Middleton and Rowley's The Changeling and Webster's The Duchess of Malfi subject the lives of their women to the scrutiny and judgment of men. In both plays, women attempt to be equal to their male counterparts by freeing themselves from the judgment of males. In other words, do female characters manage to form their own identity throughout their lives or is their death the only way to affirm their female identity? For this analysis, the focus will be on the Duchess and Beatrice and how their roles compare and contrast to be used as evidence if both women can break free from their characters being perceived by men's eyes. The men in the play see women as sexual commodities who must conform to their image of them. This is prevalent with both the main female character (Beatrice) and the minor female character (Isabella). This proves difficult for female characters to step into their identity because even though they may be who they are, their gender forces them to conform to an outward image that men deem pure. Women deemed impure in Renaissance literature give me the impression that revenge is always around the corner and inevitable with the fate of Queen Isabella in Christopher Marlowe's Edward II and Isabella in John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore. The internalization of dialogue in the form of soliloquies and digressions portrays the true intent by hiding it from the externally used language. The following example shows the use of external language against internalizationBeatrice: [Aside] Again!- This menacing, ugly-faced individual disturbs me more than all my other passionsDeflores: [Aside] Now don't start again; ... half of the paper ... maybe they did, but only one of them successfully achieves his individuality. Beatrice's fatal flaw was that she tried to put on too many faces, her character seemed "fake" in the sense that we don't really know who she really is. Even in death, Beatrice is a weak character and, in my opinion, has no redeeming qualities that would support her having come to her own identity before she died. The Duchess, however, continually displays her unique identity and reluctance to break away from her character throughout the entire play. The weakness of men in the play serves as a reference point for how strong she actually is. The Duchess appears to be actively the opposite of each of the male characters in the place and even in her death, she continues to show her strength which further solidifies my statement about the Duchess's unique and individual personality, free from males..