The Alchemist is a comedy by English playwright Ben Jonson.First performed in 1610 by the King's Men, it is generally considered Jonson's best and most characteristic comedy; Samuel Taylor Coleridge considered it had one of the three most perfect plots in literature. Ben Jonson - Born in 1572, Ben Jonson is regarded as one of the major dramatists and poets of the seventeenth century. The Alchemist study guide contains a biography of Ben Jonson, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Two years later, his mother remarried a master bricklayer. He is generally regarded as the second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I. The Alchemist Introduction: The comedy “The Alchemist” is written by a playwright, Ben Jonson. Full of satire and sexual innuendos, The Alchemist narrates the tale of two rogues, one the alchemist who promises people to turn all their items to gold and the other his helper. After all the kumbaya of love (See "Love" in Themes) and harmony, it's actually kind of strange to read about the hints of danger of war as the characters travel across the Sahara. In that period, Ann Lewis and Ben Jonson lived separate lives for five years; their matrimonial arrangement cast Ann Lewis as the housewife Jonson, and Ben Jonson as the artist who enjoyed the residential hospitality of his patrons, Sir Robert Townshend and Lord Aubigny, Esme Stuart, 3rd … When Benjamin Jonson died on August 6, 1637, it was a major public event. The "Tribe of Ben" grew up from the 1620s, a group of poets who proclaimed themselves influenced by and successors of Jonson, included Robert Herrick and Richard Lovelace. A secondary theme in The Alchemist is that of love, which Santiago craves at the novel’s opening as he fantasizes about his next encounter with the merchant’s daughter with … Jonson suffered a series of strokes, fell out of court favour, and died on 6 August 1637. ... Theme: Oblique by Themeisle. A crowd of the days' great and good gathered at his house in Westminster and his final resting place was Westminster's great Abbey. Ben Jonson is a great writer who's only mistake must be to have been born at the same time as the great Shakespeare. Jonson suffered a series of strokes, fell out of court favour, and died on 6 August 1637. and find homework help for other The Alchemist questions at eNotes The con or swindle was a familiar theme and one which Jonson found to be a natural topic for comedy. The Alchemist study guide contains a biography of Ben Jonson, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. A summary of Themes in Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist. Jonson was a true Renaissance man. Dreams: Dreams are central to The Alchemist's action as well as its meaning.Santiago's dream is the novel's inciting incident (the event that sets the story in motion), and the author's primary message seems to be that we should follow our dreams.. Introduction to Jonson and The Alchemist. There are two major themes in the story: achieving one’s Personal Legend, and the presence of God. The Alchemist, comedy in five acts by Ben Jonson, performed in 1610 and published in 1612. novel, The Alchemist.The title itself refers to a character in the story that helps the protagonist to in accomplishing his dream. Cony-catching or swindling (a cony was another word for dupe, gull, or victim) was as popular in the seventeenth century as it is in the twentieth.