 Both master and servant are always on the lookout for how to get ahead in life, regardless of ethical boundaries.Lovewit adroitly exploits Mammon's reluctance to obtain legal certification of his folly to hold on to the old man's money.Internal references indicate that the play was written for performance at Blackfriars; ironically, given its initial scenario, plague forced the company to tour, and "The Alchemist" premiered at Oxford in 1610, with performance in London later that year.