ABSTRACT
The reevaluation of marriage and family life within the new theology led to the propagation of idealized images of the good wife and mother in sermons and other Protestant writings. In biblical dramas such as Paul Rebhun’s Susanna female protagonists offered chaste, self-sacrificing role models for Protestant wives and mothers. Mothers would place a feather in their infant’s mouth and lay the lifeless body near glowing coals and candles. In polemic literature, Protestant authors defamed the Catholic faith by associating it with disorderly women who violated accepted norms of behavior, be they domestic, sexual, or otherwise. Rute introduces the plight of two would-be mothers, Cordili Syman and Dichtli Schnabelrab, who despite their best efforts have remained childless. The subtext for Hans von Rute’s audience was likely that both women would have more success in childbirth if they would tame their tongues and subordinate themselves to the wishes of their husbands.
