University of Mississippi eGrove Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2011 Sacrificial Acts: Martyrdom and Nationhood in Seventeenth- Century Drama Kelley Kay Hogue Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Hogue, Kelley Kay, "Sacrificial Acts: Martyrdom and Nationhood in Seventeenth-Century Drama" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 139. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/139 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SACRIFICIAL ACTS: MARTYRDOM AND NATIONHOOD IN SEVENTEENTH- CENTURY DRAMA A Dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Deparment of English The University of Mississippi By KELLEY KAY HOGUE May 2011 Copyright Kelley Kay Hogue 2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT Sacrificial Acts: Martyrdom and Nationhood in Seventeenth-Century Drama posits that the importance of sixteenth-century martyrologies in defining England’s national identity extends to the seventeenth century through popular representations of martyrdom on the page and stage. I argue that drama functions as a gateway between religious and secular conceptions of martyrdom; thus, this dissertation charts the transformation of martyrological narratives from early modern editions of John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments to the execution of the Royal Martyr, Charles I. Specifically, I contend that seventeenth-century plays shaped the secularization of martyrdom in profound ways by staging the sacrificial suffering and deaths of female heroines in a variety of new contexts. In addition to illustrating how the expansion of martyrological rhetoric and imagery revealed numerous channels for female influence, this dissertation asserts that narratives of suffering generated national models for reclaiming the stability and unity that Foxe’s martyrs had seemed to inspire I first analyze John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi and Thomas Drue’s The Duchess of Suffolk , which overlap the vocabularies of martyrdom and motherhood to valorize women’s roles in the creation and continuation of the religious and political states. By studying their dramatizations of virgin martyr legends, I consider how playwrights like Thomas Dekker and Phillip Massinger highlight the expediency of narratives of passivity in defining the subject-ruler relationship. In chapter 3, I focus on Caroline debates about anatomical and metaphysical inwardness to argue that martyrologies provide a script for accessing the conscience through interpretations of the material body. My final chapter argues that the self-presentations of ii Eleanor Davies and Henrietta Maria establish a necessary link between Foxean models of passive suffering and the militant language of sacrifice used during the Civil War period. These narratives make visible the diffusion of martyrological language and imagery into the multiplicity of spheres—domestic, popular, religious, and political—that comprises communal identity. Moreover, this exploration reveals that popular discourse profoundly engaged and influenced the secularization of that rhetoric and significantly shaped how England continued to define itself in relation to its martyrological past. iii DEDICATION For my husband, Jared iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Although it often seemed a solitary endeavor, I am indebted to many special people for their instruction, advice and support throughout the process of writing my dissertation. I am tremendously thankful for Karen Raber, who has been a trusted mentor and dedicated advisor. Her valuable criticisms and insightful remarks helped me to refine my arguments and to advance my skills as a writer and scholar. I am incredibly grateful for the guidance and generosity that she has shown me throughout my graduate career. Karen challenged and encouraged me during the dissertating process, both of which contributed inestimably to the completion of this project. My sincerest thanks also go to Ivo Kamps, whose probing questions in the early stages of this project helped me to reevaluate and resituate my critical approach. I have benefited from Ivo’s thoughtful feedback and insightful comments numerous times throughout my graduate career. For the unwavering support of these two professors, I am profoundly grateful, and to them, I owe the greatest debt. I am privileged to have Jason Solinger and Joseph Ward as members of my dissertation committee. I would like to thank them for the helpful criticisms they provided in the early stages of the project and for helping to alleviate my anxieties about the dissertating process. Their thoughtful responses to my proposal and their practical advice made the undertaking of this project less daunting. I am particularly grateful for the professionalism and good cheer of Jason in responding to my chapters and sharing advice on navigating doctoral study. At the University of Mississippi and the University of Texas, I was privileged to have a supportive group of colleagues in my fellow graduate students. At Mississippi, I especially v benefited from the friendship and intellectual support of Melanie Anderson, Brianne Keeney, Lisa Sloan Kroger, and Matt Saye. Lisa deserves my sincerest thanks for being an unwavering source of encouragement during the writing of my dissertation. In this group of friends, I truly found a scholarly family. At Texas, I benefited greatly from the intellectual rigor and infectious enthusiasm of Brad Irish, a fellow lover of somewhat obscure early modern plays. I am thankful for his invaluable feedback on numerous projects, including my earliest dissertation proposal. Additionally, I was fortunate to be a part of an early modern studies group under the direction of Wayne Rebhorn and Frank Whigham that included Matt Davies, Gregory Foran, Brad Irish, Jason Leubner, Noël Radley, and Tim Turner. I appreciate their thoughtful responses to an essay that later became a chapter of my dissertation. To my family, I owe a heart-felt debt of gratitude. My parents, David and Sherry Spradlin, have always challenged me to do my best, while providing me with the love and support that makes my best possible. Through years of graduate study that were sometimes tumultuous, they helped me to persevere. My grandparents, Mavalene and the late Harold Wood, never wavered in their belief in me. From seeing me off to my first day of school at Ole Miss to listening to my worries and triumphs over breakfasts of sausage gravy, they proved integral to my academic success and personal happiness. For the hours of time spent reading my work, for his calming presence, and for the millions of ways that his steadfast love and support help me to become my best self, I am forever grateful to my husband, Jared. Thank you for the joy you bring to my life. It made all the difference. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter 1: In Praise of ‘Honors Wombe’: Maternal Influence and the Stuart Martyrological Tradition……………………………………………………………...29 Chapter 2: Princes and Primates: The Passive Self and Subjecthood……………………………69 Chapter 3: The ‘bodie politique’ has no ‘glasse windowes’: Describing the Conscience in Caroline England…………………………………………………………………...112 Chapter 4: Royal and Religious Generalissimas : Women, War, and Militant Christianity…………………………………………………………………………..157 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………199 Vita……………………………………………………………………………………………...220 vii INTRODUCTION This dissertation on martyrdom fittingly begins with an account from John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments. In his dedicatory epistle to Queen Elizabeth, Foxe extols her as “this mild Constantinus, to cease blood, to stay persecution, to refresh his people.” 1 He commemorates the “multitude of godly martyrs who were slain” under Mary I, while emphasizing “that ye [the Queen] were entangled yourself” in the persecution of the godly. 2 In his description of Elizabeth’s imprisonment in the Tower, the martyrologist showcases the fortitude with which she endured her own trial of faith. Upon entering the prison, “she called to her Gentlewoman for her booke, desirynge God not to suffer her to build her foundation vpon the sands, but vpon the rocke, wherby ll blastes of blustering weather shoulde haue no power against her.” 3 She identifies herself explicitly with two of Foxe’s famous female martyrs, Anne Askew and Lady Jane Grey, by holding up the Bible in defense of her beliefs. 4 Foxe notes that when soldiers arrived at the Tower, Elizabeth “demaunded of such as were about her whether the Lady Ianes Scaffold were taken away or no, fearyng by reason of their commyng, lest she should haue 1 John Foxe. Acts and Monuments […] (1563 edition), [online]. (hriOnline, Sheffield). Available from: http://www.hrionline.shef.ac.uk/foxe/. 6. 2 Ibid., 6-7. 3 Ibid., 1725. 4 On comparisons of Anne Askew, Lady Jane Grey, and Elizabeth I, see Carole Levin, “Lady Jane Grey: Protestant Queen and Martyr,” in Silent But for the Word: Tudor Women as Patrons, Translators, and Writers of Religious Works , ed. Margaret P. Hannay (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1985), 92-106 and John King, “Fiction and Fact in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, ” in John Foxe and the English Reformation , ed. David Loades (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1997), 12-35. 1 played her part.”