"Arden of Feversham"

This piece was one of the more interesting works we've read in this class, in my opinion.  The fact that the play was based on a true story was fascinating, especially when compared to the Holinshed Chronicles, which were written during the same time period as the crime; the play's events lined up almost exactly with the Chronicles.  I began thinking about the title of the play in relation to the crime after our class discussion and how the title, "Arden of Feversham", belittles the main character, mastermind, and only developed female character in the play: Alice.  I came up with a modernistic theory that maybe the play is named after Arden because he was a white, "middle-class" man, whereas Alice is only his wife.  It reminded me much of the way in which white-victim crimes are relayed to the public in the media almost instantaneously, whereas crimes with African American or Hispanic victims are rarely publicized.  Class systems were just starting to really develop during this time period, but we discussed the fact that Arden was a landowner- fairly well-known in Feversham and at least somewhat powerful in the community.  Another theory I thought might explain the lack of Alice's mentioning in the play's title was the fact that Alice, as a woman, was not her own person; rather, she would have been considered an extension of Arden.  In fact, Arden mentions in the play that Alice's behavior is a reflection on himself: "I had cause to speak,/ When all the knights and gentlemen of Kent/ Make common table talk of her and [Mosby]" (1.1.343-345).  Alice is Arden's property.  There is language in the play that favors Arden and condemns Alice, even though both individuals are guilty of some level of evil (Arden taking land from those who need it and Alice plotting Arden's death); I found it interesting that the text works to victimize Arden when he has also committed sin.  I see a correlation between Arden and Alice and Adam and Eve that is unsettling: regardless of a man's mistake, he is fully capable of placing the blame on the woman involved.