The Right Stuff?

From the beginning of the play, Anne is established as a mere household good, rather than a real person.  She is a newly acquired property, a trinket, a doll, an admired object.  In scene I, Anne is equated with objects.  She is characterized as a "well made suit" and a "chain of gold" (Heywood 354).  And though she is present during this conversation between Frankfort, Sir Francis and Sir Charles, they talk about her as though she was not there.  Even after their marriage, Anne seems to be a piece of household decor.  She says little, but rather, sits silently, playing the part of the perfect, obedient wife.

Wendoll takes advantage of Frankfort's generosity, stealing the one object of the household that cannot be shared: Anne.  Anne has little to say in the matter, only exclaiming "what shall I say?" (Heywood 372).  Why does she stray? Perhaps it is because she has little choice in the matter-she has always been under the control of men, so perhaps she really does not know what to say.  Or perhaps she succumbs to Wendoll because he sees her as more than just a household object, as he appears to foster an ardent passion for her. However, once Frankfort spurns Anne after discovering she and Wendoll together, it is then that Anne finally becomes free of the objectification that comes along with the role of wife and mother.  Frankfort laments Anne's deviance, telling her he gave her everything.  He cries, "Was it for want thou played'st the strumpet?  Was thou not supplied with every pleasure, fashion, and new toy-nay, even beyond my calling?" (Heywood 399).  But it seems as though generosity and "the right stuff", does not a happy marriage make.  Luxurious gifts do not replace love and affection.  Anne, consumed and wracked with guilt, leaves the household (along with all the stuff Frankfort has given her), and slowly dies of starvation in a new household.  Being surrounded by stuff seemed to prevent her from becoming a fully realized person, but once she denies herself material goods, for the first time in the play she becomes a real character.  She becomes passionate and vocal.  She dies happily, now free from the reign of men.  It seems that Heywood might be presenting a rather radical view of love and marriage.  Providing the right stuff is not always the recipe for a good marriage, as Frankfort learns.  Though he is generous, his generosity gave him nothing but a lecherous wife.  And Anne, despite all the gifts Frankfort has provided her, never becomes anything more than a puppet until she is forced to leave the household and she refuses to consume the food and other things provided to her, restoring her virtue.