02 - The Alchemist - Ben Johnson

·45 min·3 clips

Mammon promises to turn pewter, lead, and copper into gold, then make Devonshire and Cornwall "perfect indies."

1. Act II, Scene I of The Alchemist stages Sir Epicure Mammon and Surly in Loverwit's House. 2. Mammon calls the destination "Nouveau-Orbe" and compares it to Peru and Solomon's Ophir. 3. He announces that "this day" he will say the happy word, "Be rich!" 4. Mammon says the philosopher's stone can turn pewter, tin, lead, and copper into gold. 5. He also says the elixir can confer honour, love, respect, long life, safety, valour, and victory. 6. Surly keeps asking for proof and says he will believe the work only when he sees it. 7. Mammon answers with Moses, Adam, Jason's fleece, Pythagoras, and Medea as authorities. 8. The alchemical inventory runs through the "green lion," the "crow," the "peacock's tail," and the "sanguis agni." 9. Face feeds the process from inside the house while Subtle talks about the bolt's head, the filter, and the furnace. 10. Mammon imagines gilded churches, perfumed rooms, mirrors, baths, and silk clothing. 11. He also imagines Indian shells, amber spoons, and dishes like the "beards of Babel." 12. Surly says the art is a pack of terms and compares it to cards and charming tricks. 13. Subtle replies that the art is hidden so "the simple idiot" cannot make it vulgar. 14. A purse at the door brings Doll onstage, and Face pushes her back out. 15. Mammon is told that a lord's sister is nearby, mad with studying Broughton's works and Hebrew. 16. Face and Nab arrange another mark by sending a rich young widow to the doctor and using Temple Church as a meeting place. 17. Nab also mentions a brother with "some three thousand a year" who wants to quarrel and live by his wits. 18. Ananias arrives for the exiled brethren of Amsterdam and balks at Subtle's "heathen Greek." 19. Subtle demands more coals, bricks, loam, and money, then threatens to stop the furnace if they delay. 20. Readers of Jonson, stage comedy, and alchemy will get the most from it. 21. Listeners wanting modern language and simple plotting may skip it.

As heard by us

A dense alchemical exchange keeps greed, doubt, and fraud in sharp comic balance.

Mammon's arrival in Nouveau-Orbe sets wealth against Surly's skepticism and Subtle's elaborate fraud, and the exchange moves with a busy comic confidence.

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Why you'd press play

A gold pitch that keeps getting more ridiculous.

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