Morose and His Tormentors

Abstract

In theoretical discussions of comedy, one of the situations most frequently noted is the casting out of a 'humour' figure who is crabbed and anti-social. In Shakespeare, figures as diverse as Shylock, Don John, Jaques, and Malvolio have been seen in this way. Though their fates are as diverse as their characters (and one may remark that Jaques and Malvolio deliberately exile themselves from a society that wishes to include them) they are all in some way out of tune with the figures who have joined hands in the traditional, festive comic ending – a celebration of marriage. Most comedies strive towards a cementing of social bonds, and in the process they mock those whose eccentricity or egotism makes them incapable of social intercourse. All this is familiar enough, and at first glance its application to Jonson's Epicoene may seem obvious: Morose is the 'humour' figure, the crabbed egotist who must be punished for his egotism, and then flung aside. In fact Jonson, with his more overt interest in the theoretical side of art, has made this aspect of Morose more explicit than it is in Shakespeare's corresponding figures. At his first appearance, Morose announces, 'all discourses, but mine owne, afflict mee, they seeme harsh, impertinent, and irksome' (II.i.4–5). His dislike of noise is infact a rejection of social life, a refusal to let other people have anything to do with him. When he attempts marriage – that basic image ofthe pleasures and pains of the social bond – he does so only on terms assuring his complete mastery, and the lady's submission. He does not mind the sound of Epicoene' s voice when she is expressing obedience to him: 'How lady? pray you, rise a note' (II. v .83).