Dulcitius

Dulcitius is a Latin comedy written by Hrosvitha of Gandersheim, a member of the female Abbey of Gandersheim in Lower Saxony. Written between 935-973, Dulcitius is widely believed to be her most comic work.[1] The play treats the figure of Dulcitius, governor of Thessalonica, as a subject for a comedy in the style of Terence. Although the play is dark - its plot depicts the imprisonment and martyrdom of the three sisters, Agape, Chionia, and Irena, at Dulcitius's hand - nevertheless its business is presumably deemed less grave because of the reward awaiting the Christian sufferers.[2]

Characters

Synposis

Scene 1: When the Emperor Diocletian cannot persuade Agape, Chionia, and Irena (three virgins) to worship the Roman gods and dispose of their Christian faith, he sends them to prison.

Scene 2: When the Governor Dulcitius sees how beautiful the girls are, he tells the soldiers to lock them up in the kitchen so “can visit them oftener.”[2]

Scene 3: Dulcitius hears the girls singing hymns inside the kitchen to pass the time. He tells the soldiers to guard the doors while he goes in to have his way with them.

Scene 4:In the darkness of the kitchen Dulcitius embraces the pots and pans, thinking they are the girls.

Scene 5: When he leaves the kitchen Dulcitius is, unbeknownst to him, covered in soot and unrecognizable. Thinking he is of the Devil, the soldiers run away from him. Dulcitius heads to the palace to tell everyone how he has been insulted.

Scene 6: He demands to be admitted to see the Emperor, but is beaten and denied admittance because the Ushers do not recognize him.

Scene 7: Dulcitius meets his wife and realizes what has happened. He commands that the girls be stripped in public.

Scene 8: The soliders are unable to remove the robes from the girls’ bodies, and go to tell the Emperor.

Scene 9: Enraged, the Emperor order Count Sisinnius to punish the girls.

Scene 10: Sisinnius orders two of the girls punished, leaving the youngest (Irena) to be kept in prison believing she will come around when she is no longer influenced by the others.

Scene 11: Agape and Chionia are burned alive, but their bodies remain unharmed as their spirits leave their bodies.

Scene 12: Sisinnius calls Irena from prison. He tells her if she continues to persist, she will die like her sisters. Sisinnius continues to threaten her, but she refuses to renounce her faith. He orders the soldiers to “drag her to the lowest brothel you can find.”[2]

Scene 13: The soldiers return and tell Sisinnius that Irena has escaped to a mountaintop. Two well-dressed men came upon them on the way to the brothel, and told them that Sinnius instead wanted her taken to the top of a mountain.

Scene 14: Sinnius follows Irena, but cannot get to the mountaintop. As Irena stands at the top, Sinnius orders one of the soldiers to shoot her with an arrow. She dies looking forward to heaven.

Analysis

Dulcitius as Comedy

The play’s original title was Passio Sanctarum Virginum Agapis Chioniae Et Hirenae, but has become more commonly known as Dulcitius because it is he who serves as the central character in the comedic scenes. Dulcitius is considered to be Hrosvitha’s most comedic work. However, only 56 lines out of 286 lines in the play are considered to be comedic and Dulcitius is only present in the first part of the play. As this division is the case, some have criticized Hrosvitha for creating no connection between the plotline of Dulcitius’ adventures and that of the martyrdom of the three girls.[3]

Dulcitius and Feminism

Thought to be intended for reading as opposed to performance, Hrosvitha’s plays are believed to be aimed towards the Christian ideal of the virginal woman. Her intention was likely for her plays to be read aloud by the Sisters of her convent.

Much has been said on the playwright Terence’s influence on Hrosvitha. She copied his style in the praising of virgins. In Hrosvitha’s preface to her collection, she acknowledges Terence’s influence, noting that her plays provide an alternative read for those who appreciate Terence’s style. Her take substitutes “the laudable chastity of holy maidens” for his “unchaste actions of sensual women.”[4] This relationship between Terence and Hrosvitha represent a link between classical drama and the medieval morality plays.[5][5]

However, some scholars dismiss the solely Christian context of Hrosvitha’s writings, instead claiming that her plays provided women opportunities for female integrity thus changing the views of women’s roles from negative to positive.[6]

Hrosvitha of Gandersheim

Life and Background of Hrosvitha

Most theatre historians agree that there is little information on Hrosvitha’s life and background. From information provided by Hrosvitha in Carmen de Primordiis Coenobii Gandersheimensis, we know she was born a long time after the death of Otto the Illustrious (November 30, 912), and that she was older than the daughter of Henry, Duke of Bavaria, Gerberga II (born after the year 940). Based on this information, Hrosvitha was born between 912 and 940, though historians generally agree that her date of birth is closer to 935.[7][8]

Hrosvitha divded her work into three books: Liber Primus, Liber Secundus, and Liber Tertius. The first book is poetry, the second book has the six plays she is largely known for (including Dulcitius), and the third book is more poetry and is also the text from which historians have been able to deduce her approximate year of birth.[9]

Dulcitius the Historical Figure

Dulcitius was a Roman governor of Macedonia during the reign of the emperor Diocletian, at the turn of the fourth century AD. He is chiefly remembered for his role in a hagiographic tale of the persecution of Christian women in Thessalonika, in 304 AD, and is the subject of an eponymous 10th century drama written in Germany by the secular canoness, Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim, the first known woman playwright.[3]

The name is also associated with a mid fourth century AD Roman soldier who was appointed Dux Britanniarum (or troop commander in Roman Britain for the region around Hadrian's Wall) and praised for his military abilities by the soldier-historian Ammianus.[10]

Although it is not actually stated by Ammianus in his original text, it is often conjectured that he was elevated to the position of Dux Britanniarum. If this is the case, the later fourth-century Dulcitius is thought to have been brought to Britain in 369 AD by Count Theodosius in the aftermath of the Great Conspiracy, in which Roman rule on the island faced simultaneous challenge from internal rebellion and external invasion. His possible appointment as dux britanniarum could have replaced Fullofaudes who is likely to have been killed or lost somewhere in the north of Britain. The Roman rebel Valentinus and his associates were handed over to Dulcitius for execution.

References

  1. ↑ Zarrilli, Phillip B.; McConachie, Bruce; Williams, Gary Jay; Sorgenfrei, Carol Fisher (2006). Theatre Histories: An Introduction. New York: Routledge. p. 73. ISBN 0-415-22727-5.
  2. 1 2 3 "Internet History Sourcebooks". sourcebooks.fordham.edu. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
  3. 1 2 JSTOR online: Studies in Philology, Vol 57, No. 4, Oct 1960, Douglas Cole, "Hrosvitha's most Comic Play: Dulcitius", op cit.
  4. ↑ Wailes, Stephen L. ""Beyond Virginity: Flesh and Spirit in the Plays of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim."". Speculum. 76.1.
  5. 1 2 Wilson, Katharina M. "Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature". "The Old Hungarian Translation of Hrotsvit's Dulcitius: History and Analysis.". 1.2.
  6. ↑ Case, Sue-Ellen. ""Re-Viewing Hrotsvit."". Theatre Journal. 35.4.
  7. ↑ Butler, R.S.M., Sister Mary Marguerite (1960). Hrotsvitha: The Theatricality of Her Plays. Brooklyn College: University of Michigan. p. 62. ISBN 1258181800.
  8. ↑ McDonald, Irving T. (June 22, 1929). "The Strong Voice of Gandersheim". American Press Inc.: 259 – via JSTOR.
  9. ↑ Zeydel, Edwin H. (1947). "A Chronological Hrotsvitha Bibliography Through 1700 with Annotations". The Journal of English and Germanic Philosophy. 46: 290 – via JSTOR.
  10. ↑ Ammian The History, Book XXVII University of Chicago online text in translation. See end of section 8, "p.57".

External links

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