Braithwaites English Gentlewoman and Websters The Duchess of Malfi

Table of Contents

Introduction
A brief description of the stories
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

John Websters works give an idea that powerful women were an anomaly in the XVI and XVII centuries. Indeed, during the early modern period, powerful women were not welcome in society, they were considered to be unnatural and dangerous. Female dominance could not be accepted as it symbolized social disorder then. The laws of the patriarchal society of those times stated that a male figure possessed supreme power; females role was to admire him and follow his instructions without doubting them. Therefore, if a woman appeared to be powerful, she was often denigrated and seen as dysfunctional. If the woman acted too subversively or radically, she was often punished severely. Consequently, a powerful woman had to manage to achieve her goals within the boundaries of social limits.

A brief description of the stories

This seems to be one of the hidden messages in The English Gentlewoman by Richard Brathwaite. The work focuses on virtues and activities for women of the higher classes. According to Brathwaite, a real lady should be well-educated and honorable. Honor is not only considered as a moral value but as high estate or gentility. Special emphasis is placed on preserving reputation.

Websters play The Duchess of Malfi suggests a story of a woman in power. A widow, the Duchess rules her duchy alone. When she falls in love with his steward Antonio, she secretly marries him. By choosing to do this, the Duchess neglects her duty to her people. When she gets pregnant, her people denounce her as a strumpet and lose their respect for her as a leader.

No woman of her rank had faced the same problem. The Duchess was not lucky to have friends, she had children to bring up alone, and moreover, she was not a mature person then. All these could have caused her demise, but she stood firm and demonstrated her strong will. Unfortunately, this resulted in tragedy.

At the time described in the play women who had never been married were not allowed to own property or even lease it. Their fate solely depended on their male relatives. Yet, women could not trust their relatives without reserve as they could easily be misinformed or exploited by the latter.

However, widows were an exception; they were allowed to own property and to conduct their businesses any way they preferred. Still, despite the benefits that remaining a widow brought to a woman, most women preferred to remarry. Websters Duchess was one of them. Brathwaites work offers considerations on how widows should behave in regard to chastity and retirement; their desire to remarry is also considered. Websters character acted contrary to all expectations of widows. She lacked male love and tenderness; she needed a person near her who she could rely on and find the needed support from. She believed that her value was like a diamonds value it becomes important only when placed on a mans finger. The following lines show her choice of love instead of power:

If all my royal kindred/ Lay in my way unto this marriage, / Id make them my low footsteps&Let old wives report/ I winked and chose a husband (Webster 339-40).

When the Duchess decides on marrying the steward, she faces strong opposition of her brother. Though her brothers ensure her of having certain liberties, once she tries to make use of them, they take away every possible freedom of hers.

Conclusion

The Dutchesss courage, ambition, strength, slyness, and passion skillfully depicted by Webster make her a colorful image of a woman who strives for her happiness and does not fear to love and to be loved. Though Brathwaite did not speak of a strong woman yet the virtues he spoke of approached the emergence of this image in society.