Celia’s Dichotomy in Ben Johnson’s Volpone
Volpone, written by Ben Johnson, uses the character of Celia in order to offer a close look into the mental strain that can take place in a woman who is continuously subjected to sexualization. This war of the body against the mind ultimately results in Celia making a monster out of her beauty. Her internalized shame makes a grand appearance in Act 3.6 when she pleads with Volpone to not rape her and instead offers body mutilation as an alternative. Her speech allows the reader to view women in her predicament in a new light, exposing the guilt and shame that accompany the responsibility of remaining virtuous, a duty that is placed on many women, whether from religious obligations or a personal moral code. Moreover, it also aids in allowing the reader to become aware of the misogynistic practices that are often masked under the guise of honor or virtue. Celia is a character of contradiction; one moment she is clarifying the distinction between body and soul, and the next she is accepting the shame and responsibility of the actions done to the body she previously separated herself from. This dichotomy of Celia’s character is intentional in order to demonstrate the way in which her shame is internalized: that though she lacks agency in her rape, she is still at fault, raising a spotlight on a very real issue of victim blaming that is still present in modern society.
In the beginning of Celia’s speech, she attempts to appeal to Volpone’s sense of compassion by stating, “a heart that may be touch’d” (Johnson 65). She follows this statement up by stating, “if you have touch of holy saints – or heaven – / do me the grace to let me ‘scape” (Johnson 65). The key words “holy,” “heaven,” and “grace” are all very important because they establish Celia's religious nature, a characteristic that allows the reader to reconcile why she feels so strongly about maintaining her virtue, ultimately driving her to take drastic measures against Volpone’s plan of rape. Celia, though feeling betrayed by her husband, still feels loyalty to him as a result of the religious notions she has about the sanctity of marriage. Because of this, she is compelled to want to forget his part in this ploy and instead has resigned herself as a villain because of her beauty. Furthermore, her Christian beliefs have set a standard that cheating on one's husband is a sin. Celia, accepting the responsibility of her rape, translates her circumstance to be the same as being adulterous, and therefore, as a result, believes that if Volpone were to carry out his plans, she would no longer be allowed to enter Heaven, creating the conflict of whether she will sin by being raped or hold onto her purity and instead be mutilated. Through all of this, her internalized misogyny makes an appearance in the way Celia never places the same standard on her husband, the one who has placed her in this situation to begin with. This allows the reader to see the ways in which Celia's character views her eternal value in Heaven as reliant on maintaining a clean soul over physical pain on Earth, further instilling the issue of victim blaming due to the very nature of the conflict being one that was always out of her control.
Furthermore, Celia insists on a separation between her physical body and her soul when she states, “and punish that unhappy crime of nature, / which you miscall my beauty” (Johnson 65). This is to say that Celia personally does not feel that her physical body is something of merit or worthy of being admired. It is clear from the use of the words “unhappy crime of nature” that she views her physical appearance as a burden above all else. Instead, when she uses the phrase “which you miscall my beauty,” she showcases that she personally places a high value on the soul, viewing it as her true beautiful attribute. Though Celia’s morality is one of integrity, it loses all truth almost immediately when she states, “flay my face, / or poison it with ointments, for seducing / your blood to this rebellion” (Johnson 65). Essentially, she is laying the responsibility for the actions done against her body on herself rather than acknowledging that she is not a willing participant and therefore cannot be considered at fault. This mentality not only holds no biblical value but also lacks reasoning in regard to her previous statement insisting on a separation of the body and soul.
Celia’s speech in Volpone serves a larger purpose in showcasing the internalized misogyny that she has taken upon herself due to the religious standards she feels she has to uphold. Due to this internalization, Celia is at war within herself, believing in a disconnect between her physical form and her soul while simultaneously punishing herself for the actions done against her body. Furthermore, at the end of her speech, she states, “And I will kneel to you, pray for you, pay down / a thousand hourly vows, sir, for your health” (Johnson 65), communicating that if Volpone does not rape her, she will honor him with her prayer. Celia is a character who has made very clear the importance of her religious nature, leading the reader to understand that for her to offer such a thing as prayer as payment for his mercy is truly the ultimate act of victim blaming. Celia villainizes her beauty, seeing it as a weapon of temptation. Because of this, she truly feels as if she deserves to be physically harmed and views body mutilation as just. She is placed in a situation in which she must choose the lesser of two evils, and she decides to go with the option that she believes will not stain her soul, negating the fact that she has no choice in the matter and therefore cannot be at fault. Her shame runs deep, creating a picture of the war that many women in her position also face. Volpone is a piece that, though written in the early 1600’s, holds a high amount of modern importance, a fact that cannot be disputed in regard to the way it speaks to the guilt, shame, and internalized misogyny held by many in the same position as Celia, showcasing the reality of victim blaming in a new light.
