
been a believer in it. Indeed, many persons set themselves up as alchemists claiming to have the
power to transform inferior metals into gold. Hand in hand with the alchemists went the
astrologers, palmists, and conjurers, who claimed that they could summon the spirits of the dead
(Amir, & Ahmad, 2020a; Amir, & Ahmad, 2020b).
A Contemporary Parallel to the Tripartite Partnership in the Play:
This was the state of affairs that Jonson found in London in 1610. In drawing the
characters of Subtle and Face, he had in mind three well-known names of the period; John Dee,
Simon Forman, and Edward Kelley. Dee was a sincere believer in alchemy though he was
actually a mathematician and astronomer by profession. In his later life, he became deeply
interested in alchemy and in magic. By virtue of this interest, he became associated with Kelley.
Kelley was a clever charlatan who attained complete mastery over Dee; and together they toured
the Continent, claiming to hold communication with the spirits of the dead and the power to
transform base metals into gold. In particular, these two men spent much time with Rudolph II,
Emperor of Germany, who eventually detained Kelley in prison. The alliance between Subtle
and Face shows a close resemblance to the partnership of those two men. The career of Simon
Forman must have provided Jonson with even better material. He was the best-known quack of
the time and, like Subtle, had an extensive practice in London, not only in alchemy but in
medicine, necromancy, astrology, and crystal-gazing (Foley, 1949; Iyanda, 2019; Prithivirajan,
2019).
Dapper and Drugger, Cheated on the Basis of Alchemy:
Alchemy and its allied sciences form the basis of Jonson’s plot in The Alchemist. If the
theme of alchemy is eliminated from the play, its plot would go to pieces. Subtle claims that he
has established a laboratory where the alchemical process has already been set in motion in order
to produce the elixir or the philosopher’s stone which would be able to work all kinds of miracles
(Foley, 1949).
With Face serving as Subtle’s agent and propagandist, Subtle attracts many clients and
customers wanting to become rich or to achieve the fulfillment of certain other desires. The first
client in the play is Dapper who, as already pointed out, wants to become rich by winning money
in all kinds of gambling. The alchemist tells him that he is a favorite of the Queen of Fairies who
would undoubtedly make him rich. In fact, he is told that he is a nephew of the Queen of Fairies
and that she would give away a large chunk of her own estate to him. Dapper falls under the spell
of Subtle and Face to such an extent that he allows himself to be blindfolded, gagged, and then
stowed away in the toilet. He is robbed of every bit of money and every valuable article which he
carries on his person.
The next client is Drugger who not only wants to attain commercial prosperity but would
like to get married to a young and rich widow, Dame Pliant. He too receives all kinds of
assurances from Subtle and Face, and ultimately finds himself cheated of all his hopes (Ahmed,
2021).
19Electronic Research Journal of Behavioural Sciences, Volume 4 (2021)
ISSN: 2652-7782. http://erjbehaviouralsciences.com/
Other Victims of Alchemy:
Mammon, the knight, is the most enthusiastic believer in alchemy and in the power of
Subtle to produce the philosopher’s stone. He tells his friend Surly that Subtle is about to
produce the perfect ruby, which is called elixir, which can confer honor, love, respect, and long
life upon a man. This elixir, he says, can restore an old man to youth and can rejuvenate him
thoroughly (Ahmed, 2021). When Surly expresses his doubts about the existence of the
philosopher’s stone, Mammon cites cases from history and mythology to support his belief in its
existence. Mammon believes in alchemy and in the existence of the philosopher’s stone so firmly
that he declares that very soon he would come into the possession of unlimited wealth and
would, furthermore, be in a position to enjoy endless sexual pleasure. When Surly says that a
man, who practices alchemy, should be a pious and holy man, Mammon says that Subtle is a
very good soul who spends most of his time in prayer and in fasting and who would not like to
hear a single profane word. Subtle himself then expounds on the theory of alchemy to convince
Surly who is skeptical about it. Subtle says that gold did not exist under the earth as gold from
the very beginning. What originally existed may be called the prime matter. This prime matter
developed into gold in the course of the ages, passing through many intermediate stages.
Subtle’s reasoning would convince any ordinary man because of the scientific jargon
which he employs and the scientific principle which he enunciates as the basis for his theory.
When Ananias describes Subtle’s technical jargon as heathen language, Subtle begins to
interrogate Face with regard to the alchemical process which is supposed to be continuing in the
laboratory. Face replies to the various questions put by Subtle in such a skilled manner that
anybody would feel convinced about the authenticity of the whole thing, though Ananias also
remains skeptical they and Surly are the only skeptics. Dapper, Drugger, and Mammon are the
principal dupes who are fully convinced about the genuineness of the alchemist’s art. Kastril is
another fellow who is taken in by the claims and pretensions of Subtle. Face keeps all the time
blowing Subtle’s trumpet. Dol makes her own contribution to the chicanery which is going on at
Lovewit’s house during his absence. All the descriptions of the alchemical process, the use of
numerous technical terms and phrases, and the repeated references to Subtle’s powers as an
alchemist stamp this play as belonging to the time when it was written (Greenhill, 1993).
Puritanism in Jacobean London Satirized:
Jonson’s satirical portrayal of the Puritans or Anabaptists, Ananias, and
Tribulation, reveals another aspect of life in Jacobean London. These two men have come from
Amsterdam in order to obtain the philosopher’s stone from Subtle. While Ananias is initially
skeptical about the philosopher’s stone and while he is contemptuous of Subtle, the other Puritan,
namely Tribulation, is able to convert him to his point of view. Tribulation tells Ananias that he
should ignore the wickedness of Subtle because sometimes even wicked fellows can be made
instruments to serve holy causes. Tribulation says that the children of perdition are oft-times
made instruments even of the greatest works. In this spirit, the two Puritans then approach Subtle
who makes an eloquent speech to impress upon them the virtues of the philosopher’s stone by
means of which they would be able vastly to increase their wealth and their influence over the
community. The Puritans show as tremendous agreed as has previously been shown by Dapper,
Drugger, and Mammon. These Puritans, who give themselves out as very pious fellows, are even
willing to accept counterfeit dollars from Subtle. They agree that there is a difference between
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the coining of dollars and the casting of dollars, and that, while the coining of dollars may be
illegal, the casting of dollars is not. Indeed, the hypocrisy of these Puritans is appalling, as is
their avarice.
Jonson had reason to portray the Puritans in a satirical light. The Puritans had long been
opposed to the theatre. They were always been attracting the stage and the producers and writers
of plays. The playwrights returned the attack and got the better of the argument. Contemporary
drama abounded in references to the Puritans until in 1642, the theaters were closed by an Act of
Parliament under the pressure of Puritan ideas.
Allusions to Contemporary Manners in the Play:
The Alchemist contains several other allusions to contemporary ideas and manners. In this
context, the role of Kastril is quite important. Kastril is a young man from the countryside. He
has come to the city in order to learn city manners and then practice the same in the countryside.
He would particularly like to learn the art of quarreling as practiced by the city gallants. Face
tells him that the doctor, namely Subtle, is the only man in Christendom who can teach him this
art most effectively. Kastril would like to learn how “to manage a quarrel fairly and upon fit
terms.” The art of quarreling in those days consisted of carrying a quarrel as far as possible
without actually having to fight with an opponent. Thus gallant would begin to argue a matter in
a heated tone, becoming not only defiant but aggressive, as if he would actually attack his
opponent; but, if the opponent showed the same firmness and bellicosity, the gallant would
immediately try to withdraw from the quarrel. Essentially, therefore, a gallant was a coward who
would not like to risk his life by actually fighting with an opponent. This, then, is the art that
Kastril wants to learn and in which Subtle begins to give him lessons.
Of course, this whole thing is part of the satire in the play. Besides quarreling in this
particular way, the gallants of the time had begun smoking tobacco. Kastril says that he has
already seen the “angry boys” in the city smoking tobacco and that he himself is now in a
position to smoke. The phrase “angry boys” refers to those gallants of the time who showed a
tendency to quarrel in the manner which has already been described above. While giving lessons
to Kastril in quarreling, Subtle again uses technical phraseology, just as he had used technical
jargon connection with alchemy. For instance, he says that Kastril is not speaking according to
“true grammar.” Subtle wants that Kastril should “render causes,” his “first and second
intentions,” and that Kastril must know “his canons,” “his divisions,” degrees and difference.”
Kastril, says Subtle, must not follow the false precept of being “aforehand.” A young man, says
Subtle, must not plunge headlong into a quarrel because he might have to regret it if he does so
(Donaldson, 1997).
More Contemporary Allusions:
The contemporary allusions also include some of the new Royal Exchange and the
commerce and trade to which the reign of Queen Elizabeth had given such an impetus. There are
also allusions to the money-lenders with whom London at this time swarmed. Incidentally,
Lovewit’s London house is situated in a locality known as Blackfriars which is an authentic
locality. References are also made to Moorfields, to St. Paul’s Cathedral, Pie-Corner, and the
Temple Church, or the Round, which was a meeting place for lawyers and businessmen. There
are references to some of the currencies of the time, such as the angel and the noble. There is an
21Electronic Research Journal of Behavioural Sciences, Volume 4 (2021)
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allusion to the contemporary practice of rich people of distributing doles to the poor at their
buttery-hatches. There is a reference also to the Act of Parliament (1604) forbidding the
multiplying of gold and silver. There is an allusion to Dr. Simon Read who was charged in 1607
with invoking spirits to recover stolen money but later pardoned by the King. Furthermore, in
drawing the characters of Subtle and Face, the author had in mind three well-known names of the
time, John Dee, Simon Forman, and Edward Kelley, all of whom were charlatans and quacks.
Conclusion:
Jonson as a playwright was a determined realist. His realism and the vivid picture of
London life makes this play among the most informative plays of the period. This play makes it
possible to reconstruct whole areas of Elizabethan society. The paper analyses which aspects of
the city of London give vivid pictures of the young gallants described as “angry boys” of the
time and their habits such as smoking, gambling, and quarreling. There are many contemporary
allusions in the play the most common of which is the plague that raged in London in the year
1610. Above all, The Alchemist is a realistic play that contains vivid pictures of the life of the
times, and the thoughts and desires which dominated the minds of the people.
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