Simon Rodberg                                                                                                TSI 2006

The crovvne coniugall or, The spouse royall· A discovery of the true honor and happines of Christian matrimony published for their consolation who are married, and their encouragment who are not, intending the benefit of both. By Iohn Wing pastor to the English Congregation, resident at Vlishing in Zeeland.

1620

STC 25844

p. 16

p. 139

 

The Crowne Conjugall, a book-length explication of the proverb “a virtuous woman is the crown of her husband,” includes both celebration of good wives and excoriation of “godless, un-holy…vicious” wives. It stresses the importance of marriage and of proper roles within marriage, with the husband as the king, to whom the wife must submit.

 

Teaching Ideas

 

Kristy Cabrera / Downtown College Prep / San Jose, CA

 

Examine the Macbeth marriage using The Crowne Conjugall. To what extent does the Macbeth marriage fit these roles, and to what extent does it deviate? Does the deviation connect to other reversals of authority in the play? Students can work in groups, debate, and/or practice writing with a thesis and textual support.

 

Maurine Slaughter / Interlochen Arts Academy / Interlochen, MI

 

Divide students into groups with The Crowne Conjugall and a relevant quotation or bit of dialogue from the play you are studying (Macbeth 1.7 or Julius Caesar 2.2 would be good places to start). Have the students brainstorm how the marriage roles in The Crowne Conjugall compare to the marriage roles shown in the quotation. Then, jigsaw the students to mix groups and create a coherent explanation of marriage roles in the play.

 

Simon Rodberg / Cesar Chavez Public Charter School / Washington, DC

 

Ask students to brainstorm differences between a president and a king. (This would work with any play involving a king.) Then show them The Crowne Conjugall, and ask them to brainstorm appropriate roles for modern marriages. What differences are there between their list of roles and those in The Crowne Conjugall? Are there any connections to the democracy/monarchy brainstorm? Students may find that, in our time, political structures based on natural equality line up with marital structures based on gender equality; in Shakespeare’s time, authority and hierarchy were seen as more natural.