Reforming maternity: Childbirth, religion, and the Renaissance stage

The goal of this study is to examine the intersection of religion and maternity in early modern English drama. Throughout the Middle Ages, pregnancy and childbirth belonged to the realm of women. Parturient women were encouraged to find strength and encouragement in images of the Virgin Mary. They experienced temporary relief from the constraints of patriarchy, but they were then reinscribed into the patriarchal system through the enactment of Purification. The Protestant Reformation brought many changes to the management of the birthroom. Churching replaced Purification, and the temporary carnival of the birthroom threatened the masculine order. During the same time period, physicians began the process of professionalizing medicine. Medicine became an exclusive field, to which women were considered outsiders. Although these two issues have been studied individually, it is important to recognize the intimate relationship between these two areas. Specifically, changes within the field of religion directly impacted the field of medicine. The Protestant Reformation combined with the professionalization of medicine to appropriate control of maternity from women. Dramatic works uniquely echo the changes that were occurring and also demonstrate patriarchal attempts to influence maternity. The plays examined represent a cross-section of late medieval through early Stuart theater