Sarah Schultz

WGST 114

February 28, 2002

Many Roman texts, such as Terence’s play The Mother-In-Law, support Julie Nilsen’s argument that women gained power in the political sphere through their relationships with men. In The Mother-In-Law, Terence portrayed women as gaining power politically in many of the same ways depicted in Greek legal texts, such as a woman’s authority over the private sphere and her control in raising her children. However, The Mother-In-Law also contained some elements that were not addressed in the Greek legal texts but support Nilsen’s argument, and one example was that women were responsible for the decision making in marriage ties of her sons, which strengthened political ties between families.

Like the Greek legal texts, Roman texts also depicted women as gaining power through their relationships with men. Marriage meant a greater sense of freedom for a woman, and in The Mother-In-Law, Terence showed this and gave the married women characters, Sostrata and Myrrina, spoken roles while the bride who had not yet established a relationship with her husband a non-spoken role. Husbands also gave their wives the responsibility of managing the household. In The Mother-In-Law, one of the responsibilities a woman had in the home was to raise her children, and like the Greek legal texts this responsibility allowed women to gain power in the political sphere. One example was Pamphilus’ loyalty to his mother. He stated, "I’ll do what I can, short of disloyalty to my mother…" (310). Pamphilus used this excuse to cut the ties of his marriage, and although it is not the real reason that he left his wife, it is clear that this statement was an acceptable response. His father replied, "Pamphilus, I confess it is good to hear this from you, and to know how you value your mother above everything…" (312). Therefore, this example supports Nilsen’s claim that women’s responsibility to raise her children allowed mothers to have some control over their son’s political decisions.

Although there were many similarities between the Greek and Roman texts, one element that was not present in the Greek legal texts, but was present in Roman texts, such as The Mother-In-Law, which supports Nilsen’s argument was that women gained political power through the decisions of their son’s marriage ties. Laches supported this when he said, "All you women want your sons to marry, and only the matches you fancy are arranged…" (301). This was a very important political decision because a marriage allowed different family ties to strengthen. It was up to the wife/mother to determine whom her son would marry and to also make sure that the marriage continued to stay stable. Laches blamed his wife for the cause of his son’s marriage falling apart when he stated, "…you were here alone, and it can only be all your fault…A woman your age ought to be ashamed of starting a quarrel with a girl! Or will you say it was her fault" (301)?

Roman texts, such as Terence’s The Mother-In-Law, support Julie Nilsen’s argument that through women’s relationships with men, such as their husbands and sons, women were able to gain some degree of political power. Women’s control over the responsibilities in the household, such as raising her children, was one example in The Mother-In-Law that compared to the Greek legal texts. However, there were other examples not mentioned in the Greek texts which continue to support Nilsen’s argument, such as the woman’s ability to gain political power through the responsibility of arranging marriages and keeping them stable.