The scholars who assert that motherhood acquires new favor in the early modem period and
the critics who contend that male subjectivity and patriarchy in Shakespeare's plays depend on the
repudiation of the mother both base their perspectives on an understanding of motherhood which is
too monolithic. To contribute to a more historically specific understanding, I draw on the work of
numerous historians and examine humanist and reformist writings, the Corpus Christi cycles, and
two Shakespearean plays.
I find that the medieval "calculative" and "incarnational" versions of motherhood enabled
women to exercise considerable control over their sexuality and fertility and clout in their families
and communities, and that the Corpus Christi cycles served as a mechanism to extend multiple
facets of these versions of the maternal. While the early modern period inherited the expansive,
medieval versions of motherhood, the "new," restrictive form of motherhood advocated by the
humanists and reformers helped to devalue the inherited forms, promote a greater spiritual, physical,
and economic dependence of women on men, and enlarge the scope of the paternal at the expense
of the maternal.
My examination of Macbeth demonstrates that the play employs Scottish history so as to
heighten attention to the risks produced by Elizabeth I's and James I's adaptations of the competing
versions of motherhood available in the early modern period. It suggests that James's adaptation is
especially conducive to instability, since it generates a contradiction in the hereditary system of
political power-the simultaneous need for and exclusion of women/mothers. This contradiction
coupled with the diminution of the feminine/maternal makes it more likely that murder will be
construed as an alternative means of being "born" into the succession. Whereas Macbeth shifts
from constructions more aligned with incarnational and calculative mothers to constructions more
affiliated with new mothers, Coriolanus appears nearly throughout to be informed by the contest over
motherhood. By exploring this contest, I add to the understanding of the economic, political, familial,
and theatrical aspects of the play, and make it possible to suggest that Coriolanus demonstrates
peace is achieved when a version of motherhood resembling the expansive, medieval forms is
embraced.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/11352 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Olchowy Rozeboom, Gloria |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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