The Alchemist (Jonson)

What is Johnson's humor of comedy?

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The play is set in 1610, a likely date for the play's first performance, and set in a house (to this day, a synonym for an auditorium) in Blackfriars. It is possible that the Blackfriars theater was the site of the play's London performances. The conmen are actors who take on roles to suit their audience, and in the end they trick the real audience as well as the gulls.

Constantly the processes of conning and believing are equated with the medium of theater. The questions in the play can nearly always be couched in theatrical terms. Note, too, moments which might be considered a play within the play, such as the Fairy Queen moments.