Epicene

1. In Greek mythology, the Amazons were viewed as a disruption to natural order. The need to restore this order resulted in the Amazonomachy, a battle between men and Amazons that ultimately subdued the Amazons and reestablished male dominance. The women in this play are aligned several times with the Amazons. When Epicene (still at this point believed to be a woman) first speaks out against Morose, he cries out “Oh, Amazonian impudence!” (3.5.39). Later, in reference to all the women in the play, he exclaims “O mankind generation!” (5.4.21). This reference to a generation of man-like women is also reminiscent of the Amazons, whose transgression against order was to enter the exclusively male realms of dominance and force. The women in this story, like the Amazons, attempt to invert sexual dominance, leading also to a kind of battle, in this case a verbal “battle of the sexes.” The chaos of the play, however, is completely restored to order when the play’s “Amazon,” Epicene, reveals that she is in fact a man. The final result of this disguise is that a man is ultimately responsible for the Dauphin’s victory over Morose, and the saving of female reputations. Why Jonson’s ironic choice to disguise a man as an Amazon? Why is the Amazonian persona used to further the agenda of a man rather than that of a woman? Why are the women “saved” and ultimately thus subjugated by this male Amazon? What is Jonson saying about gender roles? Is he championing male dominance, or is there something more complicated in the unsettling nature of this disguise?
2. The success of the devious plots designed by the Dauphin, Clerimont, and Truewit are reliant upon the acceptance and passing along of gossip. Truewit, for example, rightly predicts that once the women are told of the Dauphin’s great character, they will all believe it, and fall in love with him: “They know not why they do anything, but as they are informed, believe, judge, praise, condemn, love, hate, and---in emulation one of another---do all these things alike” (4.6.60-3). How does the power of gossip operate as a theme throughout the play? How does the relationship to gossip characterize each character? Is Jonson making any kind of judgment on gossip, or is he simply using it as a plot device?