ISSN(Print): 2709-6254 | ISSN(Online) : 2709-6262 | ISSN-L : 2709-6254

Title

Despair in The Alchemist by Ben Jonson


Authors

  1. Dr. Fatima Syeda
    Assistant Professor, Department of English, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
  2. Dr. Faiza Zaheer
    Assistant Professor, Department of English, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
  3. Numrah Mehmood
    Lecturer, Department of English, Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

This research aims to challenge the assumption that The Alchemist by Ben Jonson is one of the greatest examples of the “explicit mirth and laughter” (Veneables 86). The paper argues that The Alchemist is a cynical and despairing play created in an atmosphere not suitable for a comedy. This is a qualitative study of the text and aims at an analysis of the theme, situations, characters, language, and the mood of the play to determine that Jonson is unable to retain the comic spirit in The Alchemist and in an attempt to “better men” (Prologue. 12) he becomes more satirical and less humorous or comic. This research is important for it contends that the play, termed as a comedy, may be read as a bitter satire on the cynical, stinky, and despairing world of the Elizabethan times.

Page Numers

39-47

Keywords

Comedy, Despair, Reformation

Article

Article # 4
Volume # 2
Issue # 4

DOI info

DOI Number: 10.47205/jdss.2021(2-IV)04
DOI Link: http://doi.org/10.47205/jdss.2021(2-IV)04

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