Gender and Performativity: Shakespeare’s Cross-dressing Women.docx (original) (raw)
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATION & PHILOLOGY, 2022
ABSTRACT In William Shakespeare’s As You Like It (1623/1994), cross-dressing is used not only as a theatrical tool to fill in a gap resulting from female physical absence on the Elizabethan stage; it also serves as a symbolic act that opens new perspectives and raises questions about socio-cultural issues related to gender roles and gender performance. This research follows the development of the cross-dressed Rosalind, a female character played by a man and disguised as a man. The study equally considers the question of female agency and power through the female character’s act of disguise. It attempts to show whether Rosalind manages or fails to acquire a self-sufficient identity through her physical transvestism. The scrutiny of cross-dressing as a metatheatrical device enhances the problematization of the matter of gender performance in the play. Keywords: cross-dressing – identity – femininity – resilience – submissiveness – metatheatre.
CLOTHES MAKE THE (WO)MAN: SHAKESPEARE'S EXPLORATION OF GENDER THROUGH THE CROSSDRESSING HEROINE
This paper takes a look at Shakespeare's use of the crossdressing heroine over the course of his published works in an attempt to determine his constantly transforming view of gender, in particular, the role of women. Taking into consideration the visual nature of both plays and society during the Renaissance, the limitations of medical science, and the complexities of a crossdressing woman played by a man, Shakespeare's works show a clear evolution from thinking of women as lesser men to seeing the two genders as indistinct from one another without societal regulations.
From Casting to Casting Away Gender: Cross-Gendering in Modern Shakespeare Performance
2016
The Elizabethan practice of cross-dressing added much to the reading of the plays. From the display of the male sexual desires to protection of women in the public sphere, all issues were closely looked at. However, the 20th century investigated the cross-dressing motif in many theatrical and film performances with a slight change. Several directors cast women in the role of famous Shakespeare male protagonists. This paper shall explore this move and see how it adds or changes meaning in the reading of the plays, in theatre performances and films. The year 1660 marked an important juncture in the English theatre. Not only was monarchy restored in England but Charles II also allowed women to enter the stage. Thus, women replaced the young adolescent males who cross-dressed in order to portray the women characters in Shakespeare's plays. Although, the cross-dressing motif might seem strange to some, this practice can be traced back to Ancient Greeks who did not allow women to ente...
Gendered Guise: Shakespeare’s use of Transvestism and Gender Appropriation in his Plays
LITINFINITE JOURNAL
Disguise as a recurrent aspect in Shakespeare's plays According to Lee Jamieson in her essay "Disguise in Shakespeare", disguise is a powerful tool in Elizabethan England. One can instantly change one"s position, alter an onlooker"s perception on and off the stage. Despite the English Sumptuary Laws, (which could dictate what color and type of clothing individuals were permitted to wear, that can easily identify rank and privilege) disguise proved to be extremely convenient even for the audience: women would often be seen using some ways of "identity covers-up" to go to the theatres. Importantly, characters resorting to disguise in a plot-device common in William Shakespeare"s time. It was also considered "controversial and
2007
Pertanyaan apakah Shakespeare adalah seorang feminis atau misoginis sudah lama muncul. Drama-drama Shakespeare sering menampilkan karakter perempuan yang beranekaragam. Kebanyakan tragedi yang ditulis Shakespeare menonjolkan ketidakberdayaan perempuan terhadap dominasi laki-laki. Lavinia dalam Titus Andronicus, Desdemona dalam Othello, Gertrude dan Ophelia dalam Hamlet, Lady Macbeth dalam Macbeth, atau Juliet sekalipun dalam Romeo and Juliet mencerminkan tokoh-tokoh perempuan yang menjadi korban. Dilema antara fakta untuk mengakhiri sebuah tragedi dan sikap Shakespeare terhadap perempuan pada zaman Ratu Elizabeth I akan menjadi persoalan. Namun, dalam komedi-nya, Shakespeare seperti berjuang ‘membebaskan’ perempuan. Tokoh-tokoh utama dalam komedi kebanyakan perempuan. Rosalind dalam As You Like It, Hermia dalam A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Beatrice dalam Measure for Measure, Portia dalam Merchant of Venice, atau Viola dalam Twelft Night adalah tokoh-tokoh perempuan yang merepresentasi...
CROSS-DRESSING AND GENDER PERFORMATIVITY IN WIL-LIAM SHAKESPEARE'S AS YOU LIKE IT
2022
In Shakespeare's time, clothing served as an object of differentiation between men and women. The wearing of the other gender's clothing by an individual was therefore a transgression of social norms. However, in Shakespeare's theater, particularly in the play As You Like It, there is a disruption of gender norms through the presence of Rosalind, a transvestite figure with a transgressive attitude. This reflection will analyze the different speeches of this character who disturbs the fixity of gender binary by wearing male clothing and adopting attitudes that do not conform to her sex. Judith Butler's concept of performativity and pragmatics by the illocutionary acts classified by John R. Searle (1975) will be used as theoretical tools.
Advances in Language and Literary Studies
The main argument of this article is focused on three plays by William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Hamlet and Merry Wives of Windsor. There are several points in these plays which deal with woman and their rights. This article deals with Shakespeare’s plays in relation to feminism, which pays more attention to the rights of women and their true identity. In all societies women are defined in terms of their relations to men as the center of power to which women have limited or no access. Judith Butler's performativity is significance on understandings of gender identity. Butler believes that gender is produced in society; also it can be changed in society. Feminism should aim to create a society in which, one's sexual anatomy is irrelevant to who one is, and what one does. Shakespeare’s view of a woman is shown through his representation of female characters in his plays specifically in Macbeth, Hamlet and Merry Wives of Windsor.
Cross dressing in Shakespearean plays
2022
2022/23 "I am not that I play" (Viola, Twelfth Night). From both a gender dynamics and a performance perspective, discuss the theatrical convention of cross-dressing in Shakespeare's time, keeping in mind both the young male actors playing the female parts as well as the female characters often disguising themselves as men.