A Woman Killed with Kindness
Encyclopedia
A Woman Killed with Kindness is an early seventeenth-century stage play, a tragedy
written by Thomas Heywood
. Acted in 1603 and first published in 1607, the play has generally been considered Heywood's masterpiece, and has received the most critical attention among Heywood's works. Along with the anonymous Arden of Faversham
, Heywood's play has been regarded as the apex of Jacobean drama's achievement in the sub-genre of bourgeois or domestic tragedy.
The play was originally performed by Queen Anne's Men
, the company for which Heywood acted and wrote in the early Jacobean era. The records of Philip Henslowe
show that Heywood was paid £6 for the play in February and March of 1603. The 1607 quarto
was printed by William Jaggard
for the bookseller John Hodgets. A second quarto was issued in 1617 by William Jaggard's son Isaac Jaggard.
The plot of Heywood's play derives from an Italian novel by Illicini, which was translated into English and published in The Palace of Pleasure by William Painter
(1566).
The play tells the story of a married couple, Master Frankford and his wife Anne. Frankford invites Wendoll into his home to act as a companion. Frankford tells Wendoll that anything in his house is at Wendoll's disposal. Wendoll then chooses to pursue Frankford's wife, Anne. Anne is quickly wooed by Wendoll and then caught by Frankford. Frankford then chooses to punish her not with death but with ostracism -- a "mild" sentence for her adultery. By the end of the play, Anne chooses self-starvation as a more appropriate form of punishment. As she is dying because of her self-starvation, Frankford reunites with his wife, which restores the social and patriarchal order at the end of the play.
The adulterous wife, Anne Frankford, is contrasted with the virtuous Susan Mountford. In the play's subplot, Sir Charles Mountford attempts to prostitute his sister Susan to Sir Francis Acton (Anne Frankford's brother), to whom he is deeply in debt. Susan, however, retains her virtue. In the end Acton discharges the debts of Mountford and marries Susan.
Early Modern Elizabethan and Jacobean
views of fasting or self-starvation were often hearkened to old Medieval views which considered a woman's fasting a visual cue to a woman's obedience, chastity, and honour. Eating, binging, or gluttony were considered to be fundamentally connected with sexuality. According to several Early Modern conduct book writers, the sin of gluttony will inevitabily lead to lust, and several of these tract writers suggested female fasting should be a part of a woman's education as it would prove her to be a better wife and mother.
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
written by Thomas Heywood
Thomas Heywood
Thomas Heywood was a prominent English playwright, actor, and author whose peak period of activity falls between late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre.-Early years:...
. Acted in 1603 and first published in 1607, the play has generally been considered Heywood's masterpiece, and has received the most critical attention among Heywood's works. Along with the anonymous Arden of Faversham
Arden of Faversham
Arden of Faversham is an Elizabethan play, entered into the Register of the Stationers Company on 3 April 1592, and printed later that same year by Edward White. It depicts the murder of one Thomas Arden by his wife Alice Arden and her lover, and their subsequent discovery and punishment...
, Heywood's play has been regarded as the apex of Jacobean drama's achievement in the sub-genre of bourgeois or domestic tragedy.
The play was originally performed by Queen Anne's Men
Queen Anne's Men
Queen Anne's Men was a playing company, or troupe of actors, in Jacobean era London. -Formation:...
, the company for which Heywood acted and wrote in the early Jacobean era. The records of Philip Henslowe
Philip Henslowe
Philip Henslowe was an Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur and impresario. Henslowe's modern reputation rests on the survival of his diary, a primary source for information about the theatrical world of Renaissance London...
show that Heywood was paid £6 for the play in February and March of 1603. The 1607 quarto
Book size
The size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf, or sometimes the height and width of its cover. A series of terms is commonly used by libraries and publishers for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from "folio" , to "quarto" and "octavo"...
was printed by William Jaggard
William Jaggard
William Jaggard was an Elizabethan and Jacobean printer and publisher, best known for his connection with the texts of William Shakespeare, most notably the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays...
for the bookseller John Hodgets. A second quarto was issued in 1617 by William Jaggard's son Isaac Jaggard.
The plot of Heywood's play derives from an Italian novel by Illicini, which was translated into English and published in The Palace of Pleasure by William Painter
William Painter
William Painter was an English author and translator.William Painter was a native of Kent. He matriculated at St John's College, Cambridge, in 1554. In 1561 he became clerk of the ordnance in the Tower of London, a position in which he appears to have amassed a fortune out of the public funds...
(1566).
The play tells the story of a married couple, Master Frankford and his wife Anne. Frankford invites Wendoll into his home to act as a companion. Frankford tells Wendoll that anything in his house is at Wendoll's disposal. Wendoll then chooses to pursue Frankford's wife, Anne. Anne is quickly wooed by Wendoll and then caught by Frankford. Frankford then chooses to punish her not with death but with ostracism -- a "mild" sentence for her adultery. By the end of the play, Anne chooses self-starvation as a more appropriate form of punishment. As she is dying because of her self-starvation, Frankford reunites with his wife, which restores the social and patriarchal order at the end of the play.
The adulterous wife, Anne Frankford, is contrasted with the virtuous Susan Mountford. In the play's subplot, Sir Charles Mountford attempts to prostitute his sister Susan to Sir Francis Acton (Anne Frankford's brother), to whom he is deeply in debt. Susan, however, retains her virtue. In the end Acton discharges the debts of Mountford and marries Susan.
Early Modern Elizabethan and Jacobean
Jacobean era
The Jacobean era refers to the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of King James VI of Scotland, who also inherited the crown of England in 1603 as James I...
views of fasting or self-starvation were often hearkened to old Medieval views which considered a woman's fasting a visual cue to a woman's obedience, chastity, and honour. Eating, binging, or gluttony were considered to be fundamentally connected with sexuality. According to several Early Modern conduct book writers, the sin of gluttony will inevitabily lead to lust, and several of these tract writers suggested female fasting should be a part of a woman's education as it would prove her to be a better wife and mother.