The Assemblywomen Summary

The Assemblywomen is a story that like Lysistrata shows the women of Athens wresting political control from their male counterparts. Instead of ending a wart, however, in Assemblywomen the goals of the women are more radical and revolutionary. They seek to remake society along lines that they find more congenial, communist lines where all property and goods, including love and children will be shared.

The play begins with the woman Praxagora lamenting the ineffective and ruinous rule of men. In their bumbling and corruption, they have ruined the city of Athens. She plans to organize the women of Athens in a revolution to overthrow the men and put the women in charge. While she is complaining about the men of the city, other women begin to show up eager to hear what she has in mind. The women have assembled in...