The Danish romance play: Fair Em, Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes, and Hoffman

This essay considers the representation of women from around the Baltic Sea in three plays, Fair Em, Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes, and Hoffman, and explores how they are framed or conditioned by stories from classical mythology. I argue that not only do these have elements in common but that they are also so different from the genre of the Danish history play (made up of plays which are centred on or refer to Viking invasions) that they deserve a separate classification of Danish romance play. Unlike the Danish history play, in which Danish women in particular are often frightening and alien figures, the Danish romance play gives us resilient, resourceful women who actively deploy stories from classical mythology rather than allowing themselves to be passively inscribed in them, and it also speaks of a significant and continuing connection between Britain and the continent.