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
Subtle enters with Abel Drugger. Subtle asks Drugger if he sells tobacco, and Drugger confirms he does. “Free of the Grocers,” he adds. Subtle asks what business Drugger has with him, and Drugger explains that he is in need of Subtle’s “necromancy” to help him with his shop. Drugger’s business is new, and he wants to know where he should place doors and shelves. He would also like to hear his horoscope as well, Drugger says. Face enters and is happy to see Drugger. Drugger is honest, Face says, and he always has the best tobacco. Drugger’s tobacco smells like roses, and he is “no goldsmith.”
Drugger’s name suggests he owns an apothecary shop, and his reference to the “Grocers” means that he is a member of the Grocers’ Company, which includes apothecaries and enables Drugger to sell tobacco. “Necromancy” is communicating with the dead to foresee the future, and Dapper believes Subtle has this power. Drugger wants Subtle to divine the future to ensure his business is successful, which suggests that Drugger is also greedy. In Jonson’s time, goldsmiths often operated as bankers, and they were notoriously crooked. In claiming Drugger is “no goldsmith,” Face means to say that Drugger is honest.
Themes
Subtle says that Drugger is indeed a lucky man, and he is sure to be wealthy and popular. By next spring, Subtle says, Drugger is sure to be appointed sheriff of London. Drugger’s “fortune,” however, says he will go a different route. Face asks Subtle how he knows all this, and Subtle explains that his knowledge of “metoposcopy” tells him as much. Face can’t see it, Subtle says, but Drugger has a star upon his forehead and spots on his teeth. His pinky fingernail, too, is telling. Subtle asks Drugger if he was born on a Wednesday, and Drugger confirms he was. It is just as Subtle suspected, he says. Drugger will be a very successful merchant.
Subtle’s reference to Drugger’s “fortune” refers both to his fortune that Subtle reads now, and the fortune Drugger will later make. Sheriffs are appointed by the king and service is compulsory, unless one can afford to pay to release themselves from responsibility. Thus, Subtle implies that Drugger will have enough money to avoid serving as sheriff. “Metoposcopy” is reading one’s fortune by the lines on their forehead, and Subtle also refers to chiromancy, or palmistry, to tell Drugger’s fortune by studying his hands. In both cases, Drugger again proves himself to be exceedingly gullible, and Subtle proves to be exceedingly deceptive.
Themes
Subtle tells Drugger that the door of his new shop should face south, and the broadside of the building should face west. Subtle says Drugger should also place a magnet under the threshold of his door to attract customers, and he concludes by saying he thinks Drugger has a good chance of coming into possession of the philosopher’s stone. Drugger is obviously excited and gives Subtle a handful of coins. As Drugger leaves, he hands Face his almanac and asks if Subtle can mark his unlucky days, so he will know not to do business then. Face takes the almanac and agrees. Drugger thanks them both and exits. Face turns to Subtle. It is his job to bring people like Drugger in, Face says, and Subtle still doesn’t see that Face deserves more money.
Face again implies that he deserves a larger cut of the profits, which further speaks to his greed. The philosopher’s stone is an alchemical substance that can change base metals to gold and produce the elixir life, which promises eternal youth and life to anyone who consumes it. The stone is symbolic of alchemy in Jonson’s play, but it is also symbolic of greed and deception. The philosopher’s stone doesn’t exist, but Dapper believes it does, and he also believes it will make him rich and powerful beyond his wildest dreams.
Themes
