235:, primarily in the home of Morose. Morose is a wealthy old man with an obsessive hatred of noise, going as far as to live on a street too narrow for carts to pass and make noise. He has made plans to disinherit his nephew Dauphine by marrying. This is due to the schemes and tricks Dauphine has played on him in the past. To combat this, Dauphine concocts a plan with Cutbeard, Morose's barber. Cutbeard presents Morose with a young (and supposedly) silent woman to marry. When Morose meets Epicœne, he tries to find out if she is really a silent woman, testing her obedience. He tells her not to succumb to the temptations of the court and tells her about the virtues of silence. Under the assumption that his fiancée, Epicœne, is an exceptionally quiet woman, Morose excitedly plans their marriage. Unbeknownst to him, Dauphine has arranged the whole match for purposes of his own.
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made, Dauphine strips the female costume from Epicœne, revealing that Morose's wife is, in fact, a boy, and therefore their marriage cannot be upheld. Morose is dismissed harshly, and the other ludicrous characters are discomfited by this revelation; Daw and Foole, for instance, had claimed to have slept with Epicœne.
53:. The play is about a man named Dauphine, who creates a scheme to get his inheritance from his uncle Morose. The plan involves setting Morose up to marry Epicoene, a boy disguised as a woman (though none of the other characters know this until the final scene of the play). It was originally performed by the
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Desperate for a divorce, Morose consults two lawyers (who are actually
Dauphine's friends Cutbeard and Otter in disguise), but they can find no grounds for ending the match. Finally, Dauphine promises to reveal grounds to end the marriage if Morose agrees to give him his inheritance. The agreement
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Truewit, hoping to secure his friend's inheritance, attempts to persuade Morose that marriage would not be good for him. Truewit says that no matter what, Morose will find himself unhappy in marriage, regardless of whether she is pretty, ugly, rich, poor, or even if Morose loves her. Truewit tells
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consisting of
Dauphine, Truewit, and Clerimont; a sea-captain named Otter and his wife; two stupid knights (La Foole and Daw); and an assortment of Collegiates. The house is overrun with noise and clamor, much to Morose's chagrin. Worst for Morose, Epicœne quickly reveals herself to be a loud,
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Morose that it is not the women's fault; all of them are corrupted. He also tells Morose to kill himself instead of getting married. The couple are married despite the well-meaning interference of
Dauphine's friend Truewit. Morose soon regrets his wedding day, as his house is invaded by a
515:, echoing Reformation comments on the play, condemned Morose as ludicrously unnatural, and other reviewers were no kinder. Garrick replaced Siddons with a boy, responding to complaints that a female Epicœne was ludicrous. The revamped casting did not save the production, and
409:. The intended audience of this play would have been wealthier than Shakespeare's crowd. This can be seen through the play's use of Latin phrases, which would have required the audience to possess advanced education in order to understand all of the jokes and references.
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At the same time there is an alliance of women with intellectual pretensions called the Ladies
Collegiates. They are married women who live away from their husbands and speak their minds. They talk about how women can use sex to control their husbands.
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starring as
Truewit. The play has been performed only twice in New York in recent years: once in the 1980s at Jean Cocteau Repertory theatre and in 2010 as part of the "Anybody But Shakespeare Classics Festival" by (re:) Directions Theatre Company.
257:. She is intimidating and in charge of domestic resources. She shouts at him in front of Truewit and his friends and she tells him that he is sullying her image. It appears that she had great options in life but she ended up settling for him.
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hypothesis that Jonson himself played Morose. Jonson hinted to
William Drummond that the play failed; he mentioned certain verses calling the title appropriate, since the audience had remained silent at the end. A report from the
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was frequently revived and highly appreciated; in the course of a lengthy analysis, Dryden calls it "the pattern of a perfect play." The play was one of the first to be performed in London after the theatres reopened in 1660.
273:: in one, a groom in Morose's situation argues for permission to commit suicide to escape his marriage, while in the other an elderly miser plans to disinherit a nephew who laughed at him. The
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Jonson utilised a variety of sources to write Epicœne. While most details of characterisation and plot are his own invention, the scenario originates from two orations by
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The play was adapted for radio by the BBC and featured Marius Goring, Laidman Browne, Gabriel Wolf, Norman
Shelley, Vivienne Chatterton, June Tobin, and David Spenser.
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in the title role; this was probably the first performance in which a woman played Epicœne. Over the next century, a number of celebrated actresses, including
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vanished from the boards for over a century, a victim of the falling popularity of non-Shakespearean
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Mistress Otter has a dominant personality compared to her husband. She has the same characteristics as
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Mueschke, Paul and Jeanette Fleischer. "Jonsonian Elements in the Comic Underplot of Twelfth Night."
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Major American revivals of Epicœne have been rare. In Washington D.C., the
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Notes of Ben Jonson's Conversations with William Drummond of Hawthornden
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Campbell, O. J. "The Relation of Epicoene to Aretino's Il Marescalco."
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of Epicœne's unveiling, while traditionally viewed as derived from the
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The play influenced at least two minor plays before the interregnum:
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tradition. Truewit's speeches condemning marriage borrow from
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was, by Jonson's admission, a failure. Years later, however,
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The Entertainment of the Kings of Great Britain and Denmark
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A Private Entertainment of the King and Queen on May-Day
688:. Yale Studies in English. New York: Henry Holt, 1906.
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The Cambridge Companion to English Restoration Theatre
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132:A young Gentlewoman, supposedly the silent woman
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681:. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
593:Johnson, Ben (1979). Holdsworth, Roger (ed.).
1145:Time Vindicated to Himself and to His Honours
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641:Hubbub: Filth Noise & Stench in England
1152:Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion
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385:Learn how and when to remove this message
69:, the play is written entirely in prose.
80:and others championed it, and after the
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1061:Mercury Vindicated from the Alchemists
156:A barber, also aids in tricking Morose
597:. London: Bloomsbury. pp. 35–36.
539:based on Jonson's play, premiered in
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1012:The Entertainment at Britain's Burse
367:adding citations to reliable sources
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1166:The Fortunate Isles and Their Union
1033:Love Freed from Ignorance and Folly
487:In 1664, Pepys saw the play at the
1047:A Challenge at Tilt, at a Marriage
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1173:Love's Triumph Through Callipolis
643:. Yale University Press, 2007.
1159:The Masque of Owls at Kenilworth
1117:The Entertainment at Blackfriars
563:produced the play in 2003, with
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354:needs additional citations for
120:A Gentleman, Dauphine's friend
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1096:Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue
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814:Every Man out of His Humour
561:Shakespeare Theatre Company
335:Stage history and reception
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671:An Essay of Dramatic Poesy
614:Cambridge University Press
412:The play premiered at the
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84:it was frequently revived—
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1054:The Irish Masque at Court
114:A Knight, Morose's nephew
72:The first performance of
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684:Henry, Aurelia, editor.
610:"Epicene: Stage History"
231:The play takes place in
162:One of Morose's servants
1103:For the Honour of Wales
1068:The Golden Age Restored
970:The Masque of Blackness
870:Catiline His Conspiracy
807:Every Man in His Humour
331:is no longer credited.
254:The Taming of the Shrew
126:Dauphine's other friend
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912:Rollo Duke of Normandy
150:A land and sea Captain
1082:The Vision of Delight
1075:Christmas, His Masque
677:Fisk, Deborah Payne.
535:, with a libretto by
142:Sir Amorous la Foole:
112:Sir Dauphine Eugenie:
1138:The Masque of Augurs
998:The Masque of Queens
991:The Masque of Beauty
555:in the United States
547:Notable performances
532:Die schweigsame Frau
363:improve this article
207:, The Captain's wife
189:, Ladies Collegiates
180:, Ladies Collegiates
65:. Excluding its two
55:Blackfriars Children
1274:Plays by Ben Jonson
884:The Devil Is an Ass
793:The Case is Altered
716:48 (1933), 722–740.
651:. pp. 109–110
636:46 (1931), 752–762.
484:in the title role.
414:Whitefriars Theatre
407:Whitefriars Theatre
399:William Shakespeare
891:The Staple of News
639:Cockayne, Emily.
608:Bevington, David.
171:Ladies Collegiates
27:Play by Ben Jonson
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59:boy players
49:playwright
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1279:1609 plays
1268:Categories
930:(fragment)
766:Ben Jonson
580:References
478:Charles II
463:After the
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100:Characters
90:Charles II
51:Ben Jonson
1180:Chloridia
828:Poetaster
695:Epicoene.
522:In 1935,
321:Satire VI
245:charivari
154:Cutbeard:
130:Epicoene:
67:prologues
1219:To Celia
977:Hymenaei
619:23 March
460:(1639).
435:Moldavia
427:Venetian
271:Libanius
221:Servants
202:Mistress
193:Mistress
184:Mistress
178:Centaure
169:Haughty:
144:A Knight
124:Truewit:
18:Epicoene
1236:Related
940:Masques
849:Volpone
730:online.
728:Epicœne
553:Epicœne
541:Dresden
517:Epicœne
469:Epicœne
293:Aretino
285:Plautus
265:Sources
106:Morose:
74:Epicœne
41:, is a
38:Epicene
647:
439:quarto
280:Casina
233:London
211:Parson
196:Trusty
175:Madame
166:Madame
43:comedy
1204:Poems
778:Plays
770:works
528:opera
491:with
216:Pages
205:Otter
187:Mavis
160:Mute:
61:, in
714:PMLA
700:EMLS
645:ISBN
634:PMLA
621:2016
507:and
499:and
311:Ovid
227:Plot
63:1609
526:'s
456:'s
448:'s
365:by
313:'s
299:'s
291:of
283:of
92:'s
45:by
1270::
661:.
657:.
612:.
543:.
467:,
323:.
96:.
1228:"
1224:"
1221:"
1217:"
1214:"
1210:"
772:)
768:(
758:e
751:t
744:v
697:"
623:.
388:)
382:(
377:)
373:(
359:.
20:)
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