The drama of the Renaissance is notably lacking in detailed representation of family life. In tragic plays, conflicts between fathers and sons are somewhat important thematically; in comedy fathers tend to appear as blocking figures only, and mothers appear even less often. The conflicts seen in comedies are fairly conventional and give little if any serious analysis of the dynamics of family life. It seems particularly important that women are so rarely seen, even amid the minute details that Renaissance drama does provide about family life. They are rarely shown as mothers, even, surprisingly, in plays by women. On the contrary, it seems that women writers especially "deal with their anger t owards their mothers by eliminating them."¹ For all the negative or missing images of women and mothers that we seem to see in Renaissance drama, however, it is important to recognize dramatists who do deal with family life and show women and mothers who do not appear in a negative light.

Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale and Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi give us women who are, despite being problematized slightly in both works, almost heroic. Through the significant presence of their children in the text, as well as the extraordinary endurance of their maternal identity, we see women who, instead of being used as blocking figures or simply being eliminated from the text entirely, are the heroes of the play. Tragic plays in this period have usually shown "helpless men whose heroism is ironically qualified by the contexts in which they live." In Shakespearean tragedy, Othello and King Lear are helpless men. More importantly however, MacBeth, Antony, and Coriolanus are ruined mostly by the women in their lives. ² With these two plays both playwrights seem to show a final helplessness in their tragic protagonists by making them women. However, by including motherhood as part of their identity, instead of being helpless, the Duchess and Hermione become heroic figures, as is shown by the fact that this maternal identity is, in both cases, remembered in key moments of both plays. The Duchess of Malfi shows us a woman who sustains her identity as a wife and mother even to the point of her death. Hermoine, the central figure in The Winter’s Tale, is a woman with similar endurance, maintaining her innocence even as she is unjustly imprisoned. Her maternal identity is important: she gives birth to a daughter while in prison and also appears to be a good mother to her son. Hermione dies while on trial for her apparent infidelity, upon hearing of the death of her first born son. The death of Mamillius may perhaps be seen as an affirmation of the importance of the mother figure, as he dies seemingly from the lack of her presence.

One of the ways in which motherhood is celebrated in The Winter’s Tale and The Duchess of Malfi is by accentuating the presence of the children in the text. In most examples of Renaissance drama there are few references to the specific roles of children. They tend to get lost in Renaissance society as well, because for the most part, children are not treated as such, but as smaller adults.³ In these plays, however, the children begin to be portrayed as children, thus allowing the maternal character to have a greater influence on their lives. The Duchess and Hermione in this regard, enjoy a clearer maternal identity than is displayed in other examples of Renaissance Drama. In The Duchess of Malfi, though the children have no spoken lines, their stage presence shows the precarious nature of the private life of the Duchess and Antonio. Elizabeth M. Brennan suggests that Act III, sn. ii. was staged in the following way: "...the placing and removing of necessary props was combined with the removal of evidence of the children’s presence." A toy horse held nervously by Cariola was the final piece of evidence in this particular production, added to which was the off-stage cry of a child. This toy, as well as Cariola’s attitude in removing it, provided a metaphor for a threatened family life.⁴ Another scene in which we see the children play a role is the false pilgrimage scene, also in act three. The Duchess has revealed to Bosola that Antonio is her husband and the father of her children. She takes his advice to make a pilgrimage as a ruse for escaping with her family. Once the family arrives at the shrine, they are banished by way of a dumbshow and the Duchess has lost the dukedom. The family separates in this final domestic scene—Antonio’s last words are to the Duchess as the mother of his children:

If I do never see thee more
Be a good mother to your little ones,
And save them from the tiger: fare you well. (III, v., 82-83)

Shakespeare is slightly more reliable about representing children children in his texts than is Webster, and The Winter’s Tale is not the only play which has a child character—recall in MacBeth, the scene between Lady MacDuff and her son in Act IV of the play. In The Winter’s Tale, however, more time is devoted to the presence and dialogue of the young son of Hermoine and Leontes than to the children of the Duchess and Antonio in The Duchess of Malfi. Mamillius is present in the first scene of the play, as we hear him defending Leontes’ paternity. In the second act, Mamillius interacts significantly with Hermione and her attending women. The young prince reacts as any child might to the coddling of these women. "No I’ll none of you," he says, "You’ll kiss me hard and speak to me as if I were a baby still."(II, i., 5-6) The women later convince Mamillius to tell them a story, after briefly mentioning Hermione’s pregnancy and the possibility of a new prince to serve. Instead of a prince, however, the later imprisoned Hermione bears a daughter, who is perhaps presented more significantly in the text than is Mamillius. To convince Leontes of his error in believing Hermione to be unfaithful, Paulina brings his daughter, proclaiming that the child is clearly his.

Although the print be little, the whole matter
And copy of the father; eye, nose, lip,
The trick of’s frown, his forehead, nay, the valley,
The pretty dimples of his chin and cheek, his smiles,
The very mould and frame of hand, nail, finger:
And thou, good goddess Nature, which hast made it
So like him that got it, if thou hast
The ordering of the mind, too, ’mongst all colours
No yellow it ’t; lest she suspect, as he does,
Her children not her husband’s. (II, iii., 97-108)

Leontes calls Paulina a "gross hag" in response to her speech, and threatens Antigonus, who would not stop Paulina's words. He also calls the child a "mankind witch," which perhaps reflects a fear of his possible connection to it. Although he still suspects that Hermione has been unfaithful, she has borne a child which puts her in a separate, and perhaps more important, sphere from her husband. The presentation of the child by Paulina also seems to praise Hermione for giving birth to what is so clearly a child of Leontes's. This fact further emphasizes the heroic aspect of Hermione's motherhood.

One of the most significant ideas about both of these plays is that in each the heroine dies or is eliminated before the end. This particular line in defense of identity from The Duchess of Malfi, "I am Duchess of Malfi still," may therefore be related to both plays, although we see a more poignant example in Webster’s text. The remaining characters in each play must also survive without the heroines. Their actions following the deaths of both the Duchess and Hermione, seem to give testimony to the significance of these women, and to the continuing importance of their identity. The Duchess of Malfi perhaps shows this idea more so than does The Winter’s Tale, though Shakespeare’s play deals with Hermione’s death in a unique way. Throughout Webster’s play, the Duchess has to deal with domineering and cruel brothers, and her new domestic identity has to be hidden for the most part—her relationship with Antonio and her children initially remains in the private sphere of the play. Hermione, on the other hand, is a married woman and a queen, and as such is duty-bound to have children. Her maternity, however, is used against her as a tangible way to prove that she was unfaithful to her husband. Both women are condemned for their maternity as tangible evidence of their supposed transgression. Yet after their deaths, those who condemned Hermione and the Duchess are remorseful or suffering themselves.

In The Duchess of Malfi, after the duchess has been killed, we see significant interaction between Ferdinand, the doctor, and also the Cardinal, as he observes his brother in a state of madness. Pescara initially asks the doctor about Ferdinand’s condition, and is answered:

The Cardinal seems somewhat surprised to observe this strange behavior in his brother, though he is aware of the reason for it, as he shows by feigning an answer to Pescara who asks how Ferdinand came to be this way. In The Winter’s Tale, the elimination of the maternal figure is dealt with differently, most likely because of the differing circumstances of Hermione and the Duchess. Hermione was a queen, the mother of a prince, and clearly entitled to recognition and privilege. Although the Duchess was part of the nobility, her marriage to Antonio was a common one, and she had clearly married beneath her own social class. For these reasons the Duchess’s children were not officially recognized. Due to these differences between the two characters, there are varying responses to their deaths--in The Duchess of Malfi we have a character going mad, where as in The Winter’s Tale, Leontes is simply remorseful. He realizes that he has been wrong and deserves to be spoken of as such, but he is not punished with madness. As he says to Paulina:

He vows every day to visit the chapel where the bodies of the queen and prince will lie, and "tears shed there shall be [his] recreation"(III, ii., 240-241). Despite the different responses to the elimination of the Duchess and Hermione, it is clear that both of these women were significant to the text and to the other characters. Their identities will be remembered and continue to influence the rest of the play after they have disappeared from the text.

Although the removal of both of these women from the texts is significant, the Duchess's death is more heroic than Hermione’s. Though we hear Paulina say that the Queen has died as a result of the news of Mamillius’ death, Shakespeare provides a dubious magical solution in The Winter’s Tale by bringing Hermione back to life at the play’s conclusion. Perhaps we may assume that Hermione didn’t die at all, but rather was kept in hiding somewhere until her identity became less threatening or influential. Hermione was portrayed while alive in the text, as a faithful wife and true mother. Despite Leontes’ accusations it is clear that her character was admirable and heroic, and the fact that she "dies" unfairly makes this fact all the more evident. Kept in the domestic arena, Hermione would have been a mother who had an important influence over her child, as is shown by the naming of her child through Antigonus's dream. However, restoring her life at the end of the play, after Perdita has grown up motherless, and Mamillius of course has died, perhaps reflects the concern that society had for maternal power. Hermione’s identity is no longer a threat at the end of the play, and her nurturing, motherly skills are no longer needed. The Duchess, however, retains her maternal identity; she is still the Duchess of Malfi after she dies, and in fact one of her children still survives, though he has been separated from her. Although Hermione is a maternal character to be admired, that particular aspect of her identity has been taken away, and she reenters the play’s action as an older woman who can have no true influence or nurturing role in the family to whom she has returned.

Another important connection between the Duchess and Hermione which emphasizes the influence which mothers have is that both women appear to one or more of the other characters after they die. Act five, scene three of The Duchess of Malfi has been called one of the most beautiful scenes in the play. Here we have Antonio and Delio responding to an echo coming from the Duchess’s grave that we can imagine to be the Duchess’ voice. This last act seems to radiate with the ethereal—each scene takes place at night, and we are acutely aware that the Duchess is dead, yet she still claims a presence in the text. This is the case here in the third scene, when she echoes the final phrases that the men say, and especially where the words are different ("Ay wife’s voice,") when responding to Antonio’s comparison of the echo with the Duchess’ voice.

Hermione appears to Antigonus, in a dream during the night before he abandons her child. As with his magical ending to the play, Shakespeare also problemabizes Hermione’s appearance here more so than does Webster with the Duchess in The Duchess of Malfi. We find that Hermione is presented to Antigonus in a polarized vision, first as "an idealized image of maternal chastity and sorrow,"⁵ asking for a voice in the naming of her daughter. She is initially shown "in pure white robes, / Like very sanctity," but she leaves Antigonus’ dream as a witch, after offering the ominous warning that he will never again see his wife. "…and so with shrieks, / She melted into air" (III, iii, 22-23, 36-37). As a mother figure, Hermione is presented as one of the most traditionally, at least by today's standards, maternal women of Shakespeare’s canon, shown not only giving birth to a child, but also loving and nurturing her young son. This dream associates motherhood with birth and death, but also seems to attach some sort of omniscience and power to Hermione’s maternal identity as she curses Antigonus with separation from his wife. Shakespeare legitimizes Hermione’s curse, perhaps affirming a societal concern regarding maternal power, in what appears to be one of drama’s most famous stage directions, "exit pursued by a bear"(III, iii., 58).⁶

As Diane Henderson suggests, "For all the limits and ironies of both the Duchess and Hermione in The Winter’s Tale as monumentalized icons, these two characters shown pregnant and with their children, serve as a complex counter image to the parade of fickle, insatiate, shrewish, and smothering maternal images."⁷ These two plays begin to show the importance of the maternal character as the Duchess and Hermione attempt to establish a place for themselves in a domestic sphere. Each woman demonstrates a compassionate and nurturing identity, yet is eliminated from the text for producing a child, a specifically tangible result of her femininity and influence over men. Hermione was suspected of infidelity, and the child was suspected to be Polixenes’. The Duchess had children by Antonio, rather than honoring the memory of her dead husband as her brothers believed she should. These women are set up as characters to admire, because the accusations against them have no true merit, and, although their maternity is clearly problematized, it is a step in the right direction in terms of giving mothers the honor and respect they deserve in the important arena of the domestic.

Return to mainpage