Analytical Experiment: Draft One/Outline

Emma Pacheco

Professor Flack

English 6

26 November 2012

Rough Draft#1

Power that Women Hold in The Duchess of Malfi

Intro: During the Seventeenth century women were seen as inferior to men and usually had extreme restrictions on what they could or could not. Yet, because of works such as Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath” allowed an opportunity to criticize the realities that women had to face and allowed more control in their lives. Although the shift was small, there were more authors that began to show the realities of gender relationships and women’s very complex roles that started to develop some type of empowerment; however, females had to work harder to maintain control over their lives. As demonstrated in John Webster’s, The Duchess of Malfi, the protagonist struggles against her violent and possessive brothers and tries to display control over her own life in a more passive manner. Although people can display power in different ways, there was a difference in the way that men and women were able to attain power based on the expectations of their gender.  For instance, women in a patriarch society were expected to be submissive and were not allowed to speak their minds. However, the women in The Duchess of Malfi, illustrate different ways power is explored whether it was through their own will or through lustful passive or active, which opened up a new way on how women are viewed not only in drama but also in society.

Paragraph 1: Duchess and her display of power and how she maintains it through her strong will and rebelling against her brothers. Deviating against the norm by deciding her own marriage and concealing it.

The story deals with the Duchess being subjugated by her brothers who seemed to restrict her to marry after becoming a widow.  However there are themes of social and sexual mobility as discussed in Fred Wigham’s article “Sexual and Social Mobility in The Duchess of Malfi” that “Upon [the Duchess’] husband's death she entered a new realm of freedom from male domination, the only such realm open to Jacobean women, and it is this transformation that directly enables her outlaw marriage” (171). Since she became widowed so young, she expressed her marital freedom to marry again, but the second time was out of love. She gains more confidence and can explore different reasons to love and choose to marry out of her class. Even though she claims that she will never marry, her brother the Cardinal exclaims “So most widows say; / But commonly that motion lasts no longer / Then the turning of the hourglass”(1.3.12-14). Basically, acknowledging that women staying widows and maintaining what was seen as a respectable image was a disappearing norm. keeping their reputation has completely changed and they realize. This addresses

-Paragraph 2: Julia’s character and the difference in display of power through sexual means but it still deviates from the norm during this time period.

However, that is not the only way that power is demonstrated in the Duchess of Malfi such as the mistress of the Cardinal, Julia. Through her licentious nature she tries to rise up by being married to As explained in Fred Wigham’s article ““Self-giving will of another sort, practiced by Julia, deflects the judgmental charge of lasciviousness away from the duchess” (172).  Illustrating a different type of power to have control on the men they have. Julia seems to be the opposites because she uses her sex as a way of gaining only remains loyal to one man after he agrees to marry her.

Paragraph 3: Cariola also deviates from the norm and goes against the role of a caretaker by following the role of being obedient servant but instead does it at “self-giving” doing out of her own will

            In addition to Julia displaying power, one must not forget the Duchess’s caretaker Cariola who also deviates away from the norm of obeying every word she attests to female self-direction the Duchess’ secret marriage and assisting the Duchess in her own decisions for a life of self-control.

Paragraph 4: Having a mind of their own but using their social class power to do what they want.
Paragraph 5: Men’s easier ability to raise in social class such as Antonio  rise. Cardinal’s and Ferdinand’s tyranny.

Conclusion:

Overall all these women display different forms of control either over their lives and decisions but it is a great deviation from the norm during the Jacobean era. Even each of them tried to maintain their own power, but this greatly revolutionized a new way of thinking in terms of…