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

and Mammon. Since Mammon is the bigger catch, they must deal with him first, but must also occupy Dapper until they are ready for him.They therefore stuff his mouth with a gag of gingerbread and shut him in the toilet. There he stays for so long, like a comic time bomb, that they (and most likely the audience too) forget about him. He, of course, explodes back into the play at a most inopportune moment.

Act 4

Act 4. Scene 1

As this scene opens it is clear that Mammon has just two things on his mind, money and sex. He first asks after the progress of the stone which, Face assures him, is reaching fruition, and secondly he asks of "the lady" who he expects to meet.

Face prepares the meeting carefully, reminding Mammon of "the lady's" fits which will be sparked off at the merest mention of religion. Should she have a fit, Face warns, "The very house would run mad" (IV.i.13) for the alchemist would discover Mammon's desires for the lady and the great project would be ruined. This, of course, is exactly what Face wants to happen, indeed what Face will make happen to ensure that Mammon believes that he is to blame for the lack of philosopher's stone.

Mammon gears himself up for what he believes will be a seduction saying, "The stone will do't./ She shall feel gold, taste gold, hear gold, sleep gold" (IV.i.28-29) Again the recurring image of sex as something to be bought asserts itself, perfectly expressed in the line "we will concumbere(lie together sexually) gold" (IV.i.30). Dol acts the temptress and Mammon is hooked. He flatters her, comparing her to the 'Austriac princes' and other royal houses. The noble epithets which Mammon ascribes to this whore are juxtaposed against Face's asides which serve as a reminder of what Dol really is. Face eventually has to leave the room, unable to contain his amusement at Mammon's ridiculous opinion of Dol.

Mammon continues his attempts at wooing her with tales of the glorious future he has ahead as "lord of the philosopher's stone" (IV.i.120) until he is interrupted by Face who sends them into the garden so that they might escape detection by the alchemist. Mammon survives this scene without a fit from Dol though his speeches are given a new tension through the audiences' knowledge that at some point he will slip up.

Act 4. Scene 2

The enmity between Face and Subtle again rears its head at the start of this scene. Dame Pliant has arrived with Kastril and the two rogues talk of their "business" regarding her, again agreeing to draw lots. Subtle hints that he will not necessarily play fairly with Face, saying in an aside that he shall "perhaps hit you through both nostrils" (IV.ii.9) a phrase which may be given the modern reading "put your nose out of joint".

With the gulls arriving at such a pace, Face has no time to change and so answers the door in the guise of Lungs. It should be remembered that at this point Dapper is locked in the toilet, Mammon is outside wooing Dol and now Kastril and Dame Pliant are in the main room. That Face has no time to change is a sign that things are spinning out of his control and he quickly leaves to resume his role as Captain Face. Subtle enters and immediately engages Kastril in the art of quarrelling, something Kastril is woefully poor at, before taking note of Dame Pliant and under the guise of metoscopy (telling character and fortune by inspection of appearance) kissing her twice. Face soon renters with the news that the Spanish Count is outside thus posing further problems, for he is a third gull for whom the services of Dol are required. To allow Face to deal with the count, Subtle takes Kastril and Dame Pliant away to study some spurious books and nick-nacks.

Throughout this scene there runs a sexual undercurrent for both Subtle and Face desire Dame Pliant and both use sexual innuendo when talking to her. Face states that he 'shall be proud to know' her, knowing being used in both the common and sexual sense here, whilst Subtle makes reference to her