The Alchemist Summary
Ben Jonson

Everything you need to understand or teach The Alchemist by Ben Jonson.

The Alchemist Summary & Study Guide
2 Student Essays
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The Alchemist Summary

The Alchemist is one of Ben Jonson' s more popular comedies. Cony-catching or swindling (a cony was another word for dupe, gull, or victim) was as popular in the seventeenth century as it is in the twentieth. The con or swindle was a familiar theme and one which Jonson found to be a natural topic for comedy. There is little known about audience reaction to any of Jonson's plays. There were no theatre...

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Study Pack

The The Alchemist Study Pack contains:

The Alchemist Study Guide

Introduction

Author Biography

Plot Summary

Characters

Themes

Style

Criticism

Topics for Further Study

Ben Jonson Biographies (4)

Ben Jonson

1,340 words, approx. 5 pages

The English playwright and poet Ben Jonson (1572-1637) is best known for his satiric comedies. An immensely learned man with an irascible and domineering personality, he was, next to Shakespeare, the ... Read more

Ben Jonson

19,312 words, approx. 65 pages

Biography EssayBy turns turbulent and weighty, scatological and refined, boisterous and delicate, Ben Jonson's works have always excited strong reactions among his readers and his playgoing audiences,... Read more

Ben(jamin) Jonson

16,842 words, approx. 57 pages

By turns turbulent and weighty, scatalogical and refined, boisterous and delicate, Ben Jonson's works have always excited strong reactions among his readers and his playgoing audiences, just as his pe... Read more

Ben(jamin) Jonson

14,726 words, approx. 50 pages

Although Ben Jonson is still best known as a dramatist, his significance as a poet is hard to overestimate. His influence helped transform English verse. His "plain style" made him a crucial figure in... Read more

Essays & Analysis (2)

The Alchemist

2,743 words, approx. 10 pages

The Alchemist Journey is defined by Webster's dictionary (2004) as the act of traveling from one location to another, a trip, in other words. One states that while on this journey from wherever an i... Read more

The Socially Defined Self in "The Alchemist"

1,990 words, approx. 7 pages

In The Alchemist, Ben Johnson's treatment of the self works to maintain a conservative worldview where identity is intimately tied to one's social standing. The permanence of the self is shown to be d... Read more

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The Alchemist SummaryBen Jonson