Kelly’s Blog

         William Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night raises issues concerning love and gender in the early 17^th century.   The confusion which originates in Act one of Twelfth Night is focused around Viola/Cesario.  There are three different types of love which Shakespeare focuses on in Act one of the comedy.  The first type of love which is exhibited is Orsino’s love for Olivia.  The second type of love which we see in the first act is Viola’s love for Orsino.  The third type of love is Olivia’s love for Cesario.  The three types of love question different aspects of gender fluidity in the 1600′s.

            The feelings which Orsino expresses for Olivia are typical of the lover/beloved binary of the 17^th century.  Orsino does not admire Oliva’s mind or personality—he admires her beauty: “O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first/ Methought she purged the air of pestilence” (1.1.20-21).  Orsino’s feelings for Olivia are significant because they show the reader why Olivia does not love Orsino.  As a woman, Olivia desires a man who will respects her intelligence, not only admire her beauty: “Your lord does not know my mind, I cannot love him” (1.5. 226).  The relationship between Olivia and Orsino displays the disconnect which existed between men and women.  Men sought friendship in other males, not in their women lovers.  Men saw their relationships with women as only physical.  Women’s attitudes differed because they wanted their male partner to be both a lover and a friend.

            The confusion which results from Viola’s love for Orsino is due to the dual role which she plays in the text.  Cesario fulfils Orsino’s desire for a male friend.  However, as Viola, she desires a romantic relationship with Orsino.  The relationship between Orsino and Viola shows the complications which arise from gender fluidity and love.  Cesario is described in the text as a eunuch.  Therefore, the character of Viola/Cesario is somewhat one of in-between a male and feminine character.

            Finally, the relationship which exists between Viola as Cesario and Olivia shows the divide between what men and women desired from relationships.  Olivia wants someone who will see her for who she really is and not only for her beauty.  When Cesario appeals to Olivia for Orsino, she tells Olivia everything which she wants to hear as a woman.  Cesario is able to successfully woe Olivia, because she is a woman and knows what women want.

            The problems which arise in Twelfth Night are a result of gender confusion and a lack of understanding which existed between men and women.  Viola/Cesario is the only character in the first act that is able to successfully relate to men and women, because she takes on the role of a male in the text.  Therefore, Viola/Cesario is able to better understand and please both men and women in the text.

          Henry Fielding had a well acknowledged influence on the writings of Jane Austen.  In Joseph Andrews, the reader can see the influence which Fielding had on Austen in book two, during the discussion of Leonora, Horatio, and Bellarmine.  In Jane Austen’s novel, Northanger Abbey, there is a similar love triangle between Isabella, James, and Captain Tilney.  Both Austen and Fielding are critical of the women (Isabella and Leonora) and suggest that money is more important than love.  However, Austen is more critical of her own sex, and has Isabella end up alone—while Fielding has Leonora ultimately choose Horatio over Bellarmine.  This choice which the women in the novels make highlights different subjects.  Both Austen and Fielding suggest that money is important when considering a match, but Austen suggests that Isabella’s want of money and status loose her both of the men in her life.

            Fielding’s Leonora is tempted to choose Bellarmine in a very similar fashion to Isabella falling for Captain Tilney in Northanger Abbey.  Both women are tempted by another man at a ball, which their fiancés are not attending.  Both Isabella and Leonora are tempted by the status and wealth of the men who take over their emotions and attachments.  Neither James nor Horatio are men of wealth, and their prospective marriages with Isabella and Leonora are matches of love, not advancement.  However, Fielding and Austen develop the outcome of Isabella’s and Leonora’s relationships differently.

            Leonora chooses Bellarmine over Horatio, but when Bellarmine is almost killed she begins to question her attachment to Bellarmine.  Then, Leonora marries Horatio instead of Bellarmine.  This match suggests that Leonora is not virtuous (like the majority of the women in Joseph Andrews.  However, she ends up marrying for love—despite her fickle nature.  In Northanger Abbey, Isabella tries to get James back, after their relationship is dissolved.  However, unlike Horatio, James sees through Isabella’s wicked character and Isabella ends up alone.  The character of the women in Fielding’s and Austen’s novels is very similar—however Austen is more critical of women who choose to make a romantic match for money.

In Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock,” Pope explores the power dynamic between men and women.  Pope looks carefully at the differences between how women and men obtain what they want.  Belinda attracts the Baron with her beautiful looks, especially the lock of hair which she takes special care of.  The Baron takes what he wants by force, by stealing the lock while she is deep in thought.  The actions and motives of Belinda in the text suggest that women want men to be attracted to them, and are therefore not as innocent as they initially seem.

            In the first two cantos of the poem, Belinda’s beauty is emphasized as being more important than her sense and personality: “Yet graceful ease and sweetness void of pride Might hide her faults, if belles had faults to hide: If to her shame some female errors fall.  Look on her face, and you’ll forget them all” (2: 15-18).  In this passage concerning beauty over faults, Pope emphasizes the importance of female beauty as their main source of power.

            Belinda’s lock of hair emphasizes the importance of female beauty in the text.  Belinda purposely takes special care of her hair, in order to be attractive: “This nymph, to the destruction of mankind, nourished two locks which graceful hung behind” (2:20-23).  When the Baron steal’s Belinda’s treasured lock of hair, the reader sees that she is thinking about him.  Belinda’s thoughts suggest that the Baron has already achieved his goal: “The adventurous Baron the bright locks admired, He saw, he wished, and to the prize aspired” (2:30-31). The Baron’s goal was ultimately to conquer Belinda, which is represented by his taking her lock of hair.  However, Belinda had already succeeded in her goal of attracting the Baron, questioning the power hierarchy of the text.

            The thoughts at the end of the text suggest that Pope is questioning the motives and the morals of women: “Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul” (5: 34).  Pope questions the importance of beauty, and suggests that women will not accept that they are silly and insensible because they do not want to give up their power of beauty.   

            In book four of Paradise Lost, Satan tempts Eve which leads to the fall of man.  When Satan tries to enter the garden there are two important aspects which demonstrate the importance of gates in the text of Paradise Lost.  The first point of interest in this scene is how easy it is for Satan to enter the garden, despite the fact that it seems heavily defended.  Secondly, the deceptive nature of the garden is seen by Satan’s entry into the garden.  The gate to the garden and Satan’s ability to penetrate the gate demonstrate the questions about God’s intentions concerning free will.

            The appearance of the garden suggests that it is difficult for Satan to enter the garden.  However, Satan has no difficulty achieving this feat: “At one slight bound high overleaped all bounds” (4: 181).  Satan’s ability to go into the garden with no difficulty leads the reader to question the idea of boundaries in the text.  God makes it easy to go into the garden because of free will.  Satan enters the garden in order to challenge the free will of mankind, and succeeds.  God’s concept of free will is supposed to lead to man choosing to love and follow him.  However, mankind falls because of a want of knowledge and equality.  Eve wants to be equal to Adam, and Adam wants to be equal to God. 

            The deceptive nature of the garden makes the reader question free will.  It is easy for Satan to enter the garden, and to tempt Eve.  The tree of knowledge demonstrates how God tempts mankind, and how they do not choose to follow God.  The desire to have equality suggests that boundaries are seen a traps in Paradise Lost.  The boundaries of the garden are not meant to keep people out, they are meant to keep people inside.  There are no boundaries surrounding the tree, and Eve’s only reason for not eating the fruit is because God told Adam not to eat it.  Eve does not accept the words of God through Adam, and seeks to gain equality through eating the fruit on the tree.  Gates as traps allow the reader to question free will and why God gave free will to man.

                       Things are not always what they appear.  This is apparent in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene.  The Garden of Bliss (Book 2, Canto 12) is representative of the dangers of being deceived by what one sees.  Sir Guyon, who is supposed to represent the importance of temperance, is tempted to look at the things which are around him in the garden.  The force which most represents temptation in The Garden of Bliss is the beautiful witch, Acrasia.  The description of Acrasia is full of rose imagery.  This is significant because roses are beautiful in appearance, but can cause physical harm to someone if they are pricked by a rose’s thorns.  The rose imagery in The Bower of Bliss represents the danger of appearance in the garden and the dangerousness of falling into temptation.            Spencer uses the term “Virgin Rose” (2.12.74: 601) to describe Acrasia.  At first Acrasia seems beautiful and innocent, like a rose.  However, her true colors show very quickly.  She takes advantage of her lovers and then disposes of them.  The setting which Acrasia is placed is also significant.  She is laying with her lover on a bed of roses: “Upon a bed of Roses she was layd” (2.12.77: 685).  Acrasias’ lovers are won over by her beautiful appearance.  However, the danger of falling into the temptation of the witch is seen when her lovers are turned into animals.  Acrasia also tempts her lover by using rose imagery to seduce him: “Gather therefore the Rose, whilest yet is prime,/ For soone comes age, that will her pride deflowre:/ Gather the Rose of lover whilest yet is time” (2.12.75: 672-674).  This passage shows the earnestness with which Acrasia presents love.  It is something which must be taken advantage of immediately.  This ultimately shows the danger of falling to quickly into the temptation of what one sees.

          The tragedy of King Lear is completely a tragedy of choice.  The decisions which the characters make ultimately lead to their deaths, or their demise. The most promenant example is of King Lear himself, and the other important example is of his daughter, Cordelia.  Their interaction in the beginning of the play, (1.1) sets the scene for the rest of the play.  In comedy, Shakespeare resolves the conflict with marriage.  However, in the case of King Lear, a tragedy, Shakespeare resolves the conflict with the deaths of the characters which it involves. 

            King Lear makes three tragic decisions.  The first of these decisions is when he asks his daughters to tell him which one loves him the most: “Which of you shall we say doth love us most?” (1.1. 50).  This question sets the rest of the play in motion.  The second decision which Lear makes is to believe that Regan and Goneril love him more than Cordelia, because of their speeches.  The third and most destructive decision which Lear makes is to send his one faithful daughter, Cordelia away.  These three decisions are the most important decisions made in the whole play.  The tragic decisions made by the other characters in the play could not be made without these three decisions.

            The decisions made by Cordelia are in response to the decisions made by King Lear.  Cordelia responds to Lear’s question by saying: “Nothing, my lord” (1.1. 87).  The reader knows that Cordelia responds this way because she cannot possibly express her love for father in words. This is where King Lear becomes not only a tragedy of choice, but of misunderstanding.  If King Lear was not so proud, (one of his tragic flaws,) he would have been able to realize that Cordelia really did love him most of all.  She was truthful and honest, as opposed to her sisters. 

            In choosing to believe Goneril and Regan love him more, King Lear is cast aside and reduced to nothing.  It is not until the resolution of the play, where he is reunited with his one faithful daughter, Cordelia that the full consequences of his actions in the beginning of the play are realized.  Both Cordelia and her father die as a result of the tragic actions which were set into action during the very first scene of the play.

           To many people of the 21^st century, the idea of gender fluidity is a foreign concept.  How could Shakespeare and other playwrights use young boys in plays in the place of women?  The idea of gender fluidity is a monumental theory for the 21^st century reader to grasp in order to better understand the sonnets and plays of William Shakespeare.  Shakespeare’s Sonnet 20 demonstrates the concept of gender fluidity in the late 14^th and early 15^th century.

            The first question which is necessary for the reader of Sonnet 20 to obtain is: What is the gender of he beloved?  Line 1 describes the beloved as someone who has womanly qualities.  This has greater meaning after reading the second line of the sonnet: “Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion.”  This line forces the reader to question whether the beloved in the sonnet is in fact female, or a man with feminine attributes.  Line 5 of the sonnet suggests that the beloved is a male: “An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling.”  The previous two lines of the sonnet (lines 3-4) talk about qualities of a woman, so in line 5 Shakespeare is comparing women to the male which he writes about in Sonnet 20.

            Line 8 suggests that the beloved is someone who is greatly admired by all, because he has the positive qualities of both genders: “…which steals men’s eyes and woman’s souls…”  Shakespeare uses the concept of gender fluidity to show perhaps that in order to be greatly admired by people of both genders it is necessary to obtain both masculine and feminine qualities.

            Shakespeare suggests in the last five lines of the sonnet that the beloved male who he writes about is to possibly share his sexual passions with women, but men can better appreciate his emotional and philosophical attributes.

          Chaucer presents the Miller’s prologue and tale in a very interesting fashion.  Chaucer’s tales begin with the Knight- displaying the importance of social hierarchy.  After the knight is through with his tale, the Monk is next in line to speak based on class and importance.  However, Chaucer has the drunken Miller interrupt the Knight and insist on being next to tell his tale.  By having the Miller tell his tale out of order, Chaucer challenges the social hierarchy.  The Miller’s tale also serves to question the ideas of courtly love which are displayed in the Knight’s tale.

         The instance where the reader sees a clear class distinction is in the difference between the tales of the Knight and the Miller.  The Knight tells a romance, while the Miller tells a fabliau.  The difference between these tales suggests the difference between the worlds which the two characters live.  However, the Miller’s tale is used to mock not only the Knight’s tale, but his was of life.  The way in which Chaucer mocks courtly love and romance is most clearly seen through Absolon in the Miller’s tale.

            Absolon represents the idea of courtly love in the Miller’s tale.  According to the rules of courtly love, he does everything he should in wooing Alison.  He plays music at her window, and makes no sexual advances.  However, Alison has no interest in Absolon. Instead, she has a very intense interest in Nicholas, who does make strong sexual advances.   The Miller’s tale suggests that sex is more important than courtly love.

            The final mocking of courtly love is seen in the scene where Absolon kisses Alison’s rear.  According to the rules of courtly love, Absolon should be rewarded with a kiss.  He is mocked by Alison, showing that courtly love holds no significance in the lower classes.  After being rejected by Alison, Absolon gives up his views about courtly love and seeks revenge.  It is important to realize that Absolon gives up his views on courtly love, because it affirms that it holds no place in the lives of the lower class.

            The Miller questions the views and morals in society by the telling of his tale.  He not only asserts that courtly love is absurd, but questions romance as well.  By Alison’s rejection of Absolon and acceptance of Nicholas’ love, Chaucer asserts that sex is much more important than courtly love in the lower and middle classes.

            A common thread which is seen in the tale of Beowulf is the idea of isolation.  There are many times which the reader feels sympathy for the monsters and the hero because they are isolated from community, family, or other groups of people. 

            The first monster which the reader encounters in Beowulf is Grendel.  Grendel is deprived of the company which one receives from human relationships because he is not allowed to be a part a community, more specifically the Danes.  However, Grendel faces isolation on other levels.   Aditionally to being isolated from community, Grendel is also isolation from God.  He is described as an outcast of God in the section “Herod is Attacked”: “…he had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters, Cain’s clan, whom the Creator had outlawed and condemned as outcast” (102-107).  Grendel did not have the chance to be part of a community, because he is outcast by God.  This suggests that fate plays a huge part in Beowulf, because Grendel’s actions are result of his circumstances.

            Another character who is isolated from communities and from family is the hero, Beowulf.  Beowulf comes to the aid of the Danes, but can not be a part of their community even though the king claims him as a son.  He is seen more as a hero, or protector than an actual human being.  Ultimately Beowulf is deprived of family.  This is seen in his final battle with the dragon, where he is defeated.  Beowulf goes to fight the dragon alone which is seen in the section “Beowulf Attacks The Dragon”: “This fight is not yours, nor is it up to any man except me to measure his strength against that monster to prove his worth” (2532-2535).  Beowulf goes into battle alone, which suggests that he is not capable of human relationships.  This is further seen after Beowulf is defeated: “Now is the time when I would have wanted to bestow this armor on my own son, had it been my fortune to have fathered an heir” (2729-2731).

            The theme of isolated characters in Beowulf is ultimately a device to show the negative aspects of warrior culture. The pagan beliefs which the people have should be traded from more peaceful ways.  This would possibly lead to a more peaceful and constant society where people could focus on relationships and their faith instead of war and battle.

Welcome to UMW Blogs.org. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!