A Thesis entitled Blood and Milk: The Masculinity of Motherhood in Shakespeare's Tragedies by Savannah Xaver as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors in English Thesis Dire Dr. Andrew Mattison Honors Advisor Dr. Melissa Valiska Gregory The University of Toledo DECEMBER 2015 Abstract Motherhood in Shakespeare's late tragedies consists of an unbalance between feminine and masculine forces. Lady Macbeth and Volumnia from Coriolanus strike readers and critics as intricate and aberrant characters. They stand out as women characters in their respective plays because they embrace masculinity rather than femininity. I argue that Shakespeare purposefully crafted Lady Macbeth and Volumnia to create conflict with the tragic heroes through their speeches and dialogue. Within the masculine filled, war- fueled worlds of Macbeth and Coriolanus, a woman must support her male relatives involved in war activities. Not only that, but it becomes a rite of passage for men to dominate women in order to succeed in life and perhaps become more masculine. Lady Macbeth and Volunmnia, however, utilize their strong wills to control and even overpower the men around them. By alluding to their feminine physicality, such as the act of breastfeeding, and combining it with masculine imagery of blood, Lady Macbeth and Volumnia establish dominance and attempt to mute gender. I claim Shakespeare composed the dialogues for each woman to focus on their physical attributes as a tactic to showcase personality and how it relates to gender. The challenging of gender within these tragedies appears dangerous for the men; however, critics argue that Lady Macbeth and Volumnia act out of love or, perhaps, an overindulgence of it. This paper will cite evidence from Macbeth and Coriolanus along with critics' readings to determine why Shakespeare shaped his mother-figure characters this way. Ultimately, I believe the dominant nature of Lady Macbeth and Volumnia leads to their assisting in the demise of Macbeth and Coriolanus. ii Aclcnowledgements I would like to first thank Dr. Gregory, who encouraged me to write this thesis, and Dr. Mattison, who accepted the role as my director. Without their constant assistance, this paper would have never gotten past the first sentence. Furthermore, I would like to thank the University of Toledo English Department for awarding me with the Jeanette Nuneviller Brand Scholarship and the Edward Shapiro Senior Scholarship which allowed me to attend my senior yea1 without financial constraints. Finally I would like to thank my parents and sister for their never ending support. iii Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ iv Blood and Milk: The Masculinity of Motherhood in Shakespeare's Tragedies .............................. 1 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................... 27 Works Consulted ............................................................................................................................ 28 iv Blood and Milk: The Masculinity of Motherhood in Shakespeare's Tragedies Critics of Shakespeare's tragedies classify Macbeth and Coriolamts as plays fueled by masculinity, with a focus on male characters immersed in war and motivated by relationships involving other men. But the main female characters of these two plays-- respectively Lady Macbeth and Volumnia---challenge the stability of masculinity and, more broadly, of gender itself, suggesting through their words that it is perhaps mutable. Although Lady Macbeth and Volumnia speak of their feminine physical traits, such as the ability to breastfeed, they surprisingly include images of violence and gore to such speeches, adding to the traditionally feminine category of nursing more masculine qualities. The women in these plays, in other words, adopt a masculine nature in order to be noticed and make a difference in their families. I argue that Shakespeare designed Lady Macbeth and Volumnia as strong, nontraditional women in order to create more conflict within the tragedy; rather than supporting the tragic hero tha'ough their speeches and actions, these women challenge Macbeth and Coriolanus, thus causing dramatic changes to the plot. In this paper, I will investigate the speeches made by Lady Macbeth and Volumnia, along with the overall themes of Macbeth and Coriolanus. First, the theme of defeating women and what it means for the men will be applied to how women create conflict. Next, I will explore the allusions that Lady Macbeth and Volumnia make to breastfeeding. The idea of breastfeeding will then be applied to the role of milk in each 2 of the plays. Finally, I will discuss the ways that maternal love emerges in each of these tragedies. In Macbeth and Coriolanus, the main female characters support their male counterparts by any means necessary. Both Lady Macbeth and Volumnia invest themselves completely in the lives of Macbeth and Coriolanus, so much so that the plays suggest perhaps they support them too much. Madelon Sprengnether suggests that, above all else, Shakespeare's tragedies are about the many ways that love can kill (89). This claim connects Macbeth and Coriolcmus in the sense that each of the tragic heroes suffers from the women in their lives becoming too powerful because of the love they feel. Lady Macbeth and Volumnia each take pride in the accomplislÿnents of the tragic heroes. This pride comes from the investment they have placed in the war that their loved ones take part in. Mary Beth Rose expands on Sprengnether's claim by suggesting that the mother's potential threat originates in her love then becomes exposed as "an overindulgence of love" (Rose 301). I agree with Spregnether and Rose that Lady Macbeth and Volumnia seem to become the strong willed, nontraditional, outrageous women in the name of love. Lady Macbeth alludes to infanticide in order to convince her husband not to break a promise to her because he loves her. Meanwhile, Volumnia loves and supports her son to the point that she has crafted him to be the best warrior that he could possibly be. Janet Adelman declares that "both protagonists die in terrible isolation, still in flight from the contamination that relationship to the female would bring" and therefore "both figure maternal presence as devastating to the masculine identity of the son" (163). Within Macbeth and Coriolanus, the tragic heroes do not seem to exist without female forces in their lives. In Shakespeare's tragedies, "To talk about Shakespeare's women is to talk about his men, because he refused to separate their worlds physically, intellectually, or spiritually" (qtd. in Smith 185) With the overindulgence of female love comes the absence of the ability for the tragic heroes to establish their own identity. Sprengnether, Rose, and Adehnan agree that a combination of too much love and strong women cause disasters for the tragic heroes. The possibility that Shakespeare created these women in order to parody the sense of gender that he understood is feasible. Margaret King explores the ideas of gender, specifically of females, during Shakespeare's time. The English Renaissance signaled major changes and opportunities for gender roles. Families became defined as a unit, two parents and their children. Women, although they were already defined as the bearer and therefore the caretaker of the children, ran the home. They were expected to raise the children during the early years of development while men provided for the family. Men were responsible for making decisions, even those that influenced the woman's life. Wives and mothers were expected to obey and follow gendered guidelines that were predetermined by hel husband and that specifically defined the ways she should act (King 1-12). King describes this phenomenon that occurred during the English Renaissance as wives needing to "develop a relationship with her husband negotiated between contradictory injunctions" (35). A woman was meant to act as a companion to her husband, raising his family and managing his household, but she was also supposed to be viewed as a secondary-not equal-partner within the marriage. Hence, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth begin the play as a happily married couple. In a letter to his wife, Macbeth refers to her as "my dearest partner of greatness" (Macbeth 1.5.9). The word "partner" refers to part of a whole, by definition; therefore, Macbeth views his wife as palÿt of 4 himself and potentially an equal contributor to his greatness. However, through the events of the play, it can be deterxnined that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have no children, specifically because Lady Macbeth mentions herself as having had nursed a baby. The cause of this is unknown, but the fact stands that Macbeth has no heir when he ascends to royalty. Lady Macbeth has not completed a basic task of an English Renaissance wife; despite this, Macbeth still regards her as his partner. This shows that there is more to the marriage than just the basic duties of child bearing and rearing, yet, at the same time Lady Macbeth is forced