Epicene or The Silent Drag Queen ;)

Before I start, I think something needs to be said about the enormous talent of Ben Jonson, creating such crazy and fun characters is quite the task; specifically in this play there are Morose & Mute and La Foole, who are my favourites. La Foole is all together seen as quite funny though Jonson presents him as a very arrogant man. He constantly refers to his wealth and excess which in most instances it can be seen as annoying, but Jonson gives him the curse of often being misunderstood. By having this flaw La Foole is not seen as above the other character’s stations but rather it lowers him down to the same level as the others.

Morose and Mute are by far my favourites in this play; Morose who is absolutely neurotic about noise that he has his servants (ie. Mute) walk around in socks and communicate without words to spare him to pain of noise. This ridiculous behaviour leads him to expect silence from a wife, since others adjust themselves to his wishes. It is interesting that he finds the ideal wife in Epicene, who is a boy dressed as a woman. Marriage is used as a tool for revenge by Morose, he wishes to marry any silent woman regardless of class, in order to cheat his nephew out of inheritance.  

In reference to another marriage, it is also interesting the method in which Mrs. Otter’s arrangement has (accepted) gender roles mixed. Mrs. Otter was married for her wealth and Tom (her husband) looks to her in order to be provided for, he even receives an allowance. As is viewed in other plays it is normally the other way around.

Another method that his play inverts the norms of marriage, is the ways that money is exchanged during a divorce as apposed to during a marriage. Normally there is a dowry exchanged during a marriage but Jonson inverts it for Dauphine to receive money (ie. his inheritance he was cheated from) once Morose wishes to leave his wife.

Overall this was a really good play; Jonson made it to the top of the most enjoyable reading of this term, a lot like he did last year with Bartholomew Fair.

-Matt