Depiction Of Women Defying Male Power In John Webster's The Duchess Of Malfi And Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll's House
John Webster's play The Duchess of Malfi portrays how the Duchess defied male power in order to do as she pleased. In the play the brothers (Ferdinand and the Cardinal) are shown as men who want to control their sister by not letting her remarry, and in spite of the Duchess’ promise not to marry again, she does the complete opposite, thus defying male power. Therefore the Duchess of Malfi is seen as an unusual central figure for a sixteenth-century tragedy not only because she is a woman with power, but also because, as a woman, she combines virtue with powerful sexual desire. A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen, was written during the nineteenth-century when the role of a woman was that of a comforter, helper, and supporter of their husband. The play generated great controversy due to the fact that it featured a female protagonist seeking individuality who willingly chose to leave her domestic duties and family in order to search for this individuality. A Doll's House was one of the first plays to introduce a woman as having her own purposes and goals. Both of the plays show women defying male power and rebelling against societal expectations, which caused great controversy at the time they were produced due to women being expected to be weak, submissive and not to speak their minds due to the fear of being punished.
From the very beginning of the play, Webster stipulates the control men had over women, even those of good social standing like the Duchess. John Webster's play, The Duchess of Malfi is an illustration of the unequal power relations between the sexes during the jacobean era. In the play, Ferdinand and the Cardinal are shown as men who want to control the Duchess by not letting her remarry, and although in the traditional society women were subjected to the will of men, she goes against this by marrying Antonio. Her conversation with Antonio in act one is an example of this because in her speech, the Duchess intends to make Antonio realise that she is against both the conventions of marriage codes and men's assumptions of women's sexuality which is shown when she compares herself to a diamond, to justify her defying her brothers wishes for her to not remarry – “diamonds are of the most value.” Although this is said in secret to only Antonio it’s clear that the Duchess believes women are like “diamonds” who accumulate value and benefit from being married. The noun “diamond” suggests that she is a strong woman as diamonds are built under extreme pressure, which is a metaphor for her defying societal expectations and displaying power by choosing to marry Antonio although her brothers have persistently informed her that it was forbidden. This would have shocked the sixteenth century audience as the Duchess was portraying signs of a new ideology by displaying power over her own life and relationship in a society that was patriarchal. The Cardinal’s relationship with Julia provides an example of a wife successfully controlled by her husband. Julia is depicted according to the stereotype of a fickle woman, while the Cardinal is the constant figure of authority. Webster even uses animal imagery to describe their relationship: the Cardinal is metaphorically a falconer who tames Julia, the falcon. This contrasts with the marriage between Antonio and the Duchess as she isn’t controlled by Antonio and takes on his role which is shown by her effectively proposing marriage to Antonio. This goes against traditional norms because during the sixteenth century men had the power and women were expected to obey them, whereas the Duchess defies all male power. The play A Doll’s House also shows the control of men which was allowed in society, as Nora is introduced in act one as a character subjugated to the wills and desires of her husband. She is merely an object which he possesses which is shown in act one when he invariably addresses Nora using terms that highlight her diminutive size and helpless condition. She is his ‘little skylark’, ‘little featherhead’ and ‘little squirrel.’ The adjective “little” shows how he views Nora as an individual who needs his masculine help and direction and it’s clear to the audience that his pet names are used to reinforce their gender roles by the repetition of the adjective. The way Torvald scolds Nora indulgently about her spendthrift ways shows how he views his wife as an innocent child-like woman who he needs to control because she isn’t aware of money management. Torvald defines his life by what society finds acceptable and respectable. He is more concerned about the attractive appearance of his wife and home than he is about his wife’s happiness because he strongly believed in following societal expectations. Both of the plays show how the female characters were seen as inferior by the audience due to them not obeying the male characters, in a society that was dominated by males who were expected to have all of the control and power.
Both of the plays display how the female characters didn’t defy societal expectations straight away but showed the build up to completely defying societal expectations. In the Duchess of Malfi, the Duchess violates norms of femininity in the final episode of act one, as she adopts the active role in the marriage, courting and effectively proposing marriage to Antonio. This shows her as being even bolder than Desdemona in the play ‘Othello’ who only ‘hints’ to Othello that she would welcome his courtship. This is shown when she declares that she had “winked and chose a husband” authorising her decision to remarry. The fact that she willingly chose her own husband without consulting any of her brothers would have hugely surprised the audience, as she was taking control of her own relationship and defying male power which was unusual during the Jacobean era. At this point in the play the Duchess is inverting the tradition of men wooing women by placing the ring on his finger and arguing that she had no other choice because ‘’no one dares to woo those who are born great.’’ This shows her defying societal expectations by arguing that it was her only option, which doesn’t portray her as very confident in her decision to remarry because she feels the need to justify her actions. The phrase “no one dares” shows that she is very adamant in her belief that no one will propose to her due to her high status. The audience can see her defiance build up as at first the Duchess kept up the pretence that she only sent for Antonio to help her in preparation of her will. However, slowly the Duchess builds up to a more open expression of her feelings, declaring her love for Antonio. In the play A Doll’s House, the build up of defiance can also be shown by Nora. Nora doesn’t leave her domestic duties and family to seek individuality at the beginning of the play, she slowly starts defying Torvald by not following his instructions and at the end of the play decides to completely defy him and society. At first, Nora defies her husband by eating macaroons although he has instructed her not to. This suggests that she is a stronger character than the simpering, silly woman she can at first seem. At the beginning of the play Nora claims that she “would never dream of doing anything” that Torvald wouldn’t want her to do yet eats the macaroon s even though Torvald had banned her from eating them which proves her statement false from the very start of the play. The adverb “never” represents deceit and disobedience but also shows her putting her on desires above Torvald’s wishes. Ibsen uses the macaroons as a symbol of Nora’s inner desires, both of which she has to hide within her marriage. Her action of wiping her mouth and putting the macaroons away are an example of Nora rebelling against the patriarchy and lyng to her husband. Her action of wiping her mouth is a visual cue for the audience which reinforces her childlike behaviour. The audience are first aware of Nora’s lies when Torvald clearly asks Nora if she has eaten any macaroons, to which she replies with ‘no’, although she had. Even though it seems pretty innocent to lie about macaroons, it shows the audience her first step in defying Torvald which eventually builds up and leads her to leaving him. Boeninger also argues that the “macaroons provide the plays first hint that Nora is capable of a surface resistance to Torvald.” Macaroons are the first hint of Nora standing up for herself and doing as she pleased which is the first point of her defying societal expectations. Ibsen has purposely structured the play in this way so that it makes her leaving at the end more dramatic and so that it foreshadows her exit at the end of the play.
Both of the plays show the female characters slowly start to defy societal expectations which eventually leads to them completely defying societal expectations and defying all of the males in both the plays.
