『친절이 죽인 여자』: 가부장적 결혼의 문제에 대한 탐구 = A Woman Killed with Kindness: A Domestic Tragedy Probing into the Problematics of Patriarchal Marriage

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper argues that A Woman Killed with Kindness is a play endorsing two different readings at the same time: as a didactic play teaching a conservative ideology of patriarchal marriage and as a subversive play depicting its darker side. Frankford is an ideal husband in a patriarchal marriage, but his uncompromising adherence to its ideology makes him kill his wife with kindness. Every character in the play including Anne the victim praises him for being so kind, but the play makes it clear that kindness is another name for sadistic cruelty. As Frankford is so conscientiously earnest in believing in his righteousness, the patriarchal ideology he adheres to is shown to be more to blame than Frankford himself. The same pattern repeats itself in the subplot, deepening the ambivalence and irony in the play. Charles is an affectionate brother to Susan but he tries to sell her virginity to keep his honour intact. He is another Frankford in that he has an absolute belief in his honour principle and in that he sacrifices a woman to keep that principle. But unlike Frankford he has a dubious motive in persisting in that principle. Thus the subplot both strengthens and weakens the ideological imperatives of the main plot. Not only the play itself, but the title and the epilogue can be read as multilayered. To kill with kindness was an idiomatic phrase meaning being too kind, but Heywood used it as the title of his play adding a sadistic double entendre. The epilogue also comments on the play, recommending different readings to different audience, undermining an official didactism of the play.