Pre-Modern Theatre 2010 Woods: February 2010

THE THESMOPHORIAZUSÆ

A monologue from the play by Aristophanes

NOTE: This monologue is reprinted from Aristophanes: The Eleven Comedies.
Trans. Anonymous. London: The Athenian Society, 1922.

FIRST WOMAN: If I have asked to speak, may the goddesses bear me witness, it was not for sake of ostentation. But I have long been pained to see us women insulted by this Euripides, this son of the grocer-woman, who loads us with every kind of indignity. Has he not hit us enough, columniated us sufficiently, wherever there are spectators, tragedians, and a chorus? Does he not style us lecherous, drunken, traitorous, boastful? Does he not repeat that we are all vice, that we are the curse of our husbands? So that, directly they come back from the theatre, they look at us doubtfully and go searching every nook, fearing there may be some hidden lover. We can do nothing as we used to, so many are the false ideas which he has instilled into our husbands. Is a woman weaving a garland for herself? 'Tis because she is in love. Does she let some vase drop while going or returning to the house? Her husband asks her in whose honour she has broken it, "It can only be for that Corinthian stranger." Is a maiden unwell? Straightway her brother says, "That is a colour that does not please me." And if a childless woman wishes to substitute one, the deceit can no longer be a secret, for the neighbors will insist on being present at her delivery. Formerly the old men married young girls, but they have been so columniated that none of think of them now, thanks to the verse: "A woman is the tyrant of the old man who marries her." Again, it is because of Euripides that we are incessantly watched, that we are shut up behind bolts and bars, and that dogs are kept to frighten off the gallants. Let that pass; but formerly it was we who had the care of the food, who fetched the flour from the storeroom, the oil and the wine; we can do it no more. Our husbands no carry little Spartan keys on their persons, made with three notches and full of malice and spite. Formerly it sufficed to purchase a ring marked with the same sign for three obols, to open the most securely sealed-up door; but now this pestilent Euripides has taught men to hang seals of worm-eaten wood about their necks. My opinion, therefore, is that we should rid ourselves of our enemy by poison or by any other means, provided he dies. That is what I announce publicly; as to certain points, which I wish to keep secret, I propose to record them on the secretary's minutes.

RESPONSE:

The monologue that I am performing is from Aristophanes’ The Thesmophoriazusae. This play is about the women’s festival or Thesmophoriazusae, in which only women were allowed. The festival celebrated the goddesses Demeter and Persephone. The festival gave praise to the goddesses for hearth, fertility and the sanctity of marriage. This is ironic to know because at the festival in the show, the women are upset because Euripides continues to show their husbands how unfaithful and untrustworthy women can be. The play is set around 412 BC, a time when women were completely submissive to the wills of men. This comedy is a reflection of sex and gender roles in ancient Greece. The play pokes fun at and chastises Euripides for the way he depicts women in his writings. In the play, Euripides, angered by the fact that the women are speaking ill of him, sends one of his men, Mnesilochus, to go to the festival and spy on the women. While Mnesilochus is there, he completely degrades the women and in turn gets found to be in the disguise of a woman. The play is full of twists and turns which add to the comedic nature of the text. The monologue is from the start of the festival, I chose the part of “Micca” or in some translations “The First Woman”. She is outraged at the “indignity” that women receive from Euripides and suggests getting rid of him all together. The rehearsal process for this was a little difficult. The main problem came when I was looking for the background of the character. There are not many resources that include The Thesmophoriazusae as one of Aristophanes’ complete works. I saw that the play is supposed to be comedic; so much of my time was spent looking for the comedy in what Micca was saying. I want to play her as an older woman so that took some time as well. It took me a while to get the memorization down. Because of the way the monologue is translated, I found myself mixing up words and stumbling over the lines. As a whole, the process posed some difficulty but there was not anything major. It would be nice to do this play next season. It has a lot of roles for women and, like Lysistrata; it has a sexual and gender roles theme.

Pre-Modern Theatre 2010 Woods

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The Thesmophoriazusae

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Famous Performances of Antigone from "Antigone" by Sophocles

Followers

Blog Archive

About Me