Webster uses entrapment in his Jacobean revenge play, “The Duchess of Malfi,” and Williams, in A Streetcar Named Desire (1920), a modern domestic tragedy. They focus on how patriarchal societies entrap women, both physically and mentally. The patriarchy also causes harm to men, but this is explored more in ‘Malfi,’ rather than ‘Streetcar.
Both plays use male characters to illustrate that patriarchal ideas are dangerous and will ultimately trap women. Webster uses an exchange between the duchess and her brother to emphasize the struggle for marriage and the social status of the duchess in Act 1. “You are widow”, Webster says. The Duchess is assumed to be a victim of her own good qualities, not her social status and men around her. She should therefore act accordingly. This attitude is portrayed through Ferdinand and entraps her, preventing her from pursuing her own ideas, like remarriage. This monosyllabic bitterness would be spit out by the Jacobean audience in the Jacobean production, likely to reflect their fear of widows. This fear, so strong that widows would often be barred from social circles, came from a woman with a history of sexual activity who was unable to command the respect of a male. Webster reveals the Duchess’s anger at these attitudes by using the metaphor ‘The robin, redbreast, and the nightingale/Never stay in cages. Webster also uses the colour “red” to represent danger and the tragic ending of the play. By doing so, he traps her into her fate. As the play is a retribution tragedy, this catastrophe was made inevitable early on. The death brings the duchess to a final trap. She is turned into a’monument’ that she had insisted was not her. The ghostly image of her former life is encased in a mysterious and mute’monument,’ whose ruinous ruins “never deserve to be pitied”. This could relate to Freud’s ‘Madonna whore complex’, which suggests that women are viewed by men as either saintly Madonnas or debased ‘whores’. Blanche also becomes trapped by the patriarchal attitudes. But they are not physical but metaphorical.
Williams also uses the male characters’ words to emphasize the patriarchal control of family relationships. This attitude is meant to entrap the female characters. Stella’s desire to be independent is quickly quashed by Stanley. Marlon Branco, in the 1951 version of the story, accentuates Stanley’s abusive stance by contorting his face muscles: STELL-AHHHHH. This exclamation demonstrates Stella’s entrapment within her marriage due to the threat that she will be physically abused if daring to attempt to escape. As an adjective, the word ‘heaven-splitting” describes Stanley’s power to corrupt any thing of value. (Heaven). By entrapping Stella, Stanley is preventing her happiness. Stanley’s desire for dominance hasn’t yet subsided despite his complete control over Stella. Williams is Stanley’s attempt to control Blanche, as he says in Scene 8: “Everyman’s a King!” And I’m the king here. The corrupt Senator Huey Long made this statement. It illustrates how the conflict between the rising working class and fading wealthy class, who built their luxurious wealth on slaves, is escalating. Blanche gets caught in the friction because New Orleans does not accept her frivolous opinions. A character with a high social status is also trapped by those who retaliate. Stanley is the beneficiary of this vengeance but those responsible for ‘Malfi,’ are punished.
In both plays, the theme of light is used to show how morally upright characters become trapped in corrupt worlds. Webster creates an atmospheric proto-gothic mood in Act 4, of Malfi, by using the close proximity between the prison and the Duchess. “But no more.” This monosyllabic statement accurately reflects Ferdinand’s malevolent attitude, which ultimately traps her and leads to the execution. This ironic prelude to her ultimate catastrophe is the absence of light. Darkness will eventually engulf the metaphorical ‘light.’ The Jacobean productions in Blackfriars Theatre of “Malfi” were a great example of this. The apron was lit by beeswax and the sunlight was blocked out by black blinds. Ferdinand’s malcontent could reflect the darkness. Ferdinand has a tendency to associate with darkness. It is therefore surprising that he would be compared to a more destructive light like fire. Both twins are associated with the light, and critics believe that this reveals their similarities. They both have a stubbornness, a need to stay relevant, and a desire for relevance in society. Ferdinand and the Duchess are disconcertingly close in many ways. Webster reveals her pioneering spirit in the play’s final scene, which is the death of the Duchess. This final attempt at entrapment backfires. Ferdinand, instead of being entrapped, becomes the victim. Her death is a’snowprint’ that melts in the’sunlight” of the Duchess, showing how the light from the Duchess can overcome his darkness. Blanche’s Legacy also’stains and lights up the future’. The other characters, who are trapped by the memories of Blanche, become trapped.
In ‘Streetcar,’ the motif of light also serves to show Blanche trapped in a distorted state. Williams uses a prop called a ‘chinese lamp’ and the scene where Stanley tears it away from the bulb to refer to the violent emotions in the title. It also reinforces Stanley’s violence which entraps Blanche. This is used as analepsis of the final scene, a rape. Williams uses Blanche’s exclamation as a way to illustrate how she is being pulled back into a horrifying memory, where her privacy has been violated in countless ways. Blanche is trapped by this thought. Webster’s intriguing simile that compares ‘herself,’ to the candle suggests an angry Blanche. She is only beginning to understand how Stanley has corrupted her life, including her family, partner, clothes and sexuality. Williams illustrates Stanley’s devious manipulation by using this simile. Blanche is forced to humiliate herself and now finds herself trapped far from her former identity. During 1940s, women who were so admired for their youthful beauty would often be reduced to mere objects as their beauty began to decline. Their looks were no longer valued, and their sexuality was also viewed as nonexistent. Williams uses a’merciless,’ plastic-theatre light to show Blanche as deprived of the youthful beauty that she once had, and her sexual dominance. Vivien leigh, in 1972’s film, heightened the sense that Blanche was trapped by this light. She covered her face, illustrating Blanche’s reluctance of confronting, for first time, her imperfections kindled inside her. The Duchess is different from Blanche in this respect, because she does not suppress her indomitable spirits and doesn’t fear facing them. This makes her less entrapped and more tormented than Blanche.
Both playwrights show how the patriarchy can trap people with great success. Williams shows the tragic side of patriarchy in its most human form. Webster, with his hyperbolic and sarcastic rhetoric, is a mockery of masculine attitudes. Act 3 shows the Duchess’s and Antonio’s idyllic domestic lifestyle, which contrasts sharply with Blanche’s continual anguish during her stay at Elysian Fields. Although critics have condemned the playwrights’ deplorable portrayal of women, one could argue that Blanche and her Duchess were the first feminist anti-heroes. Their brutality and cruelty paved the way for future generations of feminists.
