UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2003 Decapitation and disgorgement: The female body's text in early modern English literature Melanie Ann Hanson University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Hanson, Melanie Ann, "Decapitation and disgorgement: The female body's text in early modern English literature" (2003). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 2568. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/cnaf-fj97 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ]3]3%:/lF'riVlTriC)a[y\]qi) r)DS(3()FlCH33W[EnNnr:TrBIEin3!üLAJLIi]3()I)Tf'S TTEOCr by Melanie Ann Hanson Bachelor of Arts San Diego State University 1975 Master o f Arts University of Nevada, Las Vegas 1998 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor oflMWloiM)pl&y *m ISmyBUwdh (]oUegp:()f]LjlNarmll Art» Grmdmmte CoOege Umivcrgi^ of Nevmdo, Lw Vcgmm Mmy2004 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3143381 Copyright 2004 by Hanson, Melanie Ann All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3143381 Copyright 2004 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by Melanie Ann Hanson 2004 All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dissertation Approval The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas .20Ü& The Dissertation prepared by Melanie Ann Hanson Entitled Decapitation and Disgorgement: the Female Body's Text in Early Modern English Literature _________________ is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of __________ Doctor of Philosophy in English ■! I (_r ExamiMiohJ^oinmittee Chair Dean of the Graduate College Examination Committee Exankna Gmduate College Faculty Representative 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Decmphmdom and Dbgorgement: The Female Body*» Teat in Early Modem English Literature by Melanie Ann Hanson Dr. Evelyn Gajowski, Examination Committee Chair Pro&ssor o f English University of Nevada, Las Vegas My dissertation focuses on language and forms of expression for women in early modem English literature. In particular, William Shakespeare’s character Lavinia from Titus Andronicus, Elizabeth Cary’s character Mariam inThe Tragedy of Mariam, and Isabella Whitney’s narrative voice in her poem “The Maimer of Her Will” are examined. / \ French feminist Helene Cixous provides the theoretical framework for this project. Exploring manifestations of Cixous’s crucial terms “decapitation” and “disgorgement” is the objective of the three core chapters. Privileging the female body’s text and discussing the variety of means used to “speak” it is of central concern. The coimection between silencing and expression that brings about a subversion of discourse through generosity rather than hostility is interrogated. I continue to be excited by an investigation of unique ways in which women use language to express rather than be repressed by patriarchal society. This project attempts to follow in the footsteps of contemporary psychoanalytic feminists and post-structuralist critics. m Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT......................................................................................................................iü ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................ v CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION............................................................................1 Review of Prior Criticism and Critical Dialogue ..................................................... 4 Research Methodology ............................................................................................11 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................13 CHAPTER TWO LAVINIA IN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ...............................................................................................................23 Figurative Decapitation .......................................................................................... 25 Disgorgement .......................................................................................................... 42 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................57 N otes ........................................................................................................................62 CHAPTER THREE MARIAM IN ELIZABETH CARY’S THE TTMGEOy O f ................................................................................ 63 Figurative Decapitation ...........................................................................................64 Disgorgement ...........................................................................................................80 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................90 Notes ........................................................................................................................97 CHAPTER FOUR THE POETRY OF ISABELLA WHITNEY..................................98 Figurative Decapitation ......................................................................................... 101 Disgorgement ......................................................................................................... 112 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 136 Notes ...................................................................................................................... 138 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION............................................................................ 139 WORKS CITED.............................................................................................................. 156 VITA................................................................................................................................ 147 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my appreciation to my examination committee. Dr. Evelyn Gajowski, Dr. Charles Whitney, Dr. Kelly J. Mays, and Dr. Kathryn Hausbeck who were instrumental in the development of this dissertation. Most importantly, I want to thank my parents, Milford and Florine Hanson, for their abiding support and encouragement Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION My dissertation takes a postmodern and feminist look at early modem English literature, focusing on language and forms of exi^ession for women. Male and female writers such as William Shakespeare, Elizabeth Caiy, and Isabella Whitney and female dramatic characters such as Lavinia from Titus Andronicus and Mariam from The Tragedy o f Mariam constitute the subjects of my analysis. The theories of French feminist Helene Cixous provide the theoretical framework. Her ideas and semantics are tools for the discernment of women’s voices from the past and the present, voices that have been stifled by oppression but are still recognizable if women are willing to investigate them. The means of expression for females in history and females in literature is stifled and female sexuality is manipulated by early modem English patriarchy, both in the historical period and in the dramatic worlds of the plays; however, female writers and the authors of the period who constmct female characters are able to employ various means to outpour female desire. How the female body straggles to express text is what first intrigued me about the stixty o f the English Renaissance aixl its literature and has been