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The Argument
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Alchemist, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Alchemy and Transformation
Religion
Sex and Greed
Deception and Gullibility
Summary
Analysis
This play takes place in London, Jonson says, because there is no better place than London to find “whore, / Bawd, squire, impostor, and many persons more.” These are the people on which this play is based, as their behavior serves as the “spleen of comic writers.” Jonson, however, does not wish to criticize such people and wishes only to make them “better men.” There are many vices in life, Jonson warns, and such vices are “natural follies” that many may do, “and yet not own.”
Jonson immediately confirms that his play is about vice, as he intends to focus on “whores” and “impostors,” and he also establishes that his play is a comedy, and more specifically, a satire. Satirical works are usually written for the betterment of society, and Jonson confirms this as well when he says he wants to make people “better.” This passage also implies the frequency with which people indulge in such vices. London is full of sinful people, Jonson says, and he further implies that such vices are “natural follies,” or simply part of human nature, which many commit but don’t admit or “own.”
Themes
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