Gender, Power, and Politics on the Early Modern Stage (I) (Pre-1800)

In this class we will explore the representation of embodiment on the early modern stage, considering as we do so how theatrical embodiment intersects with other treatments of the body in early modern culture. As we consider the representation of the gendered body on stage or in so-called "closet" dramas, we will read both early modern and contemporary theoretical accounts of gender as performance, investigating among other issues the use of boy actors, the representation of specifically "female" disorders (e.g., "suffocation" or hysteria), the performance of maternity, the portrayal of female "voice" or vocality, and the treatment of same-sex eroticism. We will also study the dramatic use of related cultural codes pertaining to betrothal, marriage, cross-dressing, and sexual slander. Primary readings will include: Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, Webster's Duchess of Malfi, Cary's Tragedy of Mariam, and Cavendish's Convent of Pleasure. Historical sources will include midwifery manuals, conduct books, medical treatises on hysteria, and legal accounts of betrothal and marriage. 3 hrs. lect.