ABSTRACT
COMMENTARY: Jonson's The Alchemist is a comic exposition on different forms of greed. Two COD-men, Subtle and Face, dupe an assortment of fortune-hunters who hope to benefit from Subtle's supposed alchemical skills. He promises to tum all their base metals into gold. Chief among the characters who come to their door is Sir Epicure Mammon. As his name implies he is the man with the biggest appetite of all. In a series of soliloquies he fantasises on what his anticipated riches will bring him. He continually comes to the house to check on the alchemical process. Like all the others he is duped and ends up losing everything.
