Week Two: Ben Jonson, The Alchemist

One of the three “most perfect plots ever planned”, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Preparation for the Seminar:

Points in bold type are a compulsory part of the course. Everything else is intended to be an optional guide to help with preparation.

For next week, please read Ben Jonson, The Alchemist. The campus bookshop has multiple copies of the New Mermaids edition ed. Elizabeth Cook (Methuen, 2004).

Points to think about:
- Where and when is the play set? Why is this significant?
- Language: how is it being used in the play? What different kinds of language are being used? What does the play as a whole have to say about language?
- Alchemy: what is alchemy? What is said about alchemy in the play? How do alchemical ideas/themes emerge in the structure/themes of the play?
- If you can, try and imagine what this play would look like if performed on stage? How might the exits and entrances work? What effect would this have on your understanding of the play?
- Is the end of the play surprising? If so, why? If not, why?

Useful Resources:
For a more detailed description of Anabaptists than that included in the New Mermaids edition, see:
http://www.exlibris.org/nonconform/engdis/anabaptists.html
(Scroll down for a section on Anabaptists in England)

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01445b.htm

A slightly bizarre but very interesting site on alchemy can be found here:
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/

Alice Eardley : 07 Oct 2009 10:58 |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem