In his Rule and Exercises of Holy Dying, Jeremy Taylor articulates a view toward widows disturbingly similar to Ferdinand’s, insisting that ‘a widow must be a mourner and she that is not, cannot so well secure the chastity of her proper state’” (388). In his essay “Webster’s ‘Worythest Monument’: The Problem of Posterity in The Duchess of Malfi,” Brian Chalk points out that “Widows were thus common figures who needed to be acknowledged and accounted for in everyday life. The behavior of women following being widowed was an issue that needed to be addressed because early death was not uncommon. Widows, like the Duchess, had clear expectations that Renaissance society expected them to follow. This action conveys a bold statement on the Duchess’s opinion of societal expectations because she not only marries below her social class but also marries against the orders of her power-hungry brothers. The Duchess ignores the requests of her brothers and marries whom she wants, her social inferior and steward Antonio, in secrecy. Her two corrupt brothers, Ferdinand and the Cardinal, want full control over her decisions, including whom she decides to marry. However, the Duchess does not intend to stay in this position of mourning, regardless of what those around her advise her to do. In the play, Webster first introduces her in the role of a widow. Through her actions, she demonstrates an early glimpse of feminism and of “the modern woman” in early literature.Īs one of the most audacious female characters in British literature, the Duchess is aware of her political position once she becomes the Duke of Malfi’s widow. Instead of hiding in the shadows of her husband or other male leaders, the Duchess does it all. In the Duchess of Malfi, the main protagonist, the Duchess, steps beyond societal boundaries by destroying the image of herself as a powerless widow and instead recreating herself as a powerful political figure, a mother, and a wife since society worried about giving women too much power or control, the Duchess took matters into her own hands and showed her ability to make her own decisions while still excelling at her “feminine roles” as a mother and wife. However, this rarely stopped some of the fictional female characters from bending the rules in the best interests of themselves and those they cared for. Although women of this era may have been born into nobility and unending wealth, society and expectations of the time period placed limitations on many of the women in such literature.
With this emphasis come stories that feature the stereotypes of the damsel in distress, the powerless princess, and the haughty heiress. In British literature of the 16th and 17th centuries, plots often center on romance, royalty, and the battle for power.
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