Epicoene or The Silent Woman

By Ben Jonson

Book Overview

'A silent and loving woman is a gift of the lord'

This 'excellent comedy of affliction' enjoyed enormous prestige for more than a century after its first performance: for John Dryden it had 'the greatest and most noble construction of any pure unmixed comedy in any language'. Its title signals Jonson's satiric and complex concern with gender: the play asks not only 'what should a man do?', but how should men and women behave, both as fit examples of their sex, and to one another? The characters furnish a cross-section of wrong answers, enabling Jonson to create riotous entertainment out of lack, loss and disharmony, to the point of denying the straightfowardly festive conclusion which audiences at comedies normally expect. Much of the comic vitality arises from a degeneration of language, which Jonson called 'the instrument of society', into empty chatter or furious abuse, and from a plot which is a series of lies and betrayals (the hero lies to everyone and Jonson lies to the audience). The central figure is a man named Morose, who hates noise yet lives in the centre of London, and who, because of his decision to marry a woman he supposes to be silent, exposes himself to a fantastic cacophony of voices, male, female and - epicene.

This student edition contains a lengthy Introduction with background on the author, date and sources, theme, critical interpretation and stage history.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0713666684
• ISBN13: 9780713666687
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.1" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Notable for Its Surprise Ending - Has Not Perhaps Weathered As Well as Volpone, The Alchemist, or Ba

Ben Jonson's Epicoene, or The Silent Woman, was first staged in late 1609, or early 1610. Epicoene is difficult to characterize. It is essentially a comedy with an element of sexual wit, and yet it has a surprise ending, one that is markedly non-comedic and leaves a bitter taste. Despite the sharp ending, the surprising twist in the final scene is critical to Jonson's play and I strongly suggest you avoid any discussion of the plot until after your first reading of Epicoene. In general, I had less empathy for the upper class characters in Epicoene than I did for Jonson's lower class, bawdy rogues that populate The Alchemist and Bartholomew's Fair. The characters in Epicoene are not terribly disagreeable; they are largely dilettantes that have little concern for morality or ethics. For example, the character Truewit, speaking of some promiscuous ladies who live apart from their husbands, says: "Why, all their actions are governed by crude opinion, without reason or cause; they know not why they do anything; but as they are informed, believe, judge, praise, condemn, love, hate, and in emulation of one another, do all these things alike." I had difficulty understanding the intent of some dialogue on my first reading. My second reading was much easier, perhaps helped a bit by my now knowing the unexpected ending. Epicoene was staged frequently for nearly 150 years, but its popularity declined after about 1750. Apparently, performances in 1752 and 1776 and 1784 were unsuccessful, and it did not reappear until 1895. There were few performances in twentieth century. I recommend the New Mermaids edition (ISBN 0393900401) edited by Roger Holdsworth; there have been multiple printings and it should not be difficult to find a copy. The footnotes are quite helpful. The introduction is lengthy, almost 50 pages. There is also an appendix containing the play's music and some of Jonson's classical sources. Another source: Epicoene is often included in collections of Ben Jonson's plays, like the inexpensive World Classics edition published by Oxford University Press. Epicoene or Epicene? Both versions are found. And Jonson's play also goes by the title, The Silent Woman. Good luck in your title searches

Violence! Cross-dressing! Impotence!

All are to be found in "Epicoene," an extremely funny if slightly dark Ben Jonson play. I don't want to give much of a summary because I don't want to reveal any plot twists, but it begins with the common Renaissance theme of men looking for wives . . . and chaos ensues. I am very fond of the New Mermaids edition because it includes very interesting and relevant information about original staging and such. This play is a good starting place for non-Jonson fans; this edition is a good one for Jonson scholars. Reccomended.