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Female Friendship Alliances in Shakespeare Milinda Jay

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Female Friendship Alliances in Shakespeare Milinda Jay Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2008 Female Friendship Alliances in Shakespeare Milinda Jay Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE FEMALE FRIENDSHIP ALLIANCES IN SHAKESPEARE By MILINDA JAY A Dissertatio submitted to the Departme t of E glish i partial fulfillme t of the requireme ts for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree A,arded- Fall Semester. 2001 The members of the Committee appro2e the Dissertatio of Mili da Jay defe ded o No2ember 3. 2001. Kare Laughli Professor Directi g Dissertatio Mary Kare Dahl Outside Committee Member Fred Sta dley Committee Member Jim O4Rour5e Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has 2erified a d appro2ed the abo2e amed committee members. ii This dissertatio is dedicated to the commu ity of ,ome ,ho ha2e supported me through the ma y stages of this ,or5. a d my mother. Sarah Jay. ,hose lo2e ourished my dreams. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I ,ould li5e to tha 5 Kare Laughli ,hose u ,a2eri g support of my ideas made completio of this ,or5 possible. I ,ould also li5e to tha 5 Charles Stephe so for getti g me started o this ,or5 ,ith a Christmas prese t of Gree blatt4s biography of Sha5espeare a d Betty Mc5i ie ,ho patie tly read draft after draft of this ma uscript. A special tha 5s to Kathie 7oer er a d her family for ta5i g care of me ,hile I re2ised i the peace of their mou tai home. But. most importa tly. I ,ould li5e to tha 5 my husba d. Hal. a d my childre Je y. Mega . Ross. Morga a d Robbie for ta5i g my ,or5 seriously. a d for te di g o e a other. a d me so that I could fi ish. i2 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION............................................................................................... 1 Methodology ............................................................................................. 1 The Parameters of this 7or5...................................................................... 3 PROLOGUE ...................................................................................... 6 1. The Merry Wives of Windsor.......................................................................... 17 Sy opsis ............................................................................................. 17 Brief Critical O2er2ie,.............................................................................. 17 7ome a d Commu ity Values................................................................ 11 I Productio ............................................................................................ 21 Some history............................................................................................... 24 The Effect of Female Allia ces o Other Characters ................................ 23 2. Much Ado About Nothing............................................................................... 21 Sy opsis ............................................................................................... 21 Critical O2er2ie, ...................................................................................... 21 Textual Suggestio s ................................................................................... 30 From Text to Film...................................................................................... 30 From Commodity to Commu ity............................................................... 33 3. As You Like It .............................................................................................. 41 Sy opsis ............................................................................................... 41 Critical O2er2ie,....................................................................................... 41 Playi g to the Audie ce ............................................................................. 42 The Nature of Frie dship ........................................................................... 43 Sisterhood o Stage a d i Film ................................................................ 43 Shelley Taylor4s Te di g a d Befrie di g................................................ 49 4. Antony and Cleopatra ................................................................................... 33 Sy opsis ............................................................................................... 33 Frie dship Allia ces ,ithi the Play ......................................................... 33 A to y a d Cleopatra o Film................................................................... 31 2 3. Hamlet ............................................................................................... 60 Sy opsis ............................................................................................... 60 Critical O2er2ie,....................................................................................... 60 The Impact of Misallia ce a d Isolatio .................................................... 61 Gertrude4s Jour ey..................................................................................... 61 Ophelia Alo e ........................................................................................... 66 6. Othello ............................................................................................... 71 Sy opsis ............................................................................................... 71 Critical O2er2ie,....................................................................................... 71 The Tragic Co seque ce of Misallia ce.................................................... 72 Emilia a d Desdemo a o Stage ............................................................... 76 7ithout the Protectio of Frie ds.............................................................. 77 7. Macbeth ............................................................................................... 10 Sy opsis ............................................................................................... 10 Critical O2er2ie,....................................................................................... 10 Te di g Tur ed Upside Do, ................................................................... 11 Shelley Taylor a d Negati2e Te di g........................................................ 13 Isolatio i Productio ............................................................................... 17 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 19 REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 91 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ............................................................................. 101 2i ABSTRACT This dissertatio exami es the importa ce of female frie dship allia ces i Sha5espeare's plays a d ho, such allia ces affect those e gaged i them as ,ell as the commu ity arou d them. Their 2alue to i di2iduals a d to the broader commu ity is demo strated both by the prese ce of supporti2e i terrelatio ships a d by their abse ce. Focusi g o A Comedy of Errors. The Winter$s Tale. Merry Wives of Windsor. Much Ado About Nothing. As You Like It. Antony and Cleopatra. Hamlet. Othello a d Macbeth. I see5 to reread a d reappropriate Sha5espeare as a propo e t of ,ome 's affiliati2e groups a d commu ities of ,ome . I these plays. positi2e female allia ces ha2e a affirmati2e effect o the commu ity arou d them; egati2e female allia ces or females isolated from female frie ds or supporti2e female family structures. do ot fare ,ell. or does their immediate commu ity. My methodology is both femi ist. i ,hich I rely o the rece t critical theories of Phyllis Rac5i . amo g others. a d psychological usi g the i sights of Shelley Taylor a d her research o the o2erall health i sured by female frie dships. 7hile much rece t literary criticism of Sha5espeare has bee relati2ely sile t o Sha5espeare4s pri2ilegi g of ,ome i commu ity. co temporary directors of Sha5espeare4s plays ha2e ot. I ,ill therefore exami e some of the ,ays that moder productio s of Sha5espeare ha2e brought these eleme ts of Sha5espeare's ,or5 to the forefro t as ,ell as. i some cases. offeri g suggestio s for bri gi g these issues to life o the stage. 2ii INTRODUCTION A sub%ect which still needs much further exploration is the way in which close female bonding persisted(parallel to the familiar bonding of men(Many very close female friendships developed, closer in many cases than those with husbands( Lawrence Stone: The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800 I. Methodology Gayle Austi traces the history of femi ist scholarship through 1916 i her ,or5 ,eminist Theories for Dramatic Criticism A1990). Similarly. i a essay traci g the history of femi ist scholarship i Sha5espeare. appeari g as the epilogue to Women$s .evisions of Shakespeare, Carol Thomas Neely traces the femi ist criticism of Sha5espeare through the eighties. a d pro2ides for us a model of categoriCatio of the criticism. More rece tly Phyllis Rac5i a alyCes the criticism through 2003 i her 2003 ,or5. Shakespeare$s Women A2003),. I fi d Neely4s model useful i categoriCi g tre ds i the scholarship. a d helpful i allo,i g us to see ,here ,e. as femi ist critics. ha2e bee . a d. hopefully. ,here ,e are goi g. Neely herself borro,ed the categories from Gerda Ler er. a d I ,ill follo, Neely4s lead i re2isi g the categories a bit to see ,here ,e. as femi ist critics.
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