Themes and Plots - K'yundra
Written by Hrotsvit of Gandersheim in ca. 975
What is the play about?
Plot
The play starts out with the Roman emperor, Diocletian, insisting that the three Holy Virgins and sisters; Agape, Chionia, and Hirena, renounce their Christian faith and begin worshipping the Roman gods. When the sisters refused to do so, Diocletian imprisons the girls. They are later examined by the Roman governor, Dulcitius. Dulcitius asks the soldiers to be keep the sisters in the kitchen so he can visit them late at night. However, when he goes at night to visit them he mistakes the sisters for pots and pans in the kitchen and becomes covered in soot. When he returns to the soldiers they do not recognize him and mistake him for a demon. When the soldiers run away from him he decides to go to the palace and let the court know he has been mistreated. The guards at the palace beat him when they see him, not recognizing who he is. Dulcitius still unaware of his looks sees his wife who informs him of his appearance. Upset that he has been mocked by the virigins, he commands that the three sisters be stripped naked so they can be mocked too. However, when the soldiers try to remove their robes they cannot. Diocletian then calls on to Sissinus, a Roman count who is in charge of punishment for the three sisters asks to see Agape and Chionia, leaving Hirena for now, hoping to spare her youth with the odds that she may give up her faith without the influence of her sisters. Sissinus commands that Agape and Chionia be burned alive. When they are burned alive their souls leave their body but their physical bodies are left unharmed. Sissinus commands the soldiers to take Hirena's body to a brothel however the soldiers return to Sissinus saying that two strangers approached them asking them to take her to the mountain's peak. Sissinus, having enough of the "witchcraft" from these girls commands that a soliders shoots her with an arrow. The play ends with a speech from Hirena exclaiming how joyous she is to be spending eternity praising God.
What is the play about?
"The play Dulcitius, as a result of its age and the society in which it was written and set, poses interesting questions about dramatic form, female representation, translation and staging, and the role of religion in drama-Hrosvitha wrote in a world in which our traditional dramatic structures did not exist; as such, Hrotsvitha was free from form to create a different type of play that is worth analyzing, especially with a contemporary eye."
Plot
The play starts out with the Roman emperor, Diocletian, insisting that the three Holy Virgins and sisters; Agape, Chionia, and Hirena, renounce their Christian faith and begin worshipping the Roman gods. When the sisters refused to do so, Diocletian imprisons the girls. They are later examined by the Roman governor, Dulcitius. Dulcitius asks the soldiers to be keep the sisters in the kitchen so he can visit them late at night. However, when he goes at night to visit them he mistakes the sisters for pots and pans in the kitchen and becomes covered in soot. When he returns to the soldiers they do not recognize him and mistake him for a demon. When the soldiers run away from him he decides to go to the palace and let the court know he has been mistreated. The guards at the palace beat him when they see him, not recognizing who he is. Dulcitius still unaware of his looks sees his wife who informs him of his appearance. Upset that he has been mocked by the virigins, he commands that the three sisters be stripped naked so they can be mocked too. However, when the soldiers try to remove their robes they cannot. Diocletian then calls on to Sissinus, a Roman count who is in charge of punishment for the three sisters asks to see Agape and Chionia, leaving Hirena for now, hoping to spare her youth with the odds that she may give up her faith without the influence of her sisters. Sissinus commands that Agape and Chionia be burned alive. When they are burned alive their souls leave their body but their physical bodies are left unharmed. Sissinus commands the soldiers to take Hirena's body to a brothel however the soldiers return to Sissinus saying that two strangers approached them asking them to take her to the mountain's peak. Sissinus, having enough of the "witchcraft" from these girls commands that a soliders shoots her with an arrow. The play ends with a speech from Hirena exclaiming how joyous she is to be spending eternity praising God.
Themes
Faith / Spirituality / Religion
Monasticism
Portrayal of Women
Karma
Message
Having a love for God is stronger than anything else
Modern works with similar themes
The Perfection
Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones
“Dulcitius.” History Matters / Back to the Future, www.historymattersbacktothefuture.com/plays/view/Dulcitius/.
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