ABSTRACT
The politica l situatio n o f wome n i n lat e sixteenth-centur y Englan d wa s o f course marked by the presence of the "woman on top" - t o use Natalie Zemo n Davis's well-known formulation - ye t as Allison Heisch has shown in "Queen Elizabeth I and the Persistence o f Patriarchy," he r prominence di d not visibl y affect th e politica l situatio n o f her subjects . I n fact , he r rul e was mor e vexe d for her female subject s - wh o shared with her their gender but not her political prerogative - tha n for women who in later generation s claime d her as a model and example . Thi s chapte r wil l begin wit h th e theor y an d practic e o f femal e sovereignty i n Elizabetha n England , an d wil l the n tur n t o th e theor y an d practice o f domesti c patriarch y a s represente d i n tw o anonymou s domesti c tragedies. There , th e women wh o commit husband-murde r - i n associatio n with subalter n male s - mar k the limit s o f social an d political order . Ye t the hybrid an d "upstart " for m o f th e domesti c traged y allow s wome n t o pla y prominent roles ; similarly , th e hybri d "problem " comed y o f Measure fo r Measure feature s the politica l interventio n o f Isabell a withou t demonizin g o r scapegoating her , as tragedies commonl y treat women who seek a similar role . Robert Filmer' s Patriarcha: The Natural Power o f Kings Defended against the Unnatural Liberty o f the People, which was written in the 1630s , but publishe d after th e Restoration , make s explicit the constitutiv e analog y between familia l and politica l order . I n keepin g wit h thi s analog y an d expressin g th e anxiet y concerning the disruption o f both kinds o f order, Stuar t dram a that enjoyed a n extended afterlif e int o th e Revolution , Commonwealth , an d beyond , prominently feature s th e figur e o f th e rebelliou s woma n couple d wit h th e subaltern male . Althoug h thes e play s ma y deplo y wome n a s instrument s o f male rebellion, they nevertheless feature women as tragic protagonists , placin g into circulatio n i n th e cultur e th e figur e o f th e woma n wh o decline s t o acquiesce to patriarchal strictures and who, in The Maid's Tragedy, take s o n a political an d heroic role . Th e conspicuou s absenc e o f the acknowledgmen t o f equivalences betwee n wome n an d apprentice s i n th e dram a throughou t thi s period arise s fro m th e commo n strateg y o f play s featurin g apprentice s t o scapegoat wome n i n order t o forg e a politica l identit y fo r apprentice s a t th e expense of women.
