Sir Epicure Mammon Character Analysis in The Alchemist

Surly’s friend and one of Face and Subtle’s victims. Mammon has been funding Subtle’s alchemy experiments for weeks, and Mammon is convinced that he will soon be in possession of the philosopher’s stone. With the stone, Mammon plans to turn all the metal in London to gold, make the old young, and stop the plague in its track. Mammon also plans to use the stone to enhance his sexual prowess—enough to give him strength for 50 women a night—and he looks forward to lining the walls of his bedchamber with mirrors, so his reflection is multiplied as he walks naked through his “succubae.” Subtle tells Mammon that the stone can only be used for the greater good and cannot be put to selfish or lustful ends, but Mammon lies and promises his intentions are pure. While talking with Subtle, Doll walks by and catches Mammon’s eye, and Face tells him that she is a “rare scholar” and the sister of an aristocrat who has gone mad studying the works of a Puritan scholar. Subtle later introduces Mammon to Doll, but he orders Mammon not to mention religion, which will send Doll into a fit of insanity. Mammon meets Doll, and they presumably have sex, after which he mentions religion and sends her into a rage. Subtle comes out of his laboratory and says Mammon has sent his work back at least a month with his lustful behavior, and after an explosion in the next room, Face runs in and says the stone has burst into flames. Mammon leaves feeling guilty, but he returns with Surly after discovering Face and Subtle’s scam. Like the rest of the victims, Mammon is turned away by Lovewit and never receives justice, nor does he get back all the metal he gave Subtle to turn into gold. Mammon represents gullibility in Jonson’s play, as he easily falls for Subtle and Face’s con, but he also represents greed and vice. Mammon is chiefly concerned with getting rich and having sex with lots of women, which, Jonson implies, are very common sins.

Sir Epicure Mammon Quotes in The Alchemist

The The Alchemist quotes below are all either spoken by Sir Epicure Mammon or refer to Sir Epicure Mammon. 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:

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:

For I do mean
To have a list of wives and concubines
Equal with Solomon, who had the stone
Alike with me; and I will make me a back
With the elixir that shall be as tough
As Hercules, to encounter fifty a night.

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

Related Symbols: The Philosopher’s Stone

Page Number and Citation: 239

Explanation and Analysis:

I will have all my beds blown up, not stuffed;
Down is too hard. And then mine oval room
Filled with such pictures as Tiberius took
From Elephantis, and dull Aretine
But coldly imitated. Then, my glasses
Cut in more subtle angles, to disperse
And multiply the figures as I walk
Naked between my succubae.

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

Related Symbols: The Philosopher’s Stone

Page Number and Citation: 239

Explanation and Analysis:

Pray you, sir, stay.
Rather than I’ll be brayed, sir, I’ll believe,
That alchemy is a pretty kind of game,
Somewhat like tricks o’the cards, to cheat a man
With charming.

Related Characters: Surly / The Spaniard (speaker), Subtle, Sir Epicure Mammon

Related Symbols: The Philosopher’s Stone

Page Number and Citation: 247

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:

Sir Epicure Mammon Character Timeline in The Alchemist

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

Doll enters and looks out the window. She can see Sir Epicure Mammon coming up the street, and he has someone with him. Subtle turns to Face and... (full context)

Sir Epicure Mammon enters with his friend, Surly. Mammon is excited; creating the philosopher’s stone is supposed to... (full context)

Face yells to Mammon from another room and tells him that they will be out soon. Mammon explains to... (full context)

Surly doesn’t believe Mammon. The philosopher’s stone must be a hoax, he says. When Surly sees “th’ effects of... (full context)

The elixir can cure any illness, Mammon tells Surly, and once he has it, Mammon plans to put an end to the... (full context)

Face enters dressed as an alchemist’s assistant. Mammon instantly asks if Subtle has been successful in creating the stone, and Face promises it... (full context)

Mammon tells Face that he plans to have as many wives and concubines as Solomon, and... (full context)

Face goes to check on Subtle and the stone, leaving Mammon alone with Surly. Mammon continues listing all the stone will bring him, and Surly comments... (full context)

Subtle enters and is greeted by Mammon. Subtle immediately asks who Surly is, and Mammon explains that Surly is a “heretic” he... (full context)

Mammon tells Subtle that he understands completely and doesn’t need convincing. Surly, Mammon says, is whom... (full context)

...claims in just three days of the “philosophers’ wheel” he will have “Sulfur o’ nature.” Mammon immediately asks if the sulfur is his, and Subtle says Mammon has enough already. Mammon... (full context)

Mammon turns to Subtle and asks when they plan to “make projection.” Subtle tells Mammon to... (full context)

...and his 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... (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... (full context)

...at the Temple Church in 30 minutes about some urgent business. Face then whispers to Mammon and tells him to return in two hours, after Subtle has had a chance to... (full context)

Face tells Mammon to hurry along with Surly, so he won’t grow more suspicious. Mammon says he will,... (full context)

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

...says and exits. Face can’t believe how lucky he is. He took 10 pounds from Mammon and three from Dapper. That sum added to what he took from Drugger, plus whatever... (full context)

...gold around his wrist. Suddenly, Doll goes to the window and looks out. Sir Epicure Mammon is at the door, she says. Subtle and Face panic; they cannot send Mammon away. (full context)

...asks where they should put Dapper; he can’t be seen or heard while Doll entertains Mammon. Doll suggests they lock him in the privy, so they shove him in the bathroom... (full context)

Mammon enters and immediately asks where Subtle is. Face tells Mammon that Subtle is busy bringing... (full context)

Face reminds Mammon that he must be very quiet in his visit with Doll. If Subtle senses Mammon... (full context)

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

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

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

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

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

Surly and Mammon knock on the door, shouting that Face and Subtle are “Rogues, / Cozeners, impostors, [and]... (full context)

Lovewit enters wearing Hieronimo’s cloak, and Mammon beats on the door. He tells Lovewit that the police have a warrant and will... (full context)

...a Spaniard, but he neglected her, so Lovewit married her instead. Kestrel is furious, but Mammon interrupts. Captain Face and the doctor are gone, he says, but Mammon’s metal belongings are... (full context)

Ananias and Tribulation Wholesome claim they were promised Mammon’s metal, but Lovewit threatens to beat them, so Ananias and Tribulation exit. Dame Pliant enters,... (full context)