Femininity and Restoration Tragedies: the Use of Female Characters for Political Allusions under Charles II's Reign

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the agency of poignant female characters in Restoration tragedies in relation to specific political and social concerns of the period. The research analyses seven different works in which female agency – or the lack thereof – is pivotal: The Rival Queens and Lucius Junius Brutus by Nathaniel Lee, The Empress of Morocco and Love and Revenge by Elkanah Settle, Abdelazer or the Moor's Revenge by Aphra Behn, The Libertine by Thomas Shadwell and Lucina’s Rape or The Tragedy of Valentinian written by John Wilmot Earl of Rochester. Despite being different in many respects, these five playwrights were able to subvert previous established and popular genres – namely heroic drama and tragicomedy – and made unique use of femininity to render powerful and lasting representations of those fears and anxieties that were permeating England under Charles II's reign. Since all seven plays question masculine authority and monarchical power employing extreme visual representations of violence perpetrated by degenerated women or at the expenses of virtuous females, this study looks at how these brutal and unsettling plays offered the audience a cathartic yet profoundly nihilistic experience whilst undermining the foundations of kingship.