Characters - Gwen
The Characters of Dulcitius
Agape - One of three holy, pious virgins. She is the first of the three to speak out against Emperor Diocletian. She prays to god that the fire finally consume them so that their souls may be released into heaven. If one were to assign a leader to this ill-fated band of women then it would most definitely be Agape. She is the classic Martyr archetype, willing to throw herself into the fire for her cause, totally uncompromising and dedicated to the very end. Her tenacity in the face of adversity, and her death at the hands of her tormentors reminds me somewhat of William Wallace from the film “Braveheart”. She is outspoken, she is sharp and fierce. She is what a Sunday school teacher might call a “rebel for Christ”
Chionia - Chionia unfortunately gets lost among her two sisters. She is an obvious archetypal martyr just like Agape and Hirena, however unlike the two she has almost no discernible personality, whereas Agape has some and Hirena has a little bit. The only real stand-out moment of Chionia’s, is when she tells the roman soldiers not to hesitate in executing them, as if they wait then they themselves may be punished and killed, and she doesn’t want them to have to die. That specific exchange is reminiscent of Jesus Christ when he famously proclaimed “forgive them father, for the do not know what they do.” The martyr archetype has changed quite a bit since this work and has largely fallen out of style. Perhaps it is due in part to characters like Chionia, who have no personality outside of being the perfect almost drone portrayals of the idealized member of whatever organization is being persecuted. She is very similar to a number of character’s in Jack T. Chick’s “Chick Tracts” which are small evangelical comic books meant to convert the reader to Christianity. In many of them, there is a character who’s only notable trait is being a christian, and they are constantly assailed by mean, cruel atheists, and pagans, depicted as exaggeratedly ignorant and aggressive caricatures. But of course, the good noble christian never stops smiling and loving Jesus, and so they always win in the end.
Hirena - She is the youngest of the three, and the last of the sisters to be struck down. The last scene of the play shows her verbally sparring against her assailant, with a perfect, witty retort for every one of his disparaging comments. She embodies the martyr perfectly when she says, “The more cruelly I am tortured, the more gloriously I’ll be exalted”. Her character is very similar to that of “Josh Wheaton” from the 2014 film “God’s Not Dead” another character facing off in heated debates with an evil non-believer who wants to destroy their faith, and if they do not comply, will destroy them personally instead. In the end, God’s protection keeps the soldiers from dragging her away, so they resort to shooting her, afterwards her soul is ferried up into heaven. So to the readers of the time, and to some people today, she wins in the end.
Sissinus - The roman count who faces off against Hirena in a verbal confrontation at the end of the play. Much like Hirena is similar to Josh Wheaton, Sissinus is Professor Raddison from “God’s Not Dead”. He is an exaggerated caricature of a pagan man, just like the professor was a caricature of the angry college atheist every strict fundamental parent is afraid of, the one which will try and corrupt their child and lure them away from Christianity. Sissinus portrays that raw impotent rage which is seen a lot in modern films featuring christian people being persecuted for their beliefs. Before she dies Hirena teases him that he has to shoot her, because God’s intervention is keeping his men from attacking her directly.
Dulcitius - While Sissinus embodies the rage, Dulcitius embodies the lust. Like Psuedolous and Tartuffe he is a rake, but unlike either of those men he is thankfully not the main character, and his sexual misconduct is not seen as a positive thing. Dulcitius is driven mad through divine intervention and attempts to copulate with a bunch of dirty dishes. The three main women ridicule him for this from behind a door, and for the next several scenes people run away from him or chase him off because they think he is a demon or some greasy goblin. Dulcitius is the bully archetype, and the clown archetype all rolled into one. He is a cruel and depraved man who attempts to take advantage of three young women, but he is also a goofy idiot who gets grease on his face and doesn’t notice. He reminds me of the character Leisure Suit Larry, from the popular 1990s video game series of the same name. Just like Dulcitius, Larry is an absolute lecher who always receives an almost immediate comeuppance for being a creepy pervert, which often includes some form of public humiliation, just like Dulcitius’ big greasy adventure
Sources
Agape - One of three holy, pious virgins. She is the first of the three to speak out against Emperor Diocletian. She prays to god that the fire finally consume them so that their souls may be released into heaven. If one were to assign a leader to this ill-fated band of women then it would most definitely be Agape. She is the classic Martyr archetype, willing to throw herself into the fire for her cause, totally uncompromising and dedicated to the very end. Her tenacity in the face of adversity, and her death at the hands of her tormentors reminds me somewhat of William Wallace from the film “Braveheart”. She is outspoken, she is sharp and fierce. She is what a Sunday school teacher might call a “rebel for Christ”
Chionia - Chionia unfortunately gets lost among her two sisters. She is an obvious archetypal martyr just like Agape and Hirena, however unlike the two she has almost no discernible personality, whereas Agape has some and Hirena has a little bit. The only real stand-out moment of Chionia’s, is when she tells the roman soldiers not to hesitate in executing them, as if they wait then they themselves may be punished and killed, and she doesn’t want them to have to die. That specific exchange is reminiscent of Jesus Christ when he famously proclaimed “forgive them father, for the do not know what they do.” The martyr archetype has changed quite a bit since this work and has largely fallen out of style. Perhaps it is due in part to characters like Chionia, who have no personality outside of being the perfect almost drone portrayals of the idealized member of whatever organization is being persecuted. She is very similar to a number of character’s in Jack T. Chick’s “Chick Tracts” which are small evangelical comic books meant to convert the reader to Christianity. In many of them, there is a character who’s only notable trait is being a christian, and they are constantly assailed by mean, cruel atheists, and pagans, depicted as exaggeratedly ignorant and aggressive caricatures. But of course, the good noble christian never stops smiling and loving Jesus, and so they always win in the end.
Sissinus - The roman count who faces off against Hirena in a verbal confrontation at the end of the play. Much like Hirena is similar to Josh Wheaton, Sissinus is Professor Raddison from “God’s Not Dead”. He is an exaggerated caricature of a pagan man, just like the professor was a caricature of the angry college atheist every strict fundamental parent is afraid of, the one which will try and corrupt their child and lure them away from Christianity. Sissinus portrays that raw impotent rage which is seen a lot in modern films featuring christian people being persecuted for their beliefs. Before she dies Hirena teases him that he has to shoot her, because God’s intervention is keeping his men from attacking her directly.
Dulcitius - While Sissinus embodies the rage, Dulcitius embodies the lust. Like Psuedolous and Tartuffe he is a rake, but unlike either of those men he is thankfully not the main character, and his sexual misconduct is not seen as a positive thing. Dulcitius is driven mad through divine intervention and attempts to copulate with a bunch of dirty dishes. The three main women ridicule him for this from behind a door, and for the next several scenes people run away from him or chase him off because they think he is a demon or some greasy goblin. Dulcitius is the bully archetype, and the clown archetype all rolled into one. He is a cruel and depraved man who attempts to take advantage of three young women, but he is also a goofy idiot who gets grease on his face and doesn’t notice. He reminds me of the character Leisure Suit Larry, from the popular 1990s video game series of the same name. Just like Dulcitius, Larry is an absolute lecher who always receives an almost immediate comeuppance for being a creepy pervert, which often includes some form of public humiliation, just like Dulcitius’ big greasy adventure
“Chick.com: Homepage.” Chick.com: Homepage, www.chick.com/.
Horn, Anna. “God's Not Dead - Shane Harper as (Josh Wheaton) in God's Not Dead the Movie Now Playing in Theaters;): Quotes: Gods Not Dead, Quotes about God, Gods Love.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.com/pin/548031848378306879/.
Myers, Scott. “Character Type: Bully.” Medium, Go Into The Story, 28 Jan. 2019, gointothestory.blcklst.com/character-type-bully-5fbc85721dd3.
Myers, Scott. “Character Type: Clown.” Medium, Go Into The Story, 28 Jan. 2019, gointothestory.blcklst.com/character-type-clown-4cc343e31c67.
Myers, Scott. “Character Type: Martyr.” Medium, Go Into The Story, 20 Dec. 2018, gointothestory.blcklst.com/character-type-martyr-7a586bc25d7b.
Reporter. “Dundee's Key Role in William Wallace Story.” Evening Telegraph, 20 June 2015, www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/2014/06/24/dundees-key-role-in-william-wallace-story/.
Sheehan, Gavin. “Leisure Suit Larry Appears to Be Getting a Game on Steam.” Bleedingcool.com, www.bleedingcool.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Leisure-Suit-Larry.png#main.
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