earticle

영어

It is significant that Beaumont and Fletcher titled this play ‘the maid’s tragedy.’ If we read the play from the traditional view of tragedy, Aminto seems to be the proper tragic protagonist. He suffers from painful marriage and death caused by the king’s immoral order. However Beaumont and Fletcher do not choose his name as the title. Rather they direct their attention to female characters who should be maid. Both Aspatia and Evadne might be the tragic characters the title indicates, which makes the structure and meaning of the play very ambiguous. On the surface they seem to be the victims of male desire, but they are quite extraordinary in the sense that they pursue their desire extremely. Aspatia is a woman who desires love, and Evadne is a woman who desires power. And their ways of seeking desire lead to dramatic means to get revenge. However Aspatia and Evadne are vengeful in quite different ways. Aspatia suffers from the betrayal of her fiance Aminto, but she doesn’t give up her love. Her love is achieved through being killed by Aminto. And her suicidal behavior is vengeful in the sense that it makes Aminto kill himself. On the other hand, Evadne seems to be amoral and cruel in seeking her power. But in the end of the play, she changes into a vengeful woman who kills the vicious king who corrupted her. Female vengeance in this play is significant in that it mocks and criticizes the patriarchal and tyrannical prejudice in the court. The court society in the play expects maids to be pure before marriage, but Aspatia is abandoned and Evadne has already lost her virginity. Men easily betray women and the king abuses his authority in fulfilling his desire. Beaumont and Fletcher present the shame of male authority which brings about the maid’s tragedy.