Mamillius & Shakespearean Society

In the beginning of Act 2 Scene 1 Mamillius exchanges the ideas about women with his mother and ladies in waiting. How might his conversation evoke larger social arguments about men and women in Shakespearean culture?

In The Winter’s Tale Act 2 Scene 1, Mamillius exchanges his ideas about women with his mother and the ladies in waiting. It is evident in this discourse that his viewpoint is a direct reflection of the wider society and inequality between the sexes seems to be a faltering aspect of the Shakespearean Era having influence on the minds of the members of society.

In the beginning of this scene Mamillius posits:

Not for because

Your brows are blacker; yet black brows, they say,

Become some women best, so that there be not

Too much hair there, but in a semicircle

Or a half-moon made with a pen.

In actuality, Mamillius is mocking women for using cosmetics. However, in essence his words portray the fact that men often noted every detail of a woman’s beauty and shows how much of an integral part it was for choosing a mate. Men often only saw women for their beauty and nature not their personality or sophistication. They had to look presentable; fair-skinned, slim, fashionable, right down to the very last hair on her brow.

Unfortunately, the same idea did not apply to the men of this society rather; men were chosen based on their status, looks, and education or even because they seemed interested. The prejudicial preference was given to males in that society due to the societal beliefs that men were smarter and were inclined to be of a better disposition than a female.

This scene illustrates the inequality within the socially stratified society with men being at the forefront and women being at the bottom of the social pyramid. For although Mamillius was but a child, the women still had to attend to his every whim, not because of his status as a prince but merely because of his ascribed status as a male. For instance when the young prince addresses the waiting ladies statement:

 Nay, that's a mock: I have seen a lady's nose

That has been blue, but not her eyebrows.

 This shows that women hardly had a say in anything even when referring to herself. In a man’s eyes she was almost always wrong and in society’s eyes, Men were always right whilst women’s opinions never mattered.

Even his mother had to put his opinion before hers. For example when Mamillius disregards his mother’s want of a ‘merry tale’:

A sad tale's best for winter: I have one

Of sprites and goblins.

In reality, Mamillius is only half-right. A sad story would, in fact, be best for the winter but a happy-ending had to be the result; a promise for the spring. However his mother did not want to discredit the young prince and instead agreed and allowed him to tell the sad tale. The reason being that women were often times socialized to be soft-spoken and submissive to their male counterparts. If they dare spoke out against their husbands or even had a simple argument or disagreement they were referred to as shrews or scolds by the wider society.

Similarly, once they were accused of cheating by a male they were instantly labeled as an adulteress and the men; cuckolds. Women ran the risk of being called such simply by being seen with a different man; no fair trial, no innocent until proven guilty; they were instantaneously shunned by society whereas men could just dismiss the accusation or society would be apathetic to such a claim.  Men could commit infidelity and fornication and still hold the same position he was in before.

Thus, Mamillius’ views on women were thought to have a relation to societal norms and values and were, in the least, objective. He merely upheld the Shakespearean culture of the inequalities between males and females and was seen as an innocent pawn in the play, used only to show these inequalities and set the scene for his father’s arrival.