Civic Humanism and Gender Politics in Jonson's "Catiline"

Women characters in Ben Jonson's Catiline and women authors in late-sixteenth- and early-seventeenth-century England deploy civic humanist principles in order to claim authoritative public roles. Jonson altered his sources to give women larger, structurally crucial roles and to make Cicero depe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Studies in English literature, 1500-1900 1500-1900, 2005-04, Vol.45 (2), p.401-424
Main Author: Gaggero, Christopher
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Civics
Culture
Drama
English language
English literature
European history
Gender equality
Gender roles
Humanism
Intelligence
Johnson, Ben
Jonson, Ben (1573-1637)
Men
Oratory
Political rhetoric
Politics
Women
Womens education
Womens rights
Working women
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Summary:Women characters in Ben Jonson's Catiline and women authors in late-sixteenth- and early-seventeenth-century England deploy civic humanist principles in order to claim authoritative public roles. Jonson altered his sources to give women larger, structurally crucial roles and to make Cicero depend upon the intelligence of a woman spy. The play's ambivalence about Cicero suggests Jonson's and, more broadly, his culture's concern that civic humanist principles encouraged (or at least, failed to discourage) the public ambitions of rhetorically skillful women. This concern helps to explain why English culture turned away from the civic humanist tradition during this period.
ISSN:0039-3657
1522-9270
1522-9270
DOI:10.1353/sel.2005.0016