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The Crisis of Masculinity

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The Crisis of Masculinity The Crisis of Masculinity: Twins, Early Modern Medicine, and Drama, 1594-1655 POWELL, Louise Marie Available from Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at: http://shura.shu.ac.uk/25117/ This document is the author deposited version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it. Published version POWELL, Louise Marie (2019). The Crisis of Masculinity: Twins, Early Modern Medicine, and Drama, 1594-1655. Doctoral, Sheffield Hallam University. Copyright and re-use policy See http://shura.shu.ac.uk/information.html Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive http://shura.shu.ac.uk The Crisis of Masculinity: Twins, Early Modern Medicine, and Drama, 1594-1655 Louise Marie Powell A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Sheffield Hallam University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 2019 Abstract This thesis examines the representation of twins in three early modern medical works and eight dramatic texts which were published between 1594 and 1655 in relation to the idea of a crisis of masculinity. It will analyse the illustrations and descriptions of two people who shared the same birth in midwifery manuals by Eucharius Rösslin, Jacques Guillemeau, and Jakob Rüff alongside the twin characters of dramatic works. The plays range from the very well known to the relatively obscure, while the gender configuration of twin characters is split evenly between wholly male and mixed-gender twins. Chapter One examines William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors (1594) and William Ryder’s The Twins (1635), while Chapter Two focuses upon John Fletcher’s The Bloody Brother (c.1617) and Francis Quarles’ The Virgin Widow (c. 1639). John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi (1614) and John Ford’s The Broken Heart (1628/29) are analysed in Chapter Three, with Chapter Four exploring William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (1600/01) and John Fletcher’s Monsieur Thomas (c. 1610). Through these four chapters, I argue that gynaecological writers, medical illustrators, and playwrights all employed twins in order to highlight factors which could cause a devaluation in masculine identity. A singular view of masculinity, the practice of primogeniture, the notion that men who shared power were effeminate, and the connection between violence and masculinity are all suggested to have the potential to plunge this form of identity into crisis. At the same time as medical and dramatic twins suggest that a crisis of masculinity could destroy this form of identity, however, they also indicate that such an event could strengthen it if the right conditions existed. This thesis therefore demonstrates that early modern medical and dramatic representations of twins were used in order to acknowledge how masculinity was presently constructed, and how it might be constituted if i attitudes and practices changed. It makes an original contribution to knowledge in that it is the first full-length study to analyse the way that medical and dramatic representations of twins related to early modern constructions of masculinity. ii Contents Abstract i Contents iii Acknowledgements iv Introduction 1 Chapter One: ‘You Are Most Like Me Yet Are Not the Same’: Twins and the Problem with Masculinity in The Comedy of Errors and The Twins 47 Chapter Two: ‘Now You Are a Man Sir’: Twins and the Issue of Masculinity in The Bloody Brother and The Virgin Widow 106 Chapter Three: ‘Should I Die This Instant, I Had Liv’d / Her Time to a Minute’: Twins and the Violence of Masculinity in The Duchess of Malfi and The Broken Heart 157 Chapter Four: ‘I Am Not What I Am’: Twins and the Transformation of Masculinity in Twelfth Night and Monsieur Thomas 227 Conclusion 280 Bibliography 289 iii Acknowledgements Sections of Chapter 1 are adapted from “William Ryder: The Twins’, first published in The Literary Encyclopedia, 1.2 (2018), <https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38827>. Sections of Chapter 3 are adapted from ‘“It Seems She Was Born First”: The Persistence of Twinship in The Duchess of Malfi and The Broken Heart’, first published in Early Modern Literary Studies, 26 (2017), 1-15. Sections of Chapter 4 are adapted from ‘“And Shall We Now Grow Strangers?”: The Persistence of Twinship in The Bloody Brother and Monsieur Thomas’, Parergon, 34.1 (2017), 143-61. When I have used quotations from early modern texts, I have retained their variant spellings. This PhD thesis could not have been written without the encouragement and advice of so many people. My first thanks must go to NECAH (North of England Consortium for Arts and Humanities Research), for the scholarship which made it financially possible for me to spend three years of my life carrying out research. Under the NECAH scheme of multiple supervisors who are based at different institutions, I have been exceptionally lucky to light upon the best supervisory team iv it is possible to be given. Lisa Hopkins is my Director of Studies, Todd Borlik is my First Supervisor, and Stewart Mottram is my Second Supervisor. These three academics are remarkable scholars, but they are even better people. They have allowed me to have a tremendous amount of independence, but have been completely accessible at all times. They have been just as ready to give suggestions for making my work better as to offer reassurance when it was needed. There have been many times throughout the past three years when I thought that I would never finish the thesis, but what kept me motivated was the knowledge that three people had more belief in my ability to complete than I did, and understood exactly how challenging a doctorate is. It has been an utter pleasure to work with them from start to finish. I must also acknowledge the support which my undergraduate and postgraduate lecturers have given me. When residency rules at another university prevented me from beginning my undergraduate degree there, Mark Dooley made it possible for me to instantly enrol at Teesside even though the first term was well underway. The outstanding academics within that department soon made me realise that I had fallen very much on my feet. It is highly unlikely that I would have researched representations of early modern twins without the inspirational teaching and the exceptional guidance of Amritesh Singh. I am grateful for his enthusiasm for all things early modern, his exacting standards, his approachability, and the interest he took in my work even when he no longer taught me. Paul Watson and Diane Railton were very kind to let me become their Student Researcher for their project on Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy even though I told them that I could barely stomach the books. Rachel Carroll always took my ambition of doing a PhD seriously. She mentored me and trusted me to become a Student Researcher for her v ‘Litpop’ project, which made me fully aware of just how much work goes into academic research. Helen Davies spent far more time than she probably should have done in helping me to develop as a researcher and improve as a writer, and I am grateful to her for being willing to supervise a dissertation on early modern drama when she specialised in Neo-Victorianism. That dissertation documented my very earliest thoughts on the topic which I have explored throughout this thesis, and I am also extremely grateful to Andy Duxfield for being willing to read it through and offer me some helpful feedback even though he was not paid for doing so. Rehana Ahmed took forty minutes out of her busy schedule each week to allow me to complete a module she convened, and gave me useful advice on academia at the same time. Rob Hawkes, meanwhile, has been a great source of encouragement and guidance. For a few horrible months in 2015 I thought that I would not be able to complete my MA, let alone embark upon a PhD, but Mandy Green’s kindness and compassion shone like a beacon through that dark time. She restored my confidence and gave me a love of Milton that I did not think I would ever feel when I first picked up Paradise Lost. Patrick Gray was also very supportive during my MA. It is thanks to his guidance and enthusiasm for a PhD which examined representations of early modern twins that I was able to become a doctoral student in the first place. I also owe a great debt of thanks to Barbara Ravelhofer, who sat with me for two hours on a snowy February night to trawl through references to twins in plays on LION, and Will Viney, who was kind enough to meet me and talk me through my ideas for a PhD proposal in their very earliest stages. I have benefitted from the opportunity to present my work at multiple conferences, and am very grateful to the people who have listened to my ideas and vi asked me thought-provoking questions. Special thanks must go to Johanna Green, Hannah Tweed, Diane Scott, and Francesca Mackay, who went above and beyond the call of conference duty during the ‘Medical Paratexts’ conference at the University of Glasgow, when tonsillitis and the nerves of presenting my first proper academic paper completely overwhelmed me. It is also a privilege to attend and present at the many research events which are organised by the Renaissance department at Sheffield Hallam. To be treated like an equal in a room full of so many brilliant scholars is both a humbling and an energising experience. I am extremely grateful for the support, encouragement, and humour of my good friends Zoe Matthews, Karianne Williamson, Robyn Ollett, Sophia Theos, Alexandra Jordan, and Lois Burke.
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