...universal Christian history, while in the medieval theater smaller crucifixes played a vital role in dramatizations of the entombment and the resurrection, literally standing in for the body of Jesus. (1) These objects were crucially important and implicitly accepted as the visual supports for an invisible faith. Consequently, roods and other crucifixes were among the first targets attacked by the iconoclasts during the early years of the Reformation. The overt physicality of the corpus, the three-dimensional image of Christ hanging on the cross, was equated with the pagan idols described in the Old Testament, and hundreds were publicly defaced or burned to prove that they were merely dead pieces of wood, not sacred embodiments of God's mercy.

The controversial nature of the crucifix might lead us to conclude that all such objects were necessarily absent from the theaters of Shakespeare's London, just as they were absent from churches and cathedrals. But in John Webster's The White Devil (1612), a stage property designed to resemble a crucifix takes on a major role within the dramatic fiction where it functions as the embodiment of family unity. The play thus reinforces a point made elsewhere by historians of the Reformation: namely, that in many cases Catholic objects survived by being translated into new contexts. In this essay, I take up the crucifix as stage property (in fact, as I will explain below, there are two of them in this unusual play) in order to address the public theater's response to the shifting status of these highly charged objects.

Cornelia, the crucifix's owner, is one of the few admirable characters in The White Devil, but she is also the mother of Flamineo, its malcontent antihero, and her crucifix becomes the focus of the tragic family drama he provokes in act V, scene ii. Flamineo has been arguing with his younger brother Marcello and the two have chosen their weapons for an upcoming duel. Instead of staging their fight, however, this scene brings the sword and the crucifix together in an unexpected juxtaposition:

MARCELLO. Was not this crucifix my father's? CORNELIA. Yes. MARCELLO. I have heard you say, giving my brother suck, He took the crucifix between his hands Enter Flamineo, And broke a limb off. CORNELIA. Yes; but 'tis mended. FLAMINEO. I have brought your weapon back. Flamineo runs Marcello through. CORNELIA. Ha, O my horror! MARCELLO. You have brought it home indeed. (2)

By bringing "home" his brother's weapon, Flamineo has emphasized the connection between the broken crucifix and his broken family. Marcello's death speech, delivered a few lines later, provides an even more explicit link between the desecration of the cross and that of the family unit as he urges his mother to

remember what I told Of breaking off the crucifix:--farewell-- There are some sins which heaven doth duly punish In a whole family. (V.ii. 18-21; I3v)

The crucifix calls to mind the family tree, which Flamineo has violated by severing one of its branches, and in this scene its theatrical power is associated with its role as a repository of personal memories.

Thus, the play not only shifts the crucifix into a new sphere--the aristocratic household--but it also creates a new kind of iconoclasm, for it is not the figure of Christ but the arm of the cross that has been broken, and the threat of further disruption comes not from outside the family but from within it. Crucifixes did not appear frequently on the public stage, but when they did, as in this play, they were often presented in domestic contexts. In The White Devil, Cornelia's heirloom is still a symbol of the Catholic faith, but because of the domain in which it is presented, it carries an affective charge rather than an overtly religious one, signifying Cornelia's piety within the realm of the family. I argue here that the precedent for valuing this stage object as an heirloom rather than as an emblem of Catholicism lies in the social history of post-Reformation England.

Historians such as Marie Rowlands have shown that English recusancy took many forms and was not always the focus of public controversy. (3) One of the less overtly controversial items associated with recusant life was the "family" crucifix, which functioned as part of an inheritance system and played an important role in the lives of private citizens throughout the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. In fact, one of the primary reasons the visitors charged with enforcing religious injunctions had so much difficulty eliminating the use of crosses and crucifixes in England was that in many parishes individuals were hiding them in their own homes. The large wooden roods that formed the centerpiece of the medieval liturgy were easily identified and defaced, but it was more difficult to eliminate smaller objects, including those worn about the body. In the decades after the Reformation, therefore, objects such as crucifixes and rosary beads not only continued to function as important anchors of private devotion but also served as markers of family unity, passed down from generation to generation among those who still adhered to the traditional religion. Cherished by their individual owners, these objects also accumulated a considerable affective value over the years as part of secular inheritance systems. By foregrounding Cornelia's crucifix as a memento, The White Devil references the actions of individuals who were determined to preserve Catholic objects as a means of maintaining continuity within their families. As a result, it complicates any simple connection between Catholic objects and idolatry.

Like many recusants, Cornelia has inherited her crucifix from a family member, in this case her husband, and she hopes someday to pass it on to her children. As the events of the play unfold, however, both the status of the crucifix and the stability of Cornelia's family are called into question. Cornelia attaches emotional weight to the crucifix because it was her husband's, and because it connects her to a set of familiar social customs and beliefs. But the fact that the heirloom is broken dramatizes the way in which inherited objects and the traditions associated with them can be jeopardized as they pass from hand to hand, even within the domestic sphere. Thus, although The White Devil assigns the crucifix a positive role within the family unit, Cornelia's desire to secure its meaning as a family treasure is complicated by its fluctuating value within the play. In making the crucifix susceptible to desecration at the hands of her son, Flamineo, The White Devil acknowledges the changing...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



More articles from Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900
Recent studies in Tudor and Stuart drama., March 22, 2007

Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.

Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication name or publication date.

About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company analysis or best practices in managing your organization, Goliath can help you meet your business needs.

Our extensive business information databases empower business professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible, authoritative information they need to support their business goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting, company research or defining management best practices - Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.