What happens if we put the women in charge; The Assemblywomen, Aristophanes

 Why you might read The Assemblywomen?

The Assemblywomen is another of Aristophanes' plays about the upset of normal proceedings. In this case, we see the women take charge by taking power. It shows us the first mention in literature of what will come to be known as communism. Being still a comedy it is full of the absurd and is an enjoyable read.

Story of The Assemblywomen

The Assemblywomen starts with a group of women plotting to go to the assembly dressed as men. They steal their husband's cloaks, shoes and staves. They collect together plotting to speak at the assembly. They hope to get the men to pass the control over to the women. They hope that this can stop the war with Sparta and create a better Athens.

Their husbands come out while they are gone. They complain of their missing cloaks and missing going to assembly because they get paid to go. They discuss how you must go early to the assembly otherwise it is full and you don't get paid if you don't get in.

The women return and tell of how they spoke loudly and enthusiastically at the assembly. As a result, they got the women appointed in charge. Praxagora, our main character, is put in charge and proposes sweeping changes. These changes include having all property in common and doing communal meals.

The men discuss the changes and one is going to turn over his goods. The other however is waiting until other people do before complying himself. He also tries to persuade the other to wait. But when it comes to food he is the first one in. He is happy to take but reluctant to give.

The play ends with the second man going for food at his allotted place.

Reflections on The Assemblywomen

It is interesting to see a power play taken by the women to try and change their situation. Aristophanes has no problem with the idea of strong women. That being said this is a comedy and as such tends towards the absurd in the execution of this strength. The women being in charge is not taken with alarm by any of the men involved either. Whether this is indicative of general attitudes or whether it is part of the absurdity of the play is hard to tell.

The measures taken by the women are along the lines of what we would now call communism. Aristophanes does not take a position for or against this idea. He instead portrays it almost as a natural consequence of women being in charge. It is interesting to see these concepts in literature before the manifesto. This reminds me that most ideas aren't new they are just rehashed.

What others have to say about The Assemblywomen

"However, the similarities between some aspects of the play and the utopian ideas of Plato in his Republic have made Assemblywomen the subject of numerous comparative analyses and philosophical or historical speculations." From Greek Mythology

"Written in 391 BC, it’s a wonderfully fun play, a comic fantasy about women being in charge of government and men reduced to feeble, pitiable creatures in drag." From Interesting Literature

Comparisons with other texts

Like Wealth, The Assemblywomen is a reversal of the usual status quo. In Wealth it is good things coming to the good. Whereas in the Assemblywomen it is women ending up in charge. This is about all these two have in common. They are focused one on fortune and the other on ending the war.

We see the theme again of how to end the war come to the front. We have already seen this in Peace and Lysistrata. And with Lysistrata, we again see it is the women doing the outrageous that seems to get the job done. In the Assemblywomen we see the women take power from the men by guile. By contrast in the Lysistrata, we see them use their innate power around sex to make the war end.

Conclusion

As one of Aristophanes most overlooked plays, there is still much to glean from the text. It is an interesting reversal of roles with the men becoming feeble and the women gaining power. It shows us that the ideas of communism existed long before their modern form. While they are portrayed in the absurd it still shows the existence of the ideas. Again we see the woman take centre stage and in this case, take control from the law giving down.

Have you read The Assemblywomen? If so what did you think of it? 
 
Want to read The Assemblywomen but haven't? Please leave me a comment and let me know why you want to read it.

Hopefully, this post inspires you to take the time to look into it on your own journey of Self Education.

Get a copy of The Assemblywomen.