Doll Common Character Analysis in The Alchemist

Face and Subtle’s criminal associate. In addition to numerous other scams and cons, Face is running a brothel out of Lovewit’s house, and Doll is his prostitute. When Abel Drugger visits Subtle and Face in search of a “familiar” to give him luck at cards and gambling, Doll dresses up as the “Fairy Queen,” a keeper of sorts of alchemical magic. Dressed as the Fairy Queen, Doll dupes Drugger out of even more money and gives him a bird that she swears will bring him luck at the card tables. Doll catches Mammon’s eye when he comes to Subtle for the philosopher’s stone, and Face tells him that Doll is the sister of an aristocrat and a “rare scholar,” who went insane after studying the works of a Puritan scholar. Face introduces Mammon to Doll—knowing Mammon will have sex with her and give Subtle an excuse not to give him the philosopher’s stone—and they quickly retire to the garden for privacy, where they presumably have sex. Afterward, Mammon indirectly mentions religion (against Face’s instructions), and Doll launches herself into an acute fit of insanity, excitedly quoting the same Puritan scholar who supposedly drove her to madness in the first place. After Lovewit returns and puts an end to Face’s criminal enterprise, Doll and Subtle plan to skip out on Face and rob him of his share of the profits, but Face betrays them first and doesn’t give them a chance to take their profits when the police come to Lovewit’s with the victims. Doll represents transformation within The Alchemist, as her character is constantly changing and evolving, and she also underscores Jonson’s religious argument. Doll’s act as a “rare scholar” driven insane by Puritan works mirrors Jonson’s condemnation of religious fanaticism, particularly radical Protestantism, which threatened to undermine the Protestant Reformation. Doll also represents greed and vice, namely sex. She is sexually linked to several of the characters, highlighting Jonson’s argument that while sex out of wedlock is often considered a particularly immoral vice, it is a common sin committed by many.

Doll Common Quotes in The Alchemist

The The Alchemist quotes below are all either spoken by Doll Common or refer to Doll Common. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

And you, too,
Will give the cause, forsooth? You will insult
And claim a primacy in the divisions?
You must be chief? As if you only had
The powder to project with? And the work
Were not begun out of equality?
The venture tripartite? All things in common?
Without priority? ’Sdeath, you perpetual curs,
Fall to your couples again, and cozen kindly
And heartily and lovingly, as you should,
And lose not the beginning of a term,
Or, by this hand, I shall grow factious too,
And take my part, and quit you.

Related Characters: Doll Common (speaker), Face / Jeremy the Butler, Subtle

Related Symbols: The Philosopher’s Stone

Page Number and Citation: 221

Explanation and Analysis:

For which, at supper, thou shalt sit in triumph,
And not be styled Doll Common, but Doll Proper,
Doll Singular: the longest cut, at night,
Shall draw thee for his Doll Particular.

Related Characters: Face / Jeremy the Butler (speaker), Subtle, Doll Common

Page Number and Citation: 222

Explanation and Analysis:

Methinks I see him entering ordinaries,
Dispensing for the pox; and plaguy houses,
Reaching his dose; walking Moorfields for lepers;
And offering citizens’ wives pomander-bracelets
As his preservative, made of the elixir;
Searching the spittle, to make old bawds young;
And the highways for beggars to make rich.
I see no end of his labours. He will make
Nature ashamed of her long sleep, when art,
Who’s but a stepdame, shall do more than she,
In her best love to mankind, ever could.
If his dream last, he’ll turn the age to gold.

Related Characters: Subtle (speaker), Doll Common, Sir Epicure Mammon

Related Symbols: The Philosopher’s Stone

Page Number and Citation: 234

Explanation and Analysis:

You’re very right, sir; she is a most rare scholar,
And is gone mad with studying Broughton’s works.
If you but name a word touching the Hebrew,
She falls into her fit, and will discourse
So learnedly of genealogies,
As you would run mad, too, to hear her, sir.

Related Characters: Face / Jeremy the Butler (speaker), Doll Common, Sir Epicure Mammon

Page Number and Citation: 249

Explanation and Analysis:

Sweet Madame, let me be particular—

Particular, sir? I pray you, know your distance.

Related Characters: Doll Common (speaker), Sir Epicure Mammon (speaker), Face / Jeremy the Butler, Subtle

Related Symbols: The Philosopher’s Stone

Page Number and Citation: 281

Explanation and Analysis:

Be silent: not a word if he call or knock.
I’ll into mine old shape again, and meet him,
Of Jeremy the butler. I’ the meantime,
Do you two pack up all the goods and purchase
That we can carry i’ the two trunks. I’ll keep him
Off for today, if I cannot longer; and then
At night, I’ll ship you both away to Ratcliffe,
Where we’ll meet tomorrow, and there we’ll share.
Let Mammon’s brass and pewter keep the cellar;
We’ll have another time for that. But, Doll,
Pray thee, go heat a little water, quickly,
Subtle must shave me.

Related Characters: Face / Jeremy the Butler (speaker), Subtle, Doll Common, Sir Epicure Mammon, Lovewit

Page Number and Citation: 306

Explanation and Analysis:

So I will, sir. Gentlemen,
My part a little fell in this last scene,
Yet ’twas decorum. And though I am clean
Got off, from Subtle, Surly, Mammon, Doll,
Hot Ananias, Dapper, Drugger, all
With whom I traded; yet I put myself
On you, that are my country; and this pelf
Which I have got, if you do quit me, rests
To feast you often, and invite new guests.

Related Characters: Face / Jeremy the Butler (speaker), Subtle, Doll Common, Sir Epicure Mammon, Dapper, Ananias, Surly / The Spaniard, Abel Drugger

Page Number and Citation: 326

Explanation and Analysis:

Doll Common Character Timeline in The Alchemist

The timeline below shows where the character Doll Common appears in The Alchemist. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Face, a servant, enters with a sword. He is accompanied by Doll Common and Subtle, who is carrying a small glass bottle. Face and Subtle are arguing... (full context)

...is causing trouble before the “projection.” Face threatens to publically accuse Subtle of sorcery, and Doll asks the men if they plan to undo their plans with fighting. Subtle and Face... (full context)

Doll asks Face if he really plans to accuse Subtle of sorcery, and she asks Subtle... (full context)

Doll enters and looks out the window. She can see Sir Epicure Mammon coming up the... (full context)

...fancy words only serve to “obscure their art.” They begin to bicker, and Mammon sees Doll enter. He stops and immediately asks who she is. (full context)

Subtle ignores Mammon and orders Doll out of the room. He angrily calls to Face, who enters and tells Subtle that... (full context)

Face explains that Subtle is angry that Mammon saw Doll. Mammon gives Face more money and asks him what Doll is like when she isn’t... (full context)

...suspicious. Mammon says he will, but first he wants Face to promise to talk to Doll for him. He wants Face to praise him and say that he is a gentleman.... (full context)

Subtle and Doll enter, and Subtle asks Face if Mammon took the bait. Face says Mammon has definitely... (full context)

...who will marry Dame Pliant. They agree to draw straws and promise not to tell Doll a thing, and Subtle tells Face to hurry down and meet Surly so he doesn’t... (full context)

...his conscience.” He is rich and on his way over. Face told him all about Doll, and he is very interested. Face looks around for Doll. “She must prepare perfumes, delicate... (full context)

Subtle sends for Doll, and then he tells Face all about his “John Leidens.” He was able to get... (full context)

...secret Don.” Face says he found him while looking for Surly, and then he tells Doll to “go tune [her] virginal.” She must give the Spaniard “good action, Face says. That... (full context)

Doll goes to the window. It is Dapper at the door, she says. In that case,... (full context)

...Dapper begins throwing out all his money, as well as his jewelry and rings, and Doll enters playing a cittern. (full context)

...come to pinch Dapper until he has given up all his money, and then Face, Doll, and Subtle begin pinching him all over. They chant “Ti ti, ti ti to ta”... (full context)

...into Dapper’s mouth and gags him with a rag, then he looks to Face and Doll. Subtle asks where they should put Dapper; he can’t be seen or heard while Doll... (full context)

...no silver, but Face suggests he give a little to the poor. Mammon asks where Doll is, and Face says she will be along shortly. He has told Doll the most... (full context)

Face reminds Mammon that he must be very quiet in his visit with Doll. If Subtle senses Mammon is behaving in a lustful way, he will never agree to... (full context)

Face returns with Doll, and Mammon bows to kiss her hem, but she stops him. Instead, Doll brings her... (full context)

Mammon continues sweet talking Doll and asks her how she spends her time, living in a house with such a... (full context)

Mammon tells Doll that he is “the lord of the philosopher’s stone,” and she is “the lady.” Doll... (full context)

Mammon tells Doll they will take the stone and run away to a “free state,” where they will... (full context)

...repeats that he must have Dame Pliant, but Face tells him to be quiet, so Doll doesn’t hear, and they begin again to argue. Subtle again says that Doll will hear... (full context)

...Face what Surly is talking about. Suddenly, Face remembers. The Spaniard has come to see Doll, he says, but she is decidedly busy. They begin to panic. Subtle asks what they... (full context)

...up Dame Pliant to the Spaniard, but Face asks him to reconsider and think about Doll. Subtle agrees and they shake hands. Face exits, and Subtle turns to Surly. Surly is... (full context)

...says, and Dame Pliant exits with Surly. Subtle quietly tells Face to get word to Doll, and then he tells Kestrel to come with him. They will finish his quarreling lesson,... (full context)

Doll enters, in a “fit,” and Mammon follows close behind. Doll is talking frantically. “Perdiccas and... (full context)

The sound of Subtle’s voice can be heard in the next room, and Face grabs Doll and runs off. Mammon asks where he should hide just as Subtle enters. He asks... (full context)

There is a knock at the door, and Face tells Subtle and Mammon it is Doll’s brother, and he is angry that she has been driven into a fit. Mammon asks... (full context)

...they are caught, Subtle says, they will all be go to prison. Ananias exits, and Doll enters. (full context)

Doll is in a panic and says they are all caught. Face’s master, Lovewit, is back... (full context)

...Face enters and talks with Subtle off to the side. Face says he will send Doll in as the Fairy Queen, and then they will get rid of Dapper. Face exits,... (full context)

Doll enters dressed as the Fairy Queen, and Subtle orders Dapper to kneel before her. Doll... (full context)

...the door. He tells Subtle to go and get Drugger’s suit, and then he asks Doll if she is all packed. She says she is, and Subtle returns with Hieronimo’s cloak.... (full context)

...and Subtle tells him it is packed safely in the trunks. Face tells Subtle and Doll that Lovewit knows all about their scams and has promised not to punish him. Suddenly,... (full context)

...addresses the audience as well. “I am clean / Got off, from Subtle, Surly, Mammon, Doll, / Hot Ananias, Dapper, Drugger, all,” he says, and asks for the audience to be... (full context)