The Group

One thing that was particularly perplexing when reading "The Group" was the part where Sylla, Simple Sapling, Publican, and Hateall start talking about their wives. Sylla is asking whether or not the men have "no wife who asks thy tender care, To guard her from Belona's hardy sons..." This seemed all little odd for a few reasons. First, this play is largely satire. Satires normally have good reason for every bit of dialogue they have, as far as poking fun at the characters or situation. Having the men digress into a conversation about their wives, with most having nothing good to say about them at all, seems a bit out of place when taken into context with the entire play.

Another reason this section stands out is because the author of the play is a woman. It is not uncommon for members of a group to disparage their own in order to make a point. For example, a black author using racial slurs in his work in order to make a point about racism. However, it does not seem clear why Warren introduces this conversation about women into the play. Perhaps it is in order to make these men look worse than they already do as Tories, by pointing out that none seem to care a great deal about their wives.