‘The finny subject of the sea’: Thaisa's pregnant embodiment and (non)maternal identity in Pericles

• Published in: Cahiers élisabéthains Vol. 114; no. 1; pp. 119 - 132
• Main Author: Burzyńska, Katarzyna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.07.2024
• Subjects: identité maternelle; early modern drama; incarnation de la grossesse; maternity; maternité; pregnant embodiment; pregnancy; grossesse; autorité maternelle; maternal authority; théâtre de la première modernité; maternal identity
• ISSN: 0184-7678; 2054-4715
• DOI: 10.1177/01847678241261285

Inspired by Stacy Alaimo's notion of transcorporality, this article reconsiders multivalent aquatic womb imagery, Thaisa's pregnant embodiment and her (non)maternal identity in Pericles. As argued, the play offers an inconsistent portrayal of pregnancy and maternity. Thaisa's pregnant body – a fluid aquatic economy – is prominently displayed onstage, while her labour described by Gower and Pericles remains the play's climax. Yet, the birth at sea and Thaisa's ‘terrible childbed’ communicate anxieties over maternal powers. Neither her maternal identity nor her maternal authority takes shape in the play, signalling early modern culture's unease with pregnant bodies that do not follow normative, patriarchal scripts.