Antitheatricsism and Jonson's Volpone Cross-dressing in England was primarily opposed by the fundamentalist branch of the Protestant Church known as the Puritans. Puritan dogma, like the concept of cross-dressing, was constantly questioned. The Puritans found resistance from the religious authorities of the Church of England and the English government. Before 1536, the Roman Catholic Church was free from obstacles and always won in favor of Puritan proposals in legislation. Without a cooperative political ear, the Puritans resorted to experimental spiritual expression by changing their behavior and social structuring. As a result of these changes, a formidable way of attacking the use of cross-dressing in theater was developed: public preaching and pamphlets. Other individuals and groups (such as the Juvenalians) supported the movement for moral and social reform by speaking out and writing essays and books on the subject. Due to the nature of the actor's role in Ben Jonson's Volpone, the play was also involved in this moral battle. The ideology behind the Puritan protest was based on biblical sentiment and the patristic literary tradition of Roman writers like Tertullian and St. Augustine. The Puritans' religious banner for combating gender transgression was Deuteronomy 22:5: "A woman shall not wear that which belongs to a man, neither shall a man wear a woman's garment" (Tiffany 58). In general, pagan myths were also associated with cross-dressing. Puritans like William Pryne called these actors “bestial male monsters” who “degenerate into women” (Tiffany 59). Additionally, Puritans feared that men dressing as women would incite men in the audience to lust after real women and form homoerotic desires for male actors (middle of paper ... the goal of the antitheatrical movement of the Renaissance, was both supported and denounced by Jonson in various ways. However, the general perception is that Jonson (unlike Shakespeare) fueled the fires of degradation, implicating women with weakness, lack of intelligence. and the reason they were. In the annals of theater history, Jonson's metadrama could be said to perpetuate this social stereotype. Nevertheless, the crossing of the gender line and the sexual scenes like the "flashing" of. Celia by Volpone was enough to have a religious, moral and social character commentators cry blood murder Two issues demand an important place in the play Although on the surface a play is motivated by blatant controversy without genre. Volpone's inner theme suggests conformity and adherence to the intellectual and theological moralism of the time..