Reforming Women: The Reformation(s) and Dramatic Performance in Thomas Heywood's Early Plays

This thesis explores the representation of post-Reformation religious issues in Thomas Heywood’s domestic tragedy 'A Woman Killed with Kindness' and comedic 'How a Man May Choose a Good Wife from a Bad', and finds Heywood to be a politically and socially engaged playwright. A new hermeneutic to read female characters is outlined, that examines not only gender roles, but critical religio-political concerns. Through symbolic embodiment, characters have the potential to reshape language and hence, dominant patriarchal discourses. Their personal spiritual struggles have political and eschatological significance, with implications for a society pursuing ‘godly rule’ and asking where the ‘sacred’ lies.