# Dapper — The Alchemist character guide

> Dapper in The Alchemist by Ben Jonson.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0006-act-i

## Snapshot

A lawyer's clerk so desperate for luck at the gaming table that he lets a pair of con artists convince him his aunt is the Queen of Fairy.

## Who they are

Dapper comes to Subtle's chamber hoping to improve his fortune, and his vanity and gambling habit make him easy prey for the fairy-queen ruse. Blindfolded, kneeling, and addressed as 'nephew' by Dol in her fairy regalia, he surrenders his small inheritance and his dignity in exchange for a familiar spirit and promises of Fairyland acres. His credulous delight — 'I cannot speak for joy' — is one of the play's funniest and cruelest portraits of how greed makes willing fools.

## Relationships

### [Sir Epicure Mammon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_alchemist_se/characters/sir_epicure_mammon)

_professional_

Dapper is a gullible client who pays Mammon and Subtle for a supposed alchemical charm to win at gambling.

### [Subtle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_alchemist_se/characters/subtle)

_professional_

Subtle performs a fake ritual for Dapper, promising him a familiar spirit to aid his gambling.

### [Face](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_alchemist_se/characters/face)

_professional_

Face introduces Dapper to Subtle and orchestrates the fake spirit ritual for him.

### [Subtle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_alchemist_se/characters/subtle)

_professional_

Subtle performs a fake ritual for Dapper, promising him a familiar spirit to aid his gambling.

### [Subtle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_alchemist_se/characters/subtle)

_professional_

Subtle performs a fake ritual for Dapper, promising him a familiar spirit to aid his gambling.

### [Face](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_alchemist_se/characters/face)

_professional_

Face introduces Dapper to Subtle and orchestrates the fake spirit ritual for him.

### [Sir Epicure Mammon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_alchemist_se/characters/sir_epicure_mammon)

_professional_

Dapper is a gullible client who pays Mammon and Subtle for a supposed alchemical charm to win at gambling.

### [Face](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_alchemist_se/characters/face)

_professional_

Face introduces Dapper to Subtle and orchestrates the fake spirit ritual for him.

### [Sir Epicure Mammon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_alchemist_se/characters/sir_epicure_mammon)

_professional_

Dapper is a gullible client who pays Mammon and Subtle for a supposed alchemical charm to win at gambling.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_alchemist_se/characters/dapper
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_alchemist_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_alchemist_se/characters