Women as instigators of tragedy in the works of ShakespeareIt is precisely the mistake of the moon; it comes closer to the earth than usual, and it drives men mad. (Othello 5.2.112-14) The moon is often seen in literature as an allegory of love, virtue, and chastity. In Shakespeare's plays, in particular, the moon is personified as Diana, the Roman goddess of chastity. In these comedies, the silly antics of the lovers (literally "madmen") usually occur under the auspices of the chaste goddess, the lovers acting like hounds around her feet attacking each other in competition for her generosity. The moon as an allegory for the madness of romanticism helps us understand Shakespeare's vision of romanticism. In tragedies, however, the moon can represent several things at the same time: Diana, the goddess of Chastity; the cyclical nature of Fortune; and Hecuba, the witch of madness. These figures, as their names suggest, are female. Tragic heroes often refer to their wives as the moon. Wives are often seen as having, at different times, elements of the various associations with the moon. I argue that by examining the different allegories of the moon to the major women of the tragedies, we can see the multiplicity of Shakespeare's attitude towards women. Often in tragedies, the moon serves as an allegory of the fickleness of fortune, the fickleness of women and, consequently, the cause of madness. In this article I will systematically show the various allegories of the moon present in different tragedies. Then I will show how the multiplicity of these allegories is similar to the multiplicity of the main women of the tragedies. Many female protagonists of the tragedies are... middle of paper... agents of the downfall of the heroes. Would the heroes have come to such a tragic end without the women? Noting the references to women as once chaste, now fickle, and always fickle, I argue that they are the cause of the heroes' madness. Othello kills his wife because he believes she has cheated on him, resulting not only in her death, but also that of his companions and himself. Lady MacBeth urges her husband to kill Duncan. Because of his love for Cleopatra, Antony meets a tragic end. Similar to the moon's ability to drive men mad, wives drive tragic heroes mad. Othello, as the epigraph to this article suggests, would certainly agree. Works Cited Hankins, John Erskine. Foundations of Shakespeare's thought. Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Book, 1978.Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Alvin Kernan. New York: Seal, 1963.