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Defending Desdemona, Reclaiming Cordelia: a Woman-Centric Defense of Shakespeare's Heroines in Othello and King Lear

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Defending Desdemona, Reclaiming Cordelia: a Woman-Centric Defense of Shakespeare's Heroines in Othello and King Lear Defending Desdemona, Reclaiming Cordelia: A Woman-Centric Defense of Shakespeare's Heroines in Othello and King Lear The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Doody, Jennifer Ann. 2017. Defending Desdemona, Reclaiming Cordelia: A Woman-Centric Defense of Shakespeare's Heroines in Othello and King Lear. Master's thesis, Harvard Extension School. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:33813399 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Defending Desdemona, Reclaiming Cordelia: A Woman-Centric Defense of Shakespeare’s Heroines in Othello and King Lear Jennifer Ann Doody A Thesis in the Field of English for the Degree of Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies Harvard University March 2017 Copyright 2017 by Jennifer Ann Doody Abstract Since the debut of Othello and King Lear more than 400 years ago, the characters of Desdemona and Cordelia have largely served to highlight the despair and fall of their male counterparts. The rise of women’s power in the modern age, however, raises questions about this dismissive approach to two of Shakespeare’s most formidable heroines. Theatre professionals are approaching Desdemona and Cordelia with enlightened eyes, and today’s playwrights are even penning continuations of both Desdemona and Cordelia’s stories, reclaiming them for new audiences and continuing their journeys. Why do these characters resonate so deeply with us today, and is their resurgence justified? In-depth, woman-centric analysis of Shakespeare’s texts, extensive interviews with expert professionals in Shakespearean performance, and examinations of modern works that put both Desdemona and Cordelia center stage reveal an ongoing transformation in how these women are perceived, presented, and empowered in the modern age. While this evolution is by no means complete, the rise of women’s power, and the continued struggle for their own dreams, rights, and their very lives, plays an enormous role in how Desdemona and Cordelia are perceived. When we consider Desdemona and Cordelia as full human beings who deserve to be heard and to live, rather than as collateral damage for the tragic journeys of Othello and Lear, respectively, can we appreciate the true depth of Shakespeare’s tragedies. Dedication For Wilson Mejia Sims - (yes, you) - who only ever needed to hear, and believe. Acknowledgements This labor of love would not have been finished without the support, encouragement, and scholarship of the following magnificent people. The ALM team at the Extension School, Sarah Powell and Talaya Delaney, kept me on track despite my doubts, multiple setbacks, and re-starts. My thesis advisor, Remo Airaldi, sharpened my prose with every meeting and left an ocean of superfluous adjectives in his wake. Their expertise and endless dedication kept me on track and improved every page. My Cambridge Tribe - Dr. Carla Martin, Siobhan O’Shaughnessy, Trevor Bass, and Jude Heichelbech - never stopped believing that this work would be finished. They often suggested it would even be good. Their compassion and unilateral support kept me going when my stores were empty. The love and optimism of my Florida Tribe and Chosen Family, Jonathan Pouliot and James Grenelle, made long nights in the library, and dark nights of the soul, fly by. My oldest friend, Jennifer Rowe Verhaeren, distracted me with rollicking belly laughs - as she always has, through the most challenging of times - until research felt like a privilege and not a chore. My mother, Marianne Seibel Neumann, gave me my love of theater, and her life journey has always inspired my faith in myself and my feminist worldview. My father, Robert J. Doody, gave me my love of words, and challenged me to dig into the details and critique, making me the best writer I could be. This thesis is a unique opportunity to honor, and to celebrate, them both. Table of Contents Dedication………………………………………………………………………….….iv Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………….v I. Introduction…………………………………………………………………….1 II. Text Analysis: Desdemona in Othello……………………………………...….10 Text Analysis: Cordelia/The Fool in King Lear…………………………….....30 III. Performance: Desdemona in Othello at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, 2007…………………………………………………………………....……….59 Performance: Cordelia/The Fool in King Lear at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, 2013-2014………………...………………………………………..…....……..82 IV. New Works: Desdemona, 2011……..……………………….……...…………99 New Works: Lear/Cordelia, 2016…………………………………………....113 V. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………122 Appendix A: Interviews Bill Buckhurst, Director, King Lear……………………………………..…...125 Bethan Cullinane, Cordelia/The Fool, King Lear.............................................136 Wilson Milam, Director, Othello…………………………………………......146 Farrah Chaudhry, Playwright, Cordelia………………...………….………....157 Ben Spiller, Dramaturg and Director, Lear…………..……………………….166 Appendix B: Figures Benedict Cumberbatch………………………….……………..……………178 Tom Hiddleston…………………………………..…..………………..........179 Bethan Cullinane………………………………...………………………….180 Appendix C: Script for Lear/Cordelia, 2016 Lear…………………………………………….…………………………...184 Cordelia………………………………………..…………………………....226 Bibliography…………………………………………..…………………………….266 Chapter I Introduction This thesis explores the modern significance of Desdemona and Cordelia/The Fool, characters from Shakespeare’s plays Othello and King Lear, respectively. In considering them from a 21st-century perspective - as individuals with their own dreams of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (U.S. Declaration of Independence, 1776), rather than characters whose purpose is to provide the reader or audience with greater insight to their male counterparts - I find that their value has been greatly underappreciated. Fortunately, in scholarship, performance, and new texts, academics and performers are beginning to advocate for Desdemona and Cordelia/The Fool, given them the greater respect, visibility, and attention that they deserve. In part, this phenomenon has sprung from the roots up, directly from actors and performers themselves. In 2013, responding to a question about violence toward women, Sir Patrick Stewart opened up about his own childhood experience with domestic violence: “...the people who could do (the) most to improve the situation of so many women and children are, in fact, men. It’s in our hands to stop violence toward women... as a child, I heard doctors and ambulance men say (to my mother), ‘Mrs. Stewart, you must have done something to provoke him.’ ‘Mrs. Stewart, it takes two to make an argument.’ Wrong. Wrong! My mother did nothing to provoke that, and even if she had, violence is never, ever a choice that a man should makes. Ever.” (Stewart 2013) 1 Stewart is not alone in advocating for women. Actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston appeared in Elle Magazine for its 2014 feminism issue, wearing T- shirts emblazoned with the words, “This is what a feminist looks like” (Grossman, 2014; images provided in Appendix B, 187-188). While one must not be a performer to speak out for women - President Obama notably said the same words of himself while addressing the first-ever United State of Women summit in 2016 (Rhodan 2016) - it is noteworthy that the three actors, all master performers, each have extensive stage training in the performance of Shakespeare. Stewart first joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 and won the 1979 Laurence Olivier Award for Actor of the Year (Biography). Cumberbatch performed the title role of Hamlet at the Barbican in 2015, as well as Richard III in Henry IV, Part II as part of a 2016 BBC mini-series (The Hollow Crown: War of the Roses 2016). Hiddleston won the Laurence Olivier Best Newcomer Award for playing both Cloten and Posthumus in Shakespeare’s Cymbeline (Hiddleston 2008) and went on to perform multiple roles in the BBC’s The Hollow Crown (The Hollow Crown 2012), playing Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part I and Henry IV, Part II, and King Henry in Henry V. Given the extensive Shakespearean training of these three actors, if violence toward women is, in Stewart’s words, “never, ever a choice that a man should make, ever,” how can we reconcile that with the misogyny, abuse, and murder of female characters in Shakespeare’s canon? If we believe that violence against women is inexcusable, what effect does that have on our interpretations of Othello or King Lear? How does that new, pro-women worldview affect modern productions of those plays, and how do they differ from productions that existed prior to that worldview? What can we gain from new plays that reimagine or 2 build upon Shakespeare’s canon, giving female characters even more time and space to share their experiences and their stories with modern audiences? The idea that Shakespeare’s women are valuable as individuals and worthy of their own study - in Shakespeare’s text, in the performance of his plays, and in the new stories that continue their histories - comes at a pivotal moment for women. In 2016, one of the most qualified candidates to ever pursue the office of President of the United States, Hillary Clinton, become the first female candidate to be nominated by a major political party; yet she also lost to a man deemed “manifestly unqualified — by experience,
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