Shakespeare's Dowry: Subjectivity and Resistance in The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, and The Merchant of Venice (original) (raw)

This dissertation analyzes dowry in three Shakespeare plays-The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, and The Merchant of Venice. The analysis aims to show that the dowry negotiations and agreements are the most important component of the patriarchal structure of marriage depicted in Shakespeare's plays. Since dowry agreements signal the impending transition from feme sole to feme covert, they are appropriated by the women in the three plays under consideration as the first stage in a process to assure subjectivity after their marriages. To maintain subjectivity, Katharina, Bianca, Juliet, Portia, and Jessica seek to create and occupy a liminal space between the subjectivity allowed a feme sole and the obliteration of the legal and social identity demanded by their new status as femes covert. Since dowry negotiations and agreements signal the impending change from subject to object, the women use them as the first stage of opportunity in their quests to maintain subjectivity after marriage. as well as Jessica's transformation from Jewish feme sole to Christian feme covert. I conclude with a discussion Shakespeare's use of dowry as a character development device and to reveal the father's authentic relationships with their daughters.