Middleton's women beware women and the mothering principle

Abstract

Middleton's Women Beware Women seems both to address itself particularly to women and at the same time to stigmatise them. The implied misogyny of the title can perhaps be seen as justified by the behaviour of the play's central manipulator, Lima, but equally the degree of concentration on Livia alone could be read as suggesting that she is a uniquely corrupt individual, rather than a means for the playwright to condemn all women. This essay, though, argues for a less recuperative reading, proposing that Livia is in fact seen precisely as generic, since she figures the role of mother. The emphasis in the play on parent—child relationships has often been noted; less well documented is the fact that Livia, though literally childless, is repeatedly imaged as a mother, whose fault lies not in selfishness but in an inability to discipline the desires of her offspring. Lacking a strong father‐figure, the play thus presents, a la Peter Lilley, a nightmare vision of single parenthood.