Plays · Theme
Female Agency and Virtue
How Plays develops Female Agency and Virtue.
Women like Constance, Drusiana, and the virgin martyrs are portrayed as strong, shrewd, and spiritually victorious, often outwitting male persecutors and embodying moral authority, with the author noting 'fragile woman who is victorious and strong man who is routed with confusion.'
Where it surfaces
- The Plays of Roswitha
Constance's shrewdness in preserving her virginity and Sapientia's dignified defiance highlight women's roles in spiritual and moral decisions.
- Prefaces of Roswitha
Roswitha asserts her own agency as a female writer, using her plays to celebrate virtuous women and counter pagan narratives.
- Scene II
Constance actively devises a plan to preserve her virtue, demonstrating agency within patriarchal constraints.
- Scene VI
Constance takes an active role in directing the mission to convert Gallicanus.
- Characters
The sisters Agape, Chionia, and Irena are central figures, likely embodying steadfast faith.
- Scene X
Irena's youth is seen as a vulnerability, yet the sisters' steadfastness is implied.
- Scene XII
Irena asserts her moral agency by refusing to obey Sisinnius, declaring that her soul's purity is independent of bodily violation.
- Scene XIII
Irena's escape from the brothel through divine intervention underscores her virtue and agency in resisting forced corruption.
- Abraham
Mary's choices—first to embrace religious life, then to sin, and finally to repent—show her agency, though guided by male figures.
- Scene IV
Mary's fall from virtue into prostitution highlights the vulnerability and societal pressures on women's agency and chastity.
- Scene VI
Mary's situation as a prostitute highlights the loss of agency and virtue, yet her emotional response suggests an inner struggle and residual moral awareness.
- Scene VII
Mary's struggle with shame and her choice to repent underscore the tension between her past sins and her potential for virtue.
- Paphnutius
Thais actively chooses repentance and embraces penance, demonstrating agency in her spiritual transformation.
- Scene III
Thais actively chooses to reject her past and embrace a life of virtue, asserting her own moral agency in response to Paphnutius's call.
- Scene VI
Thais actively chooses to obey and submit to the penitential process, asserting her agency in seeking virtue.
- Sapientia
Young girls and their mother display unwavering agency and virtue, defying the emperor and choosing martyrdom over submission.
- Scene I
The Christian woman and her daughters are actively converting others, challenging Roman patriarchal norms and causing wives to reject their husbands.
- Scene II
Sapientia speaks with authority and courage, asserting her faith and protecting her daughters in the face of tyranny.
- Scene III
Sapientia and her daughters assert their Christian faith and intellectual independence against imperial authority.
- Scene IV
Sapientia actively instills faith and courage in her daughters, who assert their agency by choosing martyrdom over earthly marriage.
- Scene V
Sapientia and her daughters actively choose martyrdom, defying imperial authority and asserting their spiritual autonomy.
- Scene IX
Sapientia independently chooses the burial site, dismisses the matrons, and directs her own spiritual fate.
- A Note on the Acting of the Plays
The chapter discusses Roswitha's glorification of chastity and the burlesque of old-fashioned virtues in the Callimachus production, highlighting the tension between modern interpretation and the original theme.
