By now, we have progressed far beyond the realm of prostitution to understand the portrayal of all types of women as both objectified commodities and savvy vendors, from the chaste maid, to the adulterous wife, to the lustful whore (and every gray shade in between). But, if we take the notion of “female vendors” to a more direct and literal level, we have one more category left to discuss: the actual saleswoman. As capitalism began to flourish in Renaissance London, there was a “newfound ease of movement and consumption experienced by women” who would “go to the market, both to buy and sell” [34], [24]. The woman’s new place in the market assisted the marriage economics that governed the family, however it created “a cultural anxiety which posit[ed] women as dangerous, gluttonous consumers” as well as “assertive vendors” disrupting the natural gendered division of work and home. According to Kirsten Uszkalo:

Here we see a grotesque and disturbing image of the female “saleswoman” as the direct result of male anxiety towards the gradually overlapping spheres of the marketplace and the home. This combination of fear, contempt, and disgust for the “female saleswoman” finds no better representation than in the cultural attitude towards the alewife.

The literature of the period commonly described alewives as cunning and unclean, brewing contaminated or thinned ale, and cheating their customers. In addition to these deceitful business practices, alewives were often accused of sexual promiscuity and wanton behavior. This combination of deceit, promiscuity, and the physically grotesque in relation to the female vendor finds a particularly gruesome portrayal in John Skelton’s, “The tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng.” It seems, far before the time of the Dutch Courtesan and the Chaste Maid, the literature of the period was already preoccupied in the relationship between female sexuality and commerce – the clear consensus being that the combination of the two was both dangerous and base.

In a sense, Skelton aligns the alewife with her “female vendor” counterpart – the prostitute. Both are driven by their monetary appetite, both are portrayed as dirty, unsound, and “loose”, and both rely upon sexuality to sell their commodity. In the case of Elynour Rummyng, she attempts to persuade her customers to buy more ale, by convincing them it will preserve their youthfulness and their lustful sexuality:

She finishes her description by comparing herself and her husband to “two pygges in a sty”, heightening the correlation between female “vending”, lustful sexuality, and the physically grotesque. It’s important to note that in relation to the alewife, accusations concerning licentious sexual behavior were not meant to excite the audience, they were meant to disgust them. This priority on depicting “female vendors” as repulsive, serves as further evidence of the cultural anxiety emerging towards them. The message was clear – if the Renaissance woman was to be successful in the marketplace, she must incorporate lustful sexuality into her commodity; however, once she did so, her “trade” was automatically rendered base and grotesque.

For more information, concerning perceptions of the female "grotesque", continue on to

‘The Unsound Female Body’