Summary
La Foole and Daw, now operating on friendly terms, boast about their sexual prowess and claim to Clerimont to have slept with Epicene already. Meanwhile, the ladies of the college, including Lady Haughty, all attempt to seduce Dauphine in different ways, having heard of his strength and intelligence from both Epicene and Truewit. Otter and Cutbeard disguise themselves as a priest and a lawyer and visit Morose under the pretense that they will help him procure the divorce he desires. They speak confusing Latin as they talk Morose through his options, but none of the options appear to apply. Finally, Morose admits that he is unable to carry out his duties in marriage just as the ladies from the college arrive and overhear the conversation.
The ladies accuse Morose of attempting to divorce Epicene for no reason. Clerimont calls upon Daw and La Foole and makes them admit, in front of everyone, that they slept with Epicene, which would tarnish her reputation as a virgin and render the marriage null. Dauphine asks if Morose will return his inheritance to him if he frees him from his marriage to Epicene, and Morose, in desperation, agrees. He signs the papers declaring Dauphine his heir. Once the papers are signed, Dauphine reveals that Epicene is actually a boy in disguise, meaning that the marriage was never legitimate in the first place. Morose leaves, and the women of the college scoff at the impropriety they have just witnessed. As the play concludes, Truewit remarks that Daw and La Foole should be ashamed of their false claim about Epicene, as men are too frequently able to destroy women's reputations with their own egos. He invites the audience to clap in order to agitate Morose even more.
Analysis
Characters and plots all converge in the final act of the play, when Morose attempts to seek a divorce and in so doing reveals the "true" nature of Epicene to everyone, the audience included. While gender-bending and cross-dressing were conventional tenets of the early modern stage, Epicene is unique in that, rather than operating on dramatic irony throughout (where the audience knows that Epicene is a boy), it implicates the audience themselves in Dauphine's scheme. The revelation that Epicene is actually a young boy in disguise takes full advantage of the early modern playhouse: in a time when all female characters were played by boys or adolescent men, the character of Epicene would have already been presented as a boy in drag. Thus, in revealing that Epicene is actually a boy, the play uncovers the artifice not just of Dauphine's plan but also of the early modern English theater itself, asking audiences to dispense with their suspension of disbelief and instead see things exactly as they are.
Finally, that Truewit offers the concluding remarks of the play is not surprising, as his role and name suggest his wisdom, be it performed and exaggerated or taken at face value (as mentioned, the play remains ambiguous about the interpretation of his character). Notably, he once again comments on the concept of gender and women's reputations, condemning Daw and La Foole for their erroneous claims to have slept with Epicene, thereby tarnishing her character if she were, indeed, a woman. That the play concludes on this note has puzzled readers since its original performance, as it once again showcases the play's profound ambivalence toward the subject of sex. At the same time Truewit's remarks come in defense of women and women's privacy, he follows up his speech with a jest at the Ladies Collegiates, embarrassing them for having also believed that Epicene was a young lady. Thus, the play appears to avoid taking sides in any particular gender debate, instead lodging mild, light-hearted critique at those who pretend to be what they are not.
