In order to evaluate enchantment and disenchantment in Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Jonson’s The Alchemist, the terms and the dynamic that incorporates them, has to be defined. Jason Crawford defines enchantment against disenchantment, signalling a co-dependant relationship. Referencing Max Weber’s philosophy that “disenchantment is modernity” (qtd in Crawford 1), he employs enchantment “as the name of an unnatural suspension out of ordinary life (3). Thus, the notion of a disenchanted modernity is put in direct opposition to an enchanted past. The Early modern period was a time of rapid change: the rise of capitalism, the prevalence of disease and the abandonment of the Catholicism (qtd in Crawford 2) are all paradigms of a modernising but, disenchanted age. OED defines enchantment as “the action or process of enchanting, or of employing magic or sorcery” and as an “alluring or overpowering charm.” Through the understanding of both definitions of enchantment, I will discuss that enchantment is alchemy on the Renaissance stage and therefore, it is in the theatres, that the dramatists aim to transform the space of the theatre in order to re-enchant their spectators. The presentation of alchemy, the transformation of base metals into pure gold, and magic within the plays translates into the power of the theatre which wills the spectators into this “suspension” the space of re-enchantment.
Blackfriars theatre, taken over by the King’s Men in 1608 (Ouellette 376), served as the home for both The Alchemist and The Tempest. Although Jonson’s play was first performed in Oxford due to the closing of the theatres because of the plague, the play exemplifies its contemporaneity through its setting. Jonson transforms the Blackfriars theatrical space into a microcosm of London, Lovewit’s house. The cast of characters portray all facets of society; from prostitutes to merchants to wealthy widows and, the unity of place, where the alchemical energy of the theatre that has transformative power is captured, ensures that “the Blackfriars of the play and the Blackfriars in which Jonson’s theatre stood are inseparable” (Smallwood 148). In the Prologue, Jonson immediately and confidently forms the parallels between his setting and the actual location of the theatre, proclaiming that “Our scene is London” (5). The pronoun “our” manifests an intimate relationship between the play and its audience, whilst the use of the noun “scene” addresses the meta-theatrical nature of The Alchemist, introducing a play that is conscious of its form and geography. Jonson’s city comedy satirises the world in which its audience would be most “familiar, [as] somewhere they regularly visited, had recently walked through and for some, where they lived” (Dustagheer 92). Thus, the play re-enchants the audience because of their acquaintance with the locality of both the theatre and the play as it allows a higher degree of engagement; the boundaries between the players on the stage and the audience in front of the stage become permeable.
Jonson does not produce spectacle or visual illusions, his alchemy and transformation of the theatrical space stems from what he withholds from being seen. The constant action described by the characters but not seen on the stage, as in Act 1 Scene 3 where Subtle is required to address “[… imaginary women offstage]” (stage direction 1.3.1), results in the audience to wonder who or what happens offstage, the women do not exist, however, an audience member would lack the knowledge of this. Therefore, the audience would be induced to use their imagination, or in this instance their knowledge of life in Blackfriars, in order to fill the space between onstage and offstage due to the ever-present need to know what cannot be seen. Movement on and off stage also fathoms wonder within the audience as backstage is where the trio of underworld figures of Subtle, Face and Doll become the alchemist, his assistant and, the queen of fairies. The need to know what cannot be seen results in re-enchantment because Jonson toys with and manipulates the audience, so that they too believe, become gullible and duped in the same way as the characters as “participants in a kind of game, rather than discrete spectators of a work of art” that leads to a “different level of moral involvement” (McEvoy 102). The consistency between setting and location is crucial to this re-enchantment because it permits the spectators to be vulnerable to this transformation from mere observers to passive victims of the three con artists on the stage.
Unlike Jonson, Shakespeare transforms the theatrical space into a mystical island that is far removed from the audience’s reality thus, offering re-enchantment through the audiences escape of the disenchanted world surrounding them. Through the use of music and sound Shakespeare constructs spectacle in order to immerse the audience into another world that is within Blackfriars theatre. The playwright opens the play with “a tempestuous noise of thunder and lightening” (stage direction 1.1), immediately creating the atmosphere of the storm through an auditory experience. Describing the sounds as “tempestuous” is significant because a ‘tempest’ not only relates to violent weather but also as an alchemical “boiling process which removes impurities from base metal and facilitates its transmutation into gold” (Mebane 181). Therefore, in this opening scene we can see the transformation occurring as symbolic of purification – for Prospero, the storm raised by his art is his revenge against his political usurpation. Although, for the audience, the immediate introduction of transformation in an alchemical way alludes to Shakespeare’s attempt to purify the disenchanted modernity of Weber in order to lull them into the “suspension out of ordinary life” (Crawford 3). This in turn re-enchants the audience through a sensory experience that does not just rely on the verse and visuals created by the actors on stage. It is significantly more important to look at the way The Tempest was performed on the Blackfriars Renaissance stage as not only did the playwright assert his influence in the way it was performed but also because of how the players created the intended mystical atmosphere; Sturgess explains that the sounds of the storm and were created using sea and wind machine (81-2). In addition, “contemporary accounts of Blackfriars tell us the audience ‘glittered’ and ‘glistened’ under the candlelight” (Dustagheer 101) demonstrating that the Blackfriars theatre itself had its own mystical atmosphere as if primed for transformation by the playwright. Thus, Shakespeare’s combination of visual and sound effects construct the magically infused island which, results in the re-enchantment of the audience as it offers an escape from their disenchanted reality.
Music is employed by Shakespeare in The Tempest to reinforce the enchanted atmosphere of the island; to further the distance between the theatrical space of re-enchantment for the audience. Austern argues that music on the Renaissance stage is a “practical science” and a “powerful numerical art” that is “capable of unlocking a higher human experience” (191). Thusly, the use of music aids the alchemic purification of political strife of court within the play, as well as the de-spiritualisation post-Reformation in plague infested London within the audience’s own reality – and by extension the transformation of the theatrical space. The dramatist sets up his “renunciatory posture” (Crawford 3) against the disenchanted world in favour of the enchantment achieved within the theatre. Therefore, the “solemn and strange music” (stage direction 3.3.17) and “soft music” (stage direction 3.3.82) infused throughout the play, aids the audience’s investment of their imagination in order to bridge the gap between the real and the unreal. Music is employed as a vehicle for Prospero’s magic, as a way of “representing the inaudible and unseen in the theatre” (Austern 206) through Ariel’s songs. They guide Ferdinand to his meeting with Miranda in Act 1 Scene 2, waken Gonzalo in time to prevent regicide in Act 2 Scene 1 and, lead the conspirators into the horse pond in Act 4 Scene 1. This demonstrates that music is associated with the assertion of magical power over other characters in a way that indicates Prospero’s aim is to, through purification, rectify strife and be a producer of harmony:
“. . . when I have required
Some heavenly music (which even now I do)
To work mine end upon their senses that
This airy charm is for . . .” (5.1.51-4).
The “airy charm” expresses that his magic is in accordance with the creation of theatrical magic, that “work[s] . . . upon their senses” thus, in the emulation of magic through music within the play affects both the characters and the audience. In this fashion, the combination of the notions that a tempest is an an alchemical term resulting in purification; with the Neo-Platonic discourse of music as an “earthly embodiment of heavenly harmony which soothes and heals the troubled mind” (Vaughan “The Tempest” 288n52) illustrates that the transformation of the theatrical space is rooted in the removal of impurities, the overshadowing disenchantment of the outside world by enchantment on the stage as an immersive visual and auditory experience. Therefore, the re-enchantment of the audience stems from the achievement of an escape from their own reality.
Barton quoted in Rani argues that “fundamentally, The Alchemist is a play about transformation, as it affects not metals, but human beings” (137). Building off this argument, Jonson himself is the alchemist as a playwright who wields the power of the theatre through his language. The retort from Subtle who questions “what have you observed, sir, in our art, / Seems so impossible?” (2.3.125) is embedded with irony because the audience have in fact not “observed” any sort of alchemy, Subtle’s alchemy is never portrayed visually on the stage and thus, it is the audience’s reliance on the verse that allows the audience to be re-enchanted in some sense of a transformation. Therefore, Jonson situates himself as a “skeptic”, (Crawford 3) of alchemy but simultaneously incites a transformation rendering him as both playwright and alchemist. In the prologue Jonson writes “through this pen / Did never aim to grieve, but better men” (11-2). This alludes to a didacticism of the City Comedy which brings the problems of their reality to the stage but allows the audience to find hilarity. Thus, the paradoxical nature of The Alchemist lies within his reinforcement of disenchantment through the disavowal of magic and alchemy but concurrent re-enchantment of the audience through his own alchemy in the theatre.
Shakespeare also places himself as an alchemist, inducing a transformation within the theatrical space and within the audience through his language and verse. The creation of an enchanted island through the lines of the other characters demonstrates how Shakespeare incites the transformation of the theatre. Juno sings during the masque: “Earth’s increase, foison plenty / Burns and garners never empty” (4.1.110-1). In the consideration of the significance of music in the play, Shakespeare’s language manifests an island within the theatre in a biblical light, the song has connotations of the Garden of Eden which presents a place where there is no strife, therefore, in the theatrical space Shakespeare “protect[s] us from our knowledge of nothingness, at least contingently, or for a time” (Guenther 103). Hence, the elevation of both the island and the theatre into something divine, incites spirituality and re-enchantment through the acknowledgement of attainable perfection, an antithesis to the disenchantment whilst the spectators are in the theatrical space. Additionally, Shakespeare relates Prospero’s art to his position as the playwright. In the Epilogue Shakespeare writes “Gentle breath of yours my sails / Must fill, or else my project fails / Which was to please” (11-3). Thus, the verse of Shakespeare spoken through Prospero is the playwrights means of communication directly to the audience. There is a display, therefore, of some sense of meta-theatricality because Shakespeare is addressing his position as a dramatist, a figure of the production of art. Guenther also notes that Shakespeare “makes Prospero appear forgivable by changing the quality of his magic, emptying it of political content and turning it into a playwright who conjures spirits only for the audience’s pleasure” (100). Shakespeare intends not to criticise the elements of disenchantment in society, like Jonson, but rather transform a space into an escape distanced from reality. Classified as one of Shakespeare’s late plays, The Tempest and its Epilogue allude to Shakespeare’s departure from the stage and as a playwright, the play being his last attempt at re-enchanting the audience.
To conclude, Shakespeare and Jonson exploit dramaturgical techniques to conjure their individual transformations of the theatrical space which aids the re-enchantment of the audience against the backdrop of an evolving but simultaneously disenchanting world. The Alchemist and The Tempest share a theatre, but transform the space in different ways through the portrayal of variant attitudes towards alchemy and magic. The dramatists can both, however, be considered alchemists in the sense that they create this transformation, their use of language and verse constructs the space of Blackfriars into an escape for the audience. Ultimately, the audience’s re-enchantment stems from the playwrights induction of the audience’s investment of their imagination into the plays. This is a result of enchantment being alchemy on the stage in such a way that asserts the theatres power over the audience.