Historical Context
Last Updated August 16, 2024.
Religion and Society
By 1610, James I had been on the throne for seven years, and the Anglican
Church, firmly re-established during Elizabeth I's reign, was just one of
several religious forces at play in Renaissance England. Among these various
religious groups, the Puritans were particularly significant to theatre-goers.
The Puritans opposed the theatre, viewing it as deceitful because actors were
portraying roles other than their own. To the Puritans, acting was akin to
lying.
Given this context, it is easy to see why Jonson might satirize Puritans in The Alchemist. It is also crucial to note that plays were subject to censorship and were reviewed by the Master of Revels, who could demand revisions and censor content. Unlike twentieth-century works, seventeenth-century plays were not scrutinized for sexual content or obscene language. Instead, the focus of the review was on religion and politics, as theology often influenced politics. Additionally, the portrayal of the king, who was seen as God's representative and the head of the Anglican Church, was particularly significant.
The societal hierarchy began with God and extended to the King, mirroring the family structure where authority flowed from man to woman to child. At the start of the seventeenth century, England remained largely agrarian. Most men worked outside the home, while most women served primarily as wives, mothers, cooks, housekeepers, and occasionally nurses. Literacy rates were low, with few men and even fewer women able to read. Society was distinctly class-based.
For most practical purposes, society was divided into two main classes: the aristocratic landowners and those who worked for them. In a largely illiterate society, both men and women relied heavily on the church for information. Clergy used church services to impart lessons and morals, giving the English a deep knowledge of the Bible that few twentieth-century church-goers could match.
The Theatre
The construction of the first permanent theatre around 1576 elevated the social
status of theatre professionals. By 1600, some actors and playwrights,
including William Shakespeare, owned stakes in theatres and earned a
comfortable living. Most theatres were situated just outside town to avoid
religious conflicts, particularly with the Puritans. Performances were held
outdoors during the day, and many audience members stood for the entire
show.
The theatres were open-air structures, typically circular or octagonal, with seating arranged around the edge. The seats were shielded by a covered gallery, but a large area in front of the stage, where spectators stood, was exposed to the weather. If the weather was favorable and a performance was scheduled, a flag was raised to inform the audience. Since most working people were unavailable to attend plays during the day, the audience mainly comprised gentlemen who paid approximately 1 pence for the pricier seats, while those who could afford the cheaper central area gathered in front of the stage. Respectable women could attend if accompanied by a male escort, and prostitutes were present to attract clients. All roles were played by male actors, with younger boys taking on female characters.
Even though many audience members were uneducated, the stage presentation and performance usually compensated for this, and the themes of the plays were often familiar enough to be easily understood. There were no curtains or dimming of lights to indicate the end of an act; the act concluded when all the actors in the scene exited the stage. There were no intermissions, no scenery, and none of the time or location indicators that modern audiences are accustomed to. The performances relied solely on the text, which was often written in verse.
Jonson's plays were frequently staged at the Globe, a...
(This entire section contains 627 words.)
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theatre in which Shakespeare was a part-owner. Although plays were immensely popular, thirty years after Jonson's time, the Puritans succeeded in closing down the theatres. They remained closed until the Restoration in 1660.
Literary Style
Last Updated August 16, 2024.
Act
A significant division within a play. In ancient Greek theater, the appearance
of the chorus marked the divisions, usually split into five acts. This
structure was standard for serious drama from Greek and Roman times through to
Elizabethan playwrights like William Shakespeare. These five acts outline the
progression of dramatic action: exposition, complication, climax, falling
action, and catastrophe. This five-act format persisted until the nineteenth
century when Henrik Ibsen began merging some acts.
The Alchemist follows a five-act structure. The exposition happens in the first act, introducing Subtle and Face's scheme and the initial victims. By the end of Act II, the complication arises as the remaining victims are introduced. The climax is in the third act when all the victims start to arrive, leading to Dapper being gagged and locked in the privy. The falling action consists of near misses as the swindlers target each victim in different parts of the house. The catastrophe occurs in the final act when Lovewit returns to restore order, and the victims realize the full extent of the deception.
Character
A character is an individual in a dramatic work whose actions drive the story.
Character also encompasses an individual's morality. Characters can range from
simple, stereotypical figures to complex, multi-dimensional ones. They may be
defined by specific traits, such as the rogue or the damsel in distress.
"Characterization" refers to the process of crafting a realistic person from
the author's imagination, achieved by giving the character personality traits
that shape their behavior in various situations.
The Alchemist slightly deviates from this definition, as each character is more of a "type" rather than a fully developed individual. The audience doesn’t get to know the characters deeply. For example, Drugger represents the emerging merchant class. He is a shopkeeper who seeks to use magic to gain an edge over his competitors.
Genre
Genres categorize literature into different types. The term "genre" is French
for "kind" or "type." It can refer to broad categories such as tragedy, comedy,
epic, poetry, or pastoral, as well as modern forms like drama, novels, or short
stories. Additionally, genre can denote specific types of literature like
mystery, science fiction, comedy, or romance. The Alchemist is
classified as a comedy.
Plot
The term "plot" refers to the sequence of events in a story. Typically, plots
have a beginning, a middle, and an end, although they can sometimes consist of
a series of interconnected episodes. Essentially, the plot allows the author to
delve into key themes. Students often mix up "plot" and "theme"; however,
themes explore ideas while plots simply narrate what happens in a
straightforward way. For instance, the plot of The Alchemist is about
three con artists attempting to swindle money from naive victims. Yet, the
theme revolves around greed.
Setting
The "setting" refers to the time, place, and cultural context in which the
play's action occurs. Elements of the setting can include geographic location,
physical or psychological environments, dominant cultural attitudes, or the
historical period during which the events unfold. In Jonson's play, the setting
is London, specifically the house of Master Lovewit. The events are confined to
a span of three weeks in the year 1610.
Satire
Satire aims to combine social critique with comedy and humor. It typically does
not target individuals but rather the institutions they represent. The goal is
to highlight issues and spark discussions that can lead to solutions. In The
Alchemist, the satire targets the two Puritan Deacons, who symbolize an
excessively fervent approach to religion.
Compare and Contrast
Last Updated August 16, 2024.
1610: The plague, a frequent issue for densely populated London, strikes with severe impact.
Today: Although the plague has not been entirely eliminated, it no longer poses a significant threat to London or other major global cities. In the modern era, HIV and AIDS are the prevailing pandemics.
1610: The New World sees Jamestown colonists on the verge of abandoning their settlement after enduring a harsh period. They are persuaded to remain and make another attempt when additional settlers arrive.
Today: Those early British colonies, once struggling to survive, have evolved into the powerful military and economic entity known as the United States.
1610: Henry Hudson embarks on another quest to discover a Northwest Passage. With support from English investors, Hudson manages only to navigate into the strait that will later bear his name.
Today: The twenty-fifth anniversary of the last manned lunar landing is commemorated, and NASA announces plans for another moon exploration.
1610: Shakespeare enjoys nearly twenty-five years of success as a playwright. After 1610, he will pen The Tempest and collaborate on two additional plays, All Is True (Henry VIII) and The Two Noble Kinsmen.
Today: Shakespeare experiences a resurgence in film and theater. Nearly a dozen of his plays have been adapted into films in the past decade or are in development. Additionally, many scenes or plots from his works have been incorporated into other popular films.
Bibliography and Further Reading
Last Updated August 16, 2024.
Ferreira-Ross, Jeanette D. "Jonson's Satire of Puritanism in The Alchemist" in Sydney Studies in English, Vol. 17, 1991-92, pp. 22-42.
Fotheringham, Richard. "The Doubling of Roles on the Jacobean Stage" in Theatre Research International, Vol. 10, no. 1, September 1985, pp. 18-32.
Harp, Richard. "Ben Jonson's Comic Apocalypse" in Cithara Essays in the Judaeo Christian Tradition, Vol. 34, no. 1, November 1994, pp. 34-43.
Kernan, Alvin B. "Shakespeare's and Jonson's View of Public Theatre Audiences" in Jonson & Shakespeare, edited by Ian Donaldson, Humanities, 1983, pp. 74-78.
Kernan, Alvin B., Editor. The Alchemist, Yale, 1974.
Mares, F. H. "Comic Procedures in Shakespeare and Jonson: Much Ado about Nothing and The Alchemist" in Jonson & Shakespeare, edited by Ian Donaldson, Humanities, 1983, pp. 101-18.
Monsarrat, G. D. "Editing the Actor: Truth and Deception in The Alchemist, V.3-5" in Cahiers Elisabethans: Late Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Vol. 23, April 1983, pp. 61-71.
Raw, Laurence J. A. "William Pole's Staging of The Alchemist" in Theatre Notebook, Vol. 44, no. 2, 1990, pp. 74-80.
Ross, Cheryl Lynn. "The Plague of The Alchemist" in Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 41, no. 3, Autumn 1988, pp. 439-58.
For Further Reading:
Ford, Boris, Editor. The Cambridge Cultural History of Britain, Vol.
4: Seventeenth-Century Britain, Cambridge, 1989.
This book offers an accessible history of seventeenth-century England, divided
into sections on literature, art, and music. An introductory section sets the
historical context.
Fotheringham, Richard. "The Doubling of Roles on the Jacobean Stage" in
Theatre Research International, Vol. 10, no. 1, September 1985, pp.
18-32.
This concise essay provides an engaging analysis of role-doubling on the
Jacobean stage. Playwrights often wrote with the intention of minimizing the
number of actors needed, resulting in scenes and lines designed for actors
playing multiple roles, with entrances and exits planned accordingly.
Herford, C. H., Percy, and Evelyn Simpson, Editors. Ben Jonson, Vols.
I-XI, Oxford, 1925-52.
This comprehensive eleven-volume work includes a biography of Jonson and
introductions to each of his plays. The text of the plays is a reprint of the
1616 folio Jonson printed. It also provides insights into the public's
reception of his plays and extensive information on nearly every aspect of
Jonson's life and work.
Hill, Christopher. The Century of Revolution 1603-1714, Norton,
1961.
Hill, a renowned author on Renaissance literature, offers a well-structured
examination of the economic, religious, and political issues of the seventeenth
century. The book covers the events leading up to the English Revolution, the
Revolution itself, and the subsequent Restoration, all of which significantly
influenced the literature of the period.
Maclean, Hugh, Editor. Ben Jonson and the Cavalier Poets, Norton,
1974.
This text includes a curated selection of Jonson's poetry, along with works by
his contemporaries, providing readers and students with an easy way to study
and compare the poetry of the period.