Gender Wars and Duchess of Malfi

Today we talked about the issue of Gender and how it affected literature and culture of the 17th Century. Many men during this time period were misogynists. They thought that women were evil beings that were too extravagant, lavish, and were the reason for the fall in the Garden of Eden. While many women were not given a proper education and a "voice" to speak their minds; there were a few women who were given the opportunity. These women voiced the opinion that women were created in the image of God, just like men, so they should live in equality with men. Some of the women writers of this time period had the idea that it was both Adam and Eve's fault or the fall in the Garden of Eden. Their reason was that Eve did not mean to make Adam fall, instead she wanted him to experience the goodness she was experiencing. This was a very interesting thought that I never really thought of before. These ideas also parallel to the Duchess of Malfi . In the play, the Duke and the Cardinal are brothers who are misogynists that try to hold the Duchess, their sister, back from remarrying so that they could inherit her money after her death. They thought that she was unfit to make her own decisions and that she should be under their control.