Character Analysis
Ananias and his pastor, Tribulation Wholesome, are the Puritans from Amsterdam. More specifically, they're Anabaptists—members of a radical Puritan sect that was considered by a lot of folks to be extremist and dangerous.
Ananias and Wholesome spend all of their time trying to get their hands on the philosopher's stone because they think that it will help their religious cause. Yeah. It's not exactly on the up-and-up.
Jonson makes it absolutely clear in this play that he loathes these "holy brethren" and thinks they're a bunch of hypocrites and religious fanatics. The clearest example of this is the Anabaptists willingness to participate in counterfeiting. They know it's illegal but Wholesome manages to convince Ananias that it's totally cool to counterfeit so long as it's for a religious cause:
TRI. Ay; but stay,
This act of coining, is it lawful?
ANA. Lawful!
We know no magistrate: or, if we did,
This is foreign coin.
SUB. It is no coining, sir.
It is but casting.
TRI. Ha! you distinguish well:
Casting of money may be lawful.
ANA. 'Tis, sir.
TRI. Truly, I take it so. (3.2.170-181)
Oh, did we mention that they think it's okay to rip off orphans if their parents weren't Anabaptists?
Hoo-boy: this dude doesn't sound very "wholesome" to us.
This loaded-on-with-a-trowel irony reminds us that our snarky playwright is all about the satire in The Alchemist. (Check out our "Themes: Religion" if you want to know more about the play's attitude toward the "holy brethren.")