Two Days in Stratford

Over the last two nights, we saw two plays at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theatre in Stratford upon Avon: The Jew of Malta and Love's Sacrifice.  Both were very entertaining and intense.  It was interesting to see these plays because they feature very interesting female characters that are played by females, something that was not done in the Renaissance era very often. 
The role of Abigail in The Jew of Malta and the role of Fiormanda in Love's Sacrifice were two critical characters in each of their respective plays. 

Abigail, the daughter of the main character, Barabas, leaves her father and her Jewish faith to become a Christian nun after she learns of her unintentional involvement in her father's revenge plot.  She is then killed by her father and his slave, Ithamore, when they introduced poison into the nunnery.  Her performance of Abigail was very innocent and harmless, but it worked so well with the play because it helped contrast the evilness of her father.  I do think that this role could have been played by a young boy because a young boy could have played a very credible innocent role.  However, I don't think that a young boy could have portrayed a beautiful woman, so it might have taken away from the plot a bit when Barabas uses her to pit two men against each other. 

Fiormanda, the evil sister of the Duke, informs her brother that his duchess, Bianca, has been unfaithful with his dear friend, Fernando, out of spite because of her own adoration for Fernando.  She and D'Avolos, her servant, stayed in the Duke's ear about Fernando and Bianca until he eventually kills Bianca and then himself.  She was very fittingly wearing all black during the entire show, contrasted with Bianca's all white during the entire show.  The whole play would not have been the same if Fiormanda had been played by a young boy.  There is absolutely no way that a young boy could have had a scowl and tone of voice so impactful.  It is also crucial that John Ford wrote this character as a female.  I do not think that the Duke would have listened to a male character, be it his brother or a close friend.  Evil male characters typically resort to violence in plays like this, and the fact that it was a female character who was cunning and behind the scenes adds to the credibility of the plot. 

Nonetheless, I'm ready for the plays we see to lighten up a bit.  These two were very deep and very intense!