Tracing the Path of Female Agency in Renaissance Revenge Tragedies
Open Access
- Author:
- Viau, Juliana Eleanor
- Area of Honors:
- English
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Laura Lunger Knoppers, Thesis Supervisor
Lisa Ruth Sternlieb, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Shakespeare
Webster
female agency
power
revenge tragedy
revenge plot - Abstract:
- This honors undergraduate thesis, entitled “Tracing the Path of Female Agency in Renaissance Revenge Tragedies,” explores each individual female character in the following works: Titus Andronicus, Othello, and The Duchess of Malfi. While many revenge tragedies seem to operate in a male-dominated world, I have found that through extensive textual analysis that it is, in fact, the women within these plays that affect the outcome of the acts of revenge the most. As seen with Lavinia and Tamora of Titus Andronicus, Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca of Othello, and the Duchess, Cariola and Julia of The Duchess of Malfi, female characters experience either a power shift or change at unexpected moments. Perhaps it is when they die that they influence their male counterparts the most, like Desdemona, or that it is when she seems most powerful that she experiences her greatest downfall, like Tamora. Some women even have their agency altered when they seem most weak, like Lavinia, who begins to rise in power after she is maimed and raped. These power changes often come unexpectedly for audiences, as at first glance it still seems that the men dominate plots of revenge. However, through my close textual examination, I have concluded that female characters in Titus Andronicus, Othello, and The Duchess of Malfi best exemplify just how significant women’s roles become in determining the outcome of revenge acts and thus the entire play.