The Alchemist Act 1, Scene 2 Summary

  • Face greets Dapper, who thinks that Subtle is a wise "Doctor" of alchemy and science and that Face is a "Captain."
  • Subtle plays hard to get, acting like it's too dangerous for him to give Dapper what he wants (a "familiar").
  • Subtle says, basically: "Hey, if Dapper has his own personal magic spirit, he'll win every time he hits up the local gambling joints and nobody else will be able to beat him."
  • Now Dapper really wants that familiar spirit. He begs and promises to share his winnings.
  • Subtle and Face go off to the side, pretending to speak privately but making sure Dapper can overhear everything they say.
  • Subtle tells face that Dapper was born lucky and is going to win a boatload of money and that he's one of the Fairy Queen's favorite people.
  • Brain snack: In English folklore, the Fairy Queen rules over all the other fairies. According to historian Keith Thomas, an absolute ton of English folks got duped out of money in the late 16th and early 17th Venturies because they believed that fairies could help them get rich. (Source: Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England, 1991)
  • Subtle and Face promise to introduce Dapper to the Fairy Queen but they tell him he has return home and go through some kind of freaky ritual first—take a bath, change his shirt, dab drops of vinegar all over his face and in his eyes (ouch) while making a bunch of humming and buzzing noises.
  • Dapper thinks this all makes perfect sense. He gladly hands over some money and promises to come back later.
  • Poor, dumb dude.
  • Face leads him out the back door just as the next victim shows up.