Alchemist by ben jonson as an allegory Essay

A discussion of Ben Jonsons The Alchemist as an allegory is, in truth, a little difficult. The reason why this is so is that The Alchemist is in the genre of overindulge not that of allegory. However, while a work may not be definitively an allegory, through the process of allegoresis it may be critically read as an allegory in part or in whole.Allegoresis is the process by which a work that is not written as an allegorylike for example the allegorical works The Faerie Queene and The Pilgrims Progressmay be critically and analytically read and understood as an allegory or as having parts that are allegorical. An allegory is a work (or a section, passage or line of a work) that has universally legate characters and experience.For instance, if a folk fable that has the characters Tommy the Toad and Bobby the he-goat Goat and in which they say, We are creatures of the wild, arent we? is modified so that Tommy the Toad becomes Toad the Teacher and Bobby the Billy Goat becomes Stubborn Student Bobby Billy and they talk some We are creatures of rational reason, arent we?, then the fable ab come in individuals has become an allegory about all of humankind through the universality of character and experience.In constructing The Alchemist, which some critics say is the most perfect play in English literature, Ben Jonson didnt billet on old stories for his storyline and plot he created the story and plot himself. To do so, he used character attributes, not allegorical characters. This is what classifies The Alchemist as farce instead of allegory.Type, or typical, characters are standard characters or archetypal characters that everyone has experience with and therefore can understand even though a particular type may not be universally representative in the way allegorical characters are. For example, not everyone is the swindler type though many people own experience of that type of person.Another example is that not everyone is the giddy girl type though many pe ople have experience of that type of person. Which points out another difference between typical characters and allegorical characters Character types lend themselves to humor, farce and satire while allegorical characters are sobering characters meant to be interpreted in earnest.Sothis saidan allegoresis reading of The Alchemist could interpret the character types as universal allegorical representations portraying an underlying earnestly serious message.Therefore in an allegoresis the characters would be The Puritan Ananias, The Law Clerk Dapper, The Rich Young Man Kastril, and The Master Lovwit, etc., and the themes might be woven together to teach a serious lesson, perhaps about Morality and Order in a Disordered world that requires vigilance against Victimization through right-minded Religion. Furthermore, in allgoresis, the satire that Jonson writes would brace up the delivery of the earnestly serious theme.