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The Roaring Girl // Representation of London, and how Moll uses city space to embrace her singularity in not confining or aligning herself to any binary social role “The growth of London in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries inspired the writers of the period across a range of forms, but nowhere so powerfully as in the theatre, where Londoners saw their lives represented, dissected, and debated … the play explores different facets of London life … especially its effect on relations between the sexes and conceptions of gender roles and identity” (Knowles, 1) Moll’s relationship with her environment is paramount in The Roaring Girl, as it allows the reader to see how she can intertwine with characters of different social standing in the play. Moll never confines herself to one specific place, and so, she never allows herself to be confined to one specific gender role or social group. As we have seen in Epicoene, and the characters within the play, they very much make use of domestic space, and so spacial isolation, especially on the part of Morose is apparent. Contrastingly, The Roaring Girl sees a deviation from this homely interior, to that of London’s social spaces, in order for the reader to embrace the character of Moll Cutpurse. “The mobility of urban women was specifically identified with sexual immorality; only enclosure could keep women private and chaste” (Gowing, 139). Idea of the private vs the public, and Moll vs the other women in the play i.e. Mistress Openwork confined to shop environment – extension of domestic sphere e.g. enclosure of the Wengrave home, and the luxurious things that “adorn this room” (1.2.11) in act 1 could reflect the calibre of person, namely, the kind of woman that Sir Wengrave welcomes into his homely space, and who is confined to that space, in the same way that his art will always be adorned on the wall. This could be compared to the open streets in Act 2, and Moll’s social defiance: “I’ll tell thee by and by, I go but to th’next shop.” (2.1.202) Additionally, the London space that she uses is not limited, and so she is easily able to move between different social groups. Through

this, she exposes the way that social practice works in a social space such as London. “The action of The Roaring Girl may revolve around a very patriarchal household … but Moll’s movements repeatedly distract our attention away from the marital centre of the city household towards the much more marginal urban spaces where unmarried characters reside” (Masten and Wall, 197). Thus, the space that resides outside of the household attempts to threaten the patriarchy. E.g. Act 2 Scene 1 Moll uses London, and navigates through this urban space to reorganize it, and thus take it from the patriarchy to embrace her individuality. She navigates from the feather shop, the sempster shop and the tobacco shop. Additionally, this exemplifies the estrangement between Moll and the wives, especially Mistress Openwork – “Oh abominable” when she sees Moll enter the shop. Ref to cross-dressing; not man/ not woman – lacks a specific social role – To the wives, she is abnormal. However, she does not confine herself to the same space as them, and never compromises the stage to them. Moll’s mobility as a character is necessary, as she does not fit into a specific group. As soon as Moll leaves the stage, normality ensues. The bell rings, Gallipot and Tiltyard return their wives, and thus domesticity is restored, as Moll’s presence is no longer felt. In speaking of normality, it is something that Moll doesn’t fit in to – “I have no humour to marry … I have the head now of myself, and am man enough for a woman; marriage is but a chopping and changing, where a maiden loses one head” (2.235-44) Moll’s environment is fluid, and cross dressing allows her embrace this space, and thus this identity. The bed is a domestic, enclosed space, and she wishes to resist this convention. She is freed from the chains of marriage, and thus can embrace both male and female social roles, and alternatively, neither. “for in that craft she’s wise” and “she has the art to help” (2.2.9798) Women who share urban space with her, women who are the subject of the gallants mistreatment, namely Laxton, end up becoming

fallen women, and victims of their competitiveness – i.e. descend into prostitution. Moll ultimately resists this treatment. “Distressed needlewomen and trade-fallen wives,/ Fish that must needs bite or themselves be bitten,/ Such hungry things as these may soon be took/ With a worm fastened on a golden hook;” (3.1.9497) Moll calls on female unity when talking about her fellow women in London; It is as if men like Laxton wish to consume these women as if they are a piece of meat. Space can be dangerous – when it comes to men, and when it comes to women, Moll isn’t necessarily on one side or the other. Although Sebastian and Mary’s marriage would be the opposite, as expressed early in the play, when Mary wonders if not being able to marry Sebastian will be to her, a “shipwreck” (1.1. 92) Moll’s critique of materialistic marriage-as-colonization is also an insightful critique of colonization itself. “Think upon this in cold blood, sir, you make as much/ haste as if you were going upon a sturgeon voyage, take / deliberation, sir, never choose a wife as if you were going to/ Virginia” (2.266-69) Men do not always consider the power and influence that females have in their space. Moll believes marriage would be bad for both husband and wife. As Laxton consumes women in his life, Moll worries that both man and wife could consume each other. Her contempt is for marriage is construed as colonization in this instance, as a on a man’s part, marriage is a scheme for material or sexual gain, however, they can tend to forget the interests of their virginal wives. Although The Roaring Girl achieves comic resolution in marriage (which Moll has helped to effect), she herself ends the play unchanged, the catalyst in a chemical reaction. Unlike Rosalind or Viola, Moll, despite her make attire, makes no attempt to conceal her identity … and there is clearly something v important in this. Even though she refuses marriage for herself, insisting instead that she occupies both sides of the bed, she assists in the marriage of Sebastian and Mary, promoting the conventional resolution of stage comedy. She is supposed to be a cutpurse, but then insists on the return of stolen property. It is no surprise that critical consensus has not been reached

She manipulates and restages society and its norms in order to fit her. Geography does not keep her in her place and so she can embrace her singularity. She does not yearn for a domestic sphere, like Mary Fitzallard or Sebastian, but instead embraces the streets and the people that encompass it. The spaces that she fills, the spaces that are expected to function due to gender and relationships are disrupted. In not fitting in to a specific group, Moll evades classification and is free to be singular. Staging of the Roaring Girl? References Gowing, Laura. Freedom of the Streets: Women and Social Space 1560-1640. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000. Jeffrey Masten, Wendy Wall. The Space of the Stage. Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1999. Stage, Kelly J. The Roaring Girl's’ London Spaces. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 49, no. 2, 2009, pp. 417–436. Knowles, James and Dekker, Thomas. The Roaring Girl and other City Comedies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001....