The Alchemist: A Critical Reader: A Critical Reader

by Lisa Hopkins (Editor), Andrew Hiscock (Editor)

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441154156
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/23/2013
Series:	Arden Early Modern Drama Guides
Edition description:	Critical
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Erin Julian is a Doctoral Student at McMaster University, Canada.

Helen Ostovich is 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 jourbanal Early Theatre.

Table of Contents

Series Introduction

Notes on Contributors

Timeline

Introduction

1 The Critical Backstory DAVID BEVINGTON

2 The Alchemist on 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's The Alchemist MATHEW MARTIN

5 New Directions: Staging Gender IAN MCADAM AND

JULIE SANDERS

6 New Directions: The Alchemist and the Lower Bodily

Stratum BRUCE BOEHRER

7 New Directions: Waiting for the End? Alchemy and

Apocalypse in The Alchemist MARK HOULAHAN

8 Pedagogical Strategies and Web Resources

ERIN JULIAN and HELEN OSTOVICH

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

The Alchemist, A Critical Reader is 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

From the Publisher