53 pages • 1-hour read
A Woman Killed With Kindness
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Symbols & Motifs
Susan Fleeing Francis
A motif in A Woman Killed with Kindness is Susan fleeing from Francis, which she does in all but one encounter with him. Susan does not stay to hear Francis’s pleas, nor does she accept anything from him, indicating her understanding of Marriage and Gender Roles in a Patriarchal Society. Certainly, accepting money from Francis would put Susan in his debt in a way that would harm her reputation by calling her chastity into question. Moreover, by the standards of the day, even tolerating Francis’s presence would raise questions about her character; she would be “putting herself” in a situation where Charles might attempt to seduce her—a point made clear through contrast with Anne. When Wendoll flirts with Anne, she resists him but does not leave, “allowing” Wendoll to simply ignore her protestations and ultimately persuade Anne to have an affair. Susan’s flight from Francis thus demonstrates both her virtue and her awareness that her social standing is contingent on her modesty: Susan ultimately ends up married to Francis, and while she does not appear entirely happy with this turn of events, it is preferable to becoming his mistress.
Anne’s Lute
After Anne leaves Frankford’s house, he expects to find that all her belongings are gone. He searches the house and finds just one object that belongs to Anne: her lute, a string instrument similar to a guitar. Frankford reminisces about Anne playing the lute, and he promptly tells Nick to take the instrument and bring it to Anne. When Nick delivers the lute, Anne plays a sad song, lamenting her mistakes, pledging to starve herself, and then requesting that Nick break the lute against the carriage wheel. The song moves Wendoll to consider his role in Anne’s downfall, and it makes Nick cry and swear to report Anne’s suffering to Frankford.
The lute is thus a complex symbol associated with both Anne’s virtue and Anne herself. At the time of her marriage, Anne is a perfect wife. She is beautiful, gifted, and obedient, and the lute embodies her grace and femininity in Frankford’s memories of Anne playing. The affair shatters this image of Anne, which explains why she has it broken; it recalls a version of her that no longer exists. At the same time, the memory of who she was inspires the “penance” she undertakes in fasting to the point of starvation. In this sense, the lute’s destruction foreshadows Anne’s own death.
The Bible
As with much Early Modern literature, the Bible figures throughout the play. In particular, several characters compare Wendoll to various biblical figures. Wendoll and Frankford both call Wendoll Judas, referring to Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, while Frankford also compares Wendoll to Isaac, and Wendoll compares himself to Cain. The reference to Judas is clearest, as Judas’s name is synonymous with betrayal; however, the divergent endings of Judas’s and Wendoll’s tales lend a touch of irony. Judas dies by suicide, unable to cope with his crime against Jesus, whereas Wendoll gladly leaves town to pursue life elsewhere, putting his crime behind him. The more apt connection, then, is to Cain, who kills his brother, Abel, and is banished to wander the Earth. Here too, though, there is a critical difference, as Wendoll will not have to permanently bear the weight of his sin in the way that Cain does.
The third biblical allusion, that of Wendoll to Isaac, has more to do with Frankford than Wendoll himself. When Frankford compares Wendoll to Isaac when contemplating killing him, he compares himself to Abraham, turning Wendoll into a test of Frankford’s faith and resolve. The allusion is thus again ironic on multiple levels; Wendoll is not an innocent like Isaac, and it is not an angel who stops Frankford from killing Wendoll but a maid. However, like Frankford’s later comparison of Anne to a “martyr,” framing Wendoll as a sacrifice suggests recognition of how killing the couple might be received. The allusion therefore characterizes Frankford as concerned with his own righteousness, hinting at the theme of Social Judgment, Legal Consequences, and Moral Regulation.
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