Epicoene: The Silent Woman

Name: Epicoene: The Silent Woman
Author: Ben Jonson
ISBN: 9781787367319

Author: Ben Jonson
Language: English
Length: 264 pages
ISBN: 9781787367319
Published: 20 August 2023
Imprint: Sovereign

Gender roles
Comedy
Deception
Satire
Miscommunication
Romantic intrigue
Renaissance society
Humor
Social norms
Subversion

All titles

Description

"Epicoene: The Silent Woman" is a comedic play by Ben Jonson. Morose, a wealthy old man, seeks a wife who is quiet and silent. He plans to disinherit his nephew if he doesn't marry Epicoene, a supposedly silent woman. However, Epicoene turns out to be a young man in disguise. Chaos erupts as characters scheme to uphold the deception. Jonson's play humorously critiques societal expectations of gender roles, marriage, and appearances, while exploring the complexities of human relationships and the consequences of deceit.

Author

Ben Jonson (1572–1637) was the great comic dramatist of Shakespeare's age — a poet of city intrigue, gullibility, and verbal fireworks. The Alchemist, Volpone, and Every Man in His Humour made London itself a stage of schemes and comeuppance. Scholar, satirist, and masque-maker to the court, Jonson wrote classical comedy with a street ear. His seven titles here open a door into Jacobean theatre at its sharpest and funniest.

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