TAMING THE HEART OF THE WILD: THE DOMESTICATION OF WOMEN IN JOHN FLETCHER’S TRAGEDIE OF BONDUCA

Fletcher’s Bonduca is quite explicit in dealing with the patriarchal objective of domesticating the rebellious woman. Bonduca and her two daughters do not conform and so are sanctioned. They are portrayed as wild animals and marginal figures that have to be tamed, broken in through violence and rape in order to be re-integrated into the nation. When they refuse to be domesticated, their only option is suicide. However, this also stands as an allegory for taming the wild heart of England’s colonial spaces.