Renaissance theatre was staged in an exceedingly patriarchal and misogynistic society where women were considered beneath men. One only has to look at the words of English Puritan cleric William Whately, who said that a woman during this period should “acknowledge her inferiority” and was to “carry herself as inferior” (Whately). However, there are some works of Renaissance theatre that do subvert these gendered beliefs, such as William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, and Elizabeth Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam. Through looking at these three texts I aim to focus solely on how Renaissance theatre challenged beliefs in the ‘natural order’ in accordance to gender norms. There were many beliefs surrounding
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The opening of the play is a soliloquy delivered by Mariam about her speech and at this time “the wife, of whatever class, was expected to be chaste, silent, and obedient” (Jankowski 31). The soliloquy opens with Mariam’s own admittance that she spoke too much; “How oft have I with public voice run on/to censure…” with the use of enjambment here emphasizing that she speaks for too long and too often (1.1.1-2). Her acknowledgment that she speaks too much, and continues to publicly do so anyway, demonstrates how she is defying the social norms society expects of her. Throughout the closet play, Mariam’s speech is repeatedly chastised and yet she doesn’t take heed to any warnings. Sohemus claims “unbridled speech is Mariam’s worst disgrace/and will endanger her without desert” and this proleptic enjambment further highlights how threatening Mariam is being in challenging gender norms with continued outspokenness, as “disgrace” suggests that it is a serious offence and will taint her image (3.3 65-66). Mariam again acknowledges that she understood that she was going against the ‘natural order’ when she is imprisoned and declares “had not myself against myself conspired” and this anastrophe highlights that she was aware that what she was doing was dangerous, and yet she continued to do it anyway, challenging gender norms
The opening of the play is a soliloquy delivered by Mariam about her speech and at this time “the wife, of whatever class, was expected to be chaste, silent, and obedient” (Jankowski 31). The soliloquy opens with Mariam’s own admittance that she spoke too much; “How oft have I with public voice run on/to censure…” with the use of enjambment here emphasizing that she speaks for too long and too often (1.1.1-2). Her acknowledgment that she speaks too much, and continues to publicly do so anyway, demonstrates how she is defying the social norms society expects of her. Throughout the closet play, Mariam’s speech is repeatedly chastised and yet she doesn’t take heed to any warnings. Sohemus claims “unbridled speech is Mariam’s worst disgrace/and will endanger her without desert” and this proleptic enjambment further highlights how threatening Mariam is being in challenging gender norms with continued outspokenness, as “disgrace” suggests that it is a serious offence and will taint her image (3.3 65-66). Mariam again acknowledges that she understood that she was going against the ‘natural order’ when she is imprisoned and declares “had not myself against myself conspired” and this anastrophe highlights that she was aware that what she was doing was dangerous, and yet she continued to do it anyway, challenging gender norms