Notes

xliv,169 pages
Summary: So says Face la.k., a. Jeremy the butlerl, to Subtle, with whom, along with the prostitute Dol Common, he forms a trio of confidence tricksters. The `stuff' he supplies are gulls who believe Subtle to be a wise man and an alchemist able to transform their fortunes by turning base metal into gold. With brilliant resourcefulness and wildly inventive wit, the trio of - who have occupied Jeremy's absent master's house in a time of plague - fleece the various victims who come to them in pursuit of their own greed. In this play Jonson satirizes the willing self-delusion of acquisitiveness. The wildness of the humour is contained by the fine precision of Jonson's plotting which encompasses and surpasses the skilful machinations of his creations. This brilliantly theatrical play can also be seen to be about theatre in its resourceful creativity and its relationship with the credulity of its audience
New mermaids