Chapter The Alchemist Summaries and Commentary of The Alchemist - Study Guide by Ben Jonson

This is the last scene in the play solely involving the three rogues for from this point on the gulls come thick and the fast until the trickery spirals out of their control. Indeed this scene marks the point at which it takes on a life of its own as neither Dapper nor Drugger have turned up on time and Surly failed to make his meeting with Face. It appears that the tight grip which Face had upon the timing of the gulling is loosening.

Though Surly failed to show, in what Face believes to be a stroke of good fortune, a fresh fool has been found, a Spanish Count. The Spaniard seeks a whore and Face has thus arranged for him to be serviced by Dol. She must "milk his epididimis" (III.iii.22). This highly biological description of sex brings with it the recurrent theme of sex as a business tool. E B Partridge points out that this scene also connects sexual aggression with warfare. "The impostors are at war", he writes, "and have fortified themselves in their castle, from which they daily send out small sorties. Any enemies captured are held to ransom and possibly tortured in to submission by Dol's drum".

Act 3. Scene 4

This scene sees the pace of action increased somewhat as two sets of gulls arrive on the stage. The first is Dapper, the lawyer's clerk, returned for his meeting with the Queen of Faery. The second is Drugger, who has brought Kastril, the young gentleman seeking advice on quarrelling. Kastril wants to live by his wits like the so called "angry boys" who were a set of men in the upper echelons of Jacobean society. It soon becomes obvious, however, that he lacks the wit of these gallants and is therefore a perfect victim for the cunning of Face and Subtle. In order to convince Kastril that he has come to the right place and that his sister should also come and be "instructed", Face regales him with tales of the incredible skills of the Doctor. He tells him of how Drugger's fortunes are to change following his encounters with Subtle, claims which Drugger is all too keen to cooborate. He also speaks of the doctor's skills at "making matches, for rich widows," (III.iv.101). When Kastril hears this he is convinced and exclaims "God's will, my suster shall see him" (III.iv.104) and he goes with Drugger to fetch the nubile Dame Pliant. This leaves Dapper, ready for his meeting with his aunt of the Faery.

Act 3. Scene 5

Whilst most of the victims of the three impostors make themselves look ridiculous through their greed fuelled blindness Dapper is made to look truly ridiculous by the fantastical schemes of the three. They blindfold him in preparation for the meeting and then urge him to throw away all his worldly effects, his purse, his handkerchiefs, his rings, etc. This he does and thus becomes the physical embodiment of the process of gulling; a man blindfolded, willingly throwing away his money whilst the three rogues stand around laughing. The comedy is heightened by the cozeners' impressions of the Queen of Faery's elves, sent to ensure that Dapper has got rid of all "that is transitory" (III.v.30). They pinch him, make high pitched noises and converse with the 'elves' until he admits that he has a half-crown around his wrist given to him by a former lover. Mercilessly the rogues take all.

The visual gags and humour in The Alchemist seems nothing more than intellectually unimpressive farce and ‘low’ art but as Dutton says there is "no necessary incompatibility between high farce and the asking of awkward questions". The scene with Dapper’s first audience with the Fairy Queen is entertaining because of his total belief in the episode, set against the unsophisticated nature of the cozeners’ staging of the encounter - we see Dapper enthralled and blindfolded, his mouth stuffed with gingerbread stored in "Fortune’s privy lodgings". Whilst the audience may laugh at the man’s gullibility, Jonson also pinpoints Man’s vulnerability and our laughter turns back on ourselves. The grandiose language of Subtle has conned the fool; he has worked upon his dreams of wealth and self-interest and exposes him only to embarrassment and loss. The real "base metal" on which Subtle’s alchemy works is the man’s weakness, his profit is created by exploiting and working on vices already present.

Doll enters, interrupting their mirth to warn them that Mammon who, until now they had forgotten about, has returned. This poses a problem, for Dol is integral to the gulling of both Dapper, as Queen of Faery,