The Show
The masque portrays the god Mercury driving out a crew of alchemists that have abused his nature. The anti-masque, set in an alchemical laboratory, featured twelve alchemist figures, and twelve "imperfect creatures" wearing helmets shaped like alembics. After their dances, they were dispersed by the intervention of the god, and the scene changed to a "glorious bower," in which Mercury, along with Prometheus and a personification of Nature, ushered in the dance of the masquing courtiers, who were twelve "Sons of Nature."
For source material for this work, "Jonson drew on Sendivogius's satirical Dialogus Mercurii, Alchymistae et Naturae...." Jonson treats alchemists as charlatans in his text, as he does in his play The Alchemist. The words "at Court" in the full title of the work have provoked scholars to debate the actual meaning and significance of Jonson's text, since real alchemists were not particularly well represented at James's court. The work is clearly more symbolic than literal, though critics disagree on the specifics of its meaning.
Read more about this topic: Mercury Vindicated From The Alchemists
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