The Alchemist A Critical Reader [Hardcover]

The eponymous alchemist of Ben Jonson's quick-fire comedy is a fraud: he cannot make gold, but he does make brilliant theatre.The Alchemistis a masterpiece of wit and form about the self-delusions of greed and the theatricality of deception. This guide will be useful to a diverse assembly of students and scholars, offering fresh new ways into this challenging and fascinating play.

Introducing the history of the play's performance and reception plus major topics in current scholarship, this is a comprehensive guide to Ben Jonson's The Alchemist.

???The Alchemist, A Critical Readeris an excellent source for a teacher or researcher who is tackling the play and for the interested students who wish to carry their investigations of the play beyond the classroom lecture.??? ???Kenneth Tucker, Murray State University,The Shakespeare Newsletter

Series Introduction

Notes on Contributors

Timeline

Introduction

1 The Critical Backstory DAVID BEVINGTON

2The Alchemiston the Stage: Performance,

Collaboration and Deviation ELIZABETH SCHAFER

and EMMA COX

3 The State of the Art MATTHEW STEGGLE

4 New Directions: Space, Plague and Satire in

Ben Jonson'sThe AlchemistMATHEW MARTIN

5 New Directions: Staging Gender IAN MCADAM AND

JULIE SANDERS

6 New Directions:The Alchemistand the Lower Bodily

Stratum BRUCE BOEHRER

7 New Directions: Waiting for the End? Alchemy and

Apocalypse inThe AlchemistMARK HOULAHAN

8 Pedagogical Strategies and Web Resources

ERIN JULIAN and HELEN OSTOVICH

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Erin Julianis a Doctoral Student at McMaster University, Canada.

Helen Ostovichis Professor of English at McMaster University, Canada. She is the editor of a number of editions of Ben Jonson's plays and founding editor of the journalEarly Theatre.