HELP FEMALE ATTACKING MALE

I have a 1 1/2 year old female...and 1 year old male...and 3 kittens. They are a family, mother father...Sheba (queen) gave birth on March 19th 2001. Mogsley (tom) used to lay with Sheba and her kids in the closet for a long long time....weeks....the kittens are about 6-7 weeks old now and running around crazy...4 days ago in the dark of the house , i accidentally stepped on one of the kittens tails...i felt so bad...but Sheba full fledged attacked
me like a wild animal. I have never seen that before. The questions i need help with is not that per say, because I know she was protecting her young, but since that day she has been horribly attacking and tormenting our male cat Mogsley. She has kept in hostage in the bath room that if he moved she would scratch and try to maul him....I have kept him in my bedroom now..because he is such a passive animal....please help me..what is going on with my female cat...why is she being this way all of a sudden? What do I do? I am starting to become afraid of her and I fear for my male.

Well, she is a new mother and her responses are normal. For now, mom and babies need to be in a seperate room. Nothing you do can change her instinct. I would take this time and have your male neutered and as soon as the kittens are minimum 8 weeks I would take mom and have her spayed. This is going to decrease all hormones and make for a more peaceful house. All intact cats are going to have a higher chance of fighting and unwanted behavior.