Knowledge Bank

In studies of Beaumont and Fletcher's play The Maid's Tragedy, scholars have often wondered who the eponymous maid is. Some have argued that it is Aspatia, the woman that the male protagonist Amintor is in love with. However, that character is only in the play briefly at the beginning and the end and therefore does not seem to warrant the honor of being the titular character. Others have suggested that the Maid is Evadne, but the fact that she loses her virginity (and is therefore no longer a maid) is the crux of the plot of the play. In this paper, I argue that the character that can best be understood as the Maid is Amintor. His marriage to Evadne, who is having an affair with the King, ensures that he remains a virgin. Additionally, although men are not traditionally thought of as maids, throughout the play Amintor is coded as womanly. Specifically, he cries throughout the play, connecting him to Early Modern images of women as "leaky vessels," depends on another man to maintain his honor, and is married at the behest of a patriarch whose authority supersedes his, the King. By reading Amintor as the Maid, I open up The Maid's Tragedy to an interpretation that considers the gender constructs of Early Modern England.