Thursday, April 23, 2009

Princely Women: The Power of the Female Body

Feminine desire has been mocked, oppressed, and silenced in almost every literary genre and era. However, Early Modern Drama represented the power of the female body as a complicated dichotomy between what is imaginary and what is real. During the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, men had the power to completely realize their dreams and to live their lives freely; women, on the other hand, were subject to male dominance. From sermons to conduct books, women were told what they could and could not do, what made and did not make them womanly, and what was and was not acceptable behavior. Although women were bound by the confines of the patriarchal society, the theater gave voice to their desires, their autonomy, and their independence. As such, the question of to what extent did the plays mock as well as venerate feminine desire becomes a prominent component when analyzing the lives of women during the Early Modern period. Webster’s Duchess of Malfi uses the depiction of a tragic heroine to enhance this idea of mockery and veneration on stage. She contains autonomy and dependency, a voice and a silence, an authority and a submissiveness. Thus, the depiction of women in Early Modern Drama mocked the imaginative and lucrative desires of their female audiences while simultaneously promulgating and honoring them.

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