Beatrice In The Changeling

In Act One of ‘The Changeling’, is Beatrice portrayed as an innocent victim or a sexual predator?

Throughout Act 1, the portrayal of Beatrice is one of contradicting extremes, depending of the characters she is interacting with. With Alsemero, she is presented as sweet and romantic, whereas with De Flores, she is presented as petty and vindictive. However, I would argue that she is portrayed as a victim instead of a predator, although to what extent she is innocent is questionable.

Our first impression of Beatrice is shaped by Alsermero’s idea of her. His language is centred on her purity, and the constant reference to religion emphasis this: “The church hath first begun our interview and that’s the place that must join us as one”. The church

as a meeting place seems innocent to the audience, and the allusions to marriage ties together the image of Beatrice as a holy and respectable person. This impacts on the audience later on in scene 1, as we discover she is to marry another person, despite being in love with Alsemero, “this was the man was meant for me”. The audience may begin to see her as the victim of a patriarchal system that leaves her little choice in her partner (as the main reason for her engagement seems to be that Vermandero wants Piracquo as a son-in-law). Her clear resistance to the marriage builds the audiences sympathy with her position. However, an audience could see Beatrice as a liar, who, by withholding the information about her engagement from Alsemero, purposefully leads him to believe that he may marry her. This would lead to the conclusion that Beatrice is more of a sexual predator than an innocent victim. However, the idea that she is a sexual predator may be derailed by one of her objections to the marriage; that she does not want to lose “the dear companion of my soul, virginity”, which would seem to discourage the interpretation of her as a sexual predator.
Another way Beatrice is presented as an innocent victim is through De Flores obsession with her.

His language is disturbing, and his attitude towards Beatrice may make an audience uncomfortable. One example of this is “I’ll please myself with the sight of her… if but to spite her anger”. De Flores seems to take pleasure in angering Beatrice, and so her outbursts against him become more excusable. This speech is in an aside, and the extra secrecy surrounding his statement adds to the uncomfortable nature of it, as he is keeping his emotions for Beatrice hidden from the rest of the characters, implying that it is possibly sordid. His focus on himself is emphasised through the use of “I’ll”, and the reference to Beatrice’s negative emotions show a lack of regard for her. This hints that his ‘love’ for Beatrice could be harmful to her, leading the audience to see her as a victim. However, Beatrice’s response to De Flores tarnishes the audience’s opinion of her. Her hatred for him seems to overpower her love for Alsemero, and her sudden change in attitude highlights this. Her dramatic statements of hatred “such to mine eyes is that same fellow there, the same that reports speaks of, the basilisk”, seem extra venomous when compared to De Flores’ statement that her reactions are due to her “peevish will” . The reference to the basilisk reminds the audience that De Flores is currently watching this interaction, and this may make Beatrice seem extremely rude (however, this could also

remind the audience of how disturbing De Flores seems). Although Beatrice’s rudeness may stop an audience in viewing her as an innocent victim, it does little to reinforce the view that she is a sexual predator.
Although Beatrice is presented as a victim, her position as an innocent victim is destructed in her response to De Flores, as the audience possibly stops seeing Beatrice as the traditional gothic heroine, who would be more passive, as she begins to confront the possible villain of the play.