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Gender and the King's Two Bodies: Interpreting Female

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Gender and the King's Two Bodies: Interpreting Female GENDER AND THE KING’S TWO BODIES: INTERPRETING FEMALE CHARACTERS IN SELECT ELIZABETHAN AND JACOBEAN DRAMA By Hadley Kamminga-Peck B.A., The Colorado College, 2005 M.A., John Moores University, 2008 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Theatre & Dance 2015 This thesis entitled: Gender and the King’s Two Bodies: Interpreting Female Characters in Select Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama written by Hadley Kamminga-Peck has been approved for the Department of Theatre & Dance ______________________________________________________ Dr. Oliver Gerland ______________________________________________________ Dr. James M. Symons Date: __________________ The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the forms meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. Kamminga-Peck, Hadley (Ph.D., Theatre & Dance) Gender and the King’s Two Bodies: Interpreting Female Characters in Select Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama Thesis directed by Associate Professor Oliver Gerland The theory of the king’s two bodies was a mid-16th century political theory articulated in the Inns of Court to help understand and define the role of the monarch in England. The theory divides the reigning monarch into two entities: a body natural (corporeal, fallible, mortal, and imperfect) and a body politic (spiritual, infallible, immortal, and perfect). The body politic, which is the same body politic for every monarch, renders the body natural perfect, so that any defect created by a king’s age or a queen’s gender did not affect his or her reign. While the theory has been applied to Elizabethan history plays like Richard II, this dissertation identifies further implications of the theory, given its formulation under Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. In looking at gender roles in Elizabethan England and their interpretation on the public stage, this theory permitted portrayals of women beyond the ideal, mythical Elizabethan woman. The theory highlights a particular gender fluidity and identity established in Elizabethan England that has been somewhat ignored in analysis of drama. This dissertation aims to investigate the ramifications of the theory beyond the limits of the monarchy. By identifying traditional roles of women – queens, ladies, wives, mothers, daughters, widows, servants – and then investigating their portrayal in histories and tragedies including Shakespeare’s Henry VI tetralogy, Webster’s Duchess of Malfi, the anonymously written Arden of Faversham, and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, it becomes clear how Elizabeth’s use of this theory opened the pathway to a more diverse portrayal of women and gender on the stage. iii To my parents, whose love and support knows no bounds iv Acknowledgements Many thanks to Dr. Oliver Gerland, whose guidance is invaluable. And to Professor Emeritus James Symons, for sharing his passion. And to my committee members for their patience and support: Dr. Bud Coleman, Dr. Genevieve Love, and Dr. Beth Osnes And to Jenn and James, for sticking by me and getting me through. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................... 1 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 NEED FOR STUDY ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................................................... 5 METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER ORGANIZATION ........................................................................................................................................................ 9 CHAPTER ONE .................................................................................................................................................... 13 PLOWDEN ................................................................................................................................................................................. 14 FORSET ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 20 CONTEMPORARY ITERATIONS .............................................................................................................................................. 24 MONARCHS AND MARRIAGE ................................................................................................................................................. 28 CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................................................... 33 THE MYTHICAL IDEAL ........................................................................................................................................................... 33 THE REALITY ........................................................................................................................................................................... 42 THE QUEENS ............................................................................................................................................................................ 48 CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................................................... 61 BODY NATURAL ...................................................................................................................................................................... 66 BODY POLITIC ......................................................................................................................................................................... 74 DEMISE ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 86 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................................................ 98 CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................................................................ 104 BODY NATURAL ................................................................................................................................................................... 109 BODY POLITIC ...................................................................................................................................................................... 119 DEMISE .................................................................................................................................................................................. 132 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................................................... 145 CHAPTER FIVE .................................................................................................................................................. 150 BODY NATURAL ................................................................................................................................................................... 158 BODY POLITIC ...................................................................................................................................................................... 169 DEMISE .................................................................................................................................................................................. 180 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................................................... 195 CHAPTER SIX ..................................................................................................................................................... 199 BODY NATURAL ................................................................................................................................................................... 208 BODY POLITIC ...................................................................................................................................................................... 217 DEMISE .................................................................................................................................................................................. 222 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................................................... 237 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................................
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