Rationale
I chose this unit topic as a way to expose my students to several of Shakespeare's plays and an epic poem with strong female heroines and villains. Vibrant female authors and characters are missing in a high school British Literature survey class until the mid to late eighteenth century, and my students do not find "The Wife's Lament" to be particularly compelling literature. Consequently, my young ladies, who make up three quarters of my students, are bored. We are required to teach Macbeth, and while most of the kids enjoy the play, few of my girls relate to Lady Macbeth. However, thanks to some great film versions of Shakespeare's comedies, I need not be limited to Lady Macbeth. Instead my girls can enjoy Rosalind and Celia from Kenneth Branagh's As You Like It and Viola and Olivia from Trevor Nunn's Twelfth Night. The cross dressing women are a very timely reference to Elizabeth's wearing the metaphorical "pants" in the country. Her famous wit and sexual flirtatiousness are also obvious in the forward female characters, especially Olivia. Both boys and girls will love The Taming of the Shrew, as both Katharina and Petruchio are hilarious in Franco Zeffirelli's version. Also, thanks to the modern remakes of Twelfth Night into She's the Man and The Taming of the Shrew into Ten Things I Hate About You, my students already have a rudimentary understanding of the plays and are able to focus on characterization instead of plot. These three films can open new discussions about Shakespeare's women beyond Lady Macbeth's ruthlessness and eventual frailty and madness. Double entendre and situational humor are engaging and enlightening for my students, hence it limits their interest in Macbeth that only the porter gets anything particularly funny to say. The comedies thus make an important supplement. By comparing Twelfth Night and As You Like It to Elizabeth's "On Monsieur's Departure," students will be able to see the comedic uses of disguises and then compare them to the everyday masks we wear to protect ourselves from being hurt. Students will also be able to compare and contrast the Elizabethan article "An Homily on the State of Matrimony" with Kate's speech at the end of The Taming of the Shrew and notice the irony and sarcasm within each but also the sincerity.
As You Like It
Rosalind is one of Shakespeare's most beloved heroines. She is far more intelligent than anyone else in As You Like It, and she has a spunky nature that enchants those who meet her. Harold Bloom states that Rosalind is "first in poise of all Shakespearian characters," and that she "is also his most triumphant, both in her own fate and in what she brings about for others"3. Rosalind dresses and acts like a man who then proceeds to act like a woman. This dual layer of disguise allows her to experience Orlando's love without any of the risk of a male/female courtship. She guides Orlando in the ways in which she would like to be wooed so that he will make no missteps when she comes to him as herself. Like Rosalind, Elizabeth adopted a male image as a means of protection. In order to intimidate visitors to her Privy Chamber, Elizabeth would stage "herself before the imposing image of her father that dominated Holbein's great wall painting of the Tudor dynasty"4. This "disguise" helped to protect her against those who would claim she was an ineffective leader because she was a woman. She also negated her perceived inferiority by "employing rhetorical strategies of identification with her father"5. Elizabeth stated that though she was a woman, she had courage as great as her father ever had. By defeminizing herself Elizabeth adopted her father's presence and "strove to make the greatness of her personage appear proportional to the greatness of her state"6. Another female character who protects herself by adopting a male persona is Viola. Shakespeare used disguises in many of his plays, but the one that best pairs with As You Like It is Twelfth Night.
Twelfth Night
Viola is torn in many different directions in this play. She wears different masks depending on her task. She must woo Olivia as Cesario while loving Orsino; she must dodge Olivia's advances without offending her; she must act as a servant when she is not one. Viola wears the male disguise for most of the play but exchanges her "masks" as the need arises. Harold Bloom states that "there is an air of improvisation throughout Twelfth Night, and Viola's disguise is part of that atmosphere." Bloom continues, her "personality is both receptive and defensive"7. She accepts Orsino's advances towards Olivia and falls in love with him as if they had been directed to her. She rejects Olivia's advances yet maintains a friendly rapport. It seems as if Shakespeare enjoys "keeping her an enigma, with much held always in reserve"8. Viola is very much like Elizabeth being pulled in two directions regarding the marriage negotiations to François, the Duke of Anjou. She knew her duty to her people was to marry, but she fiercely craved her freedom. In 1581, during a charade, Elizabeth exchanged kisses and rings with Anjou and proclaimed to her court that they were pledged. That night Elizabeth was sleepless and ill over what she had done while carried away "in the midst of amorous discourse"9. She ended her betrothal the next day, claiming that she would sacrifice her personal happiness in marriage for "the welfare of her subjects"10. Elizabeth is wearing a disguise in this anecdote, whether it is one of actually loving Anjou and being willing to give up her lover for her people or one of a woman who desires to remain single. Her poem, "On Monsieur's Departure" is also ambiguous. In it Elizabeth claims to grieve deeply and wish to die over the loss of Anjou's love. It appears she is wearing her disguise to protect herself from the pain of unrequited love. Perhaps she is also putting on a brave face for her subjects, so they will not know she is hurting. The poem may be her mask for her people, leading them to think that she had earnestly tried to marry. Some saw through her disguises. Upon Anjou's death, Elizabeth exclaimed, "I am a widow woman who has lost her husband." The French ambassador responded that "she was 'a princess who knows how to transform herself as suits her best'."11 Elizabeth's admissions in her poem prove that she, like Viola, juggled many masks. This poem will work well as a companion to As You Like It and Twelfth Night because the heroines also wear disguises to negotiate the world. Rosalind and Viola's stakes are not as high as Elizabeth's, but the disguises are a necessary means to their matrimonial ends. We too wear masks to navigate society. Students will benefit from reflecting upon the situations in which they wear disguises.
The Taming of the Shrew
Upon first reading, Kate's speech at the end of Act V seems a perfect parallel to "An Homily on the State of Matrimony," which is one of the homilies which make up the 35th article of the 39 Articles passed under Elizabeth in 1563 as a means to unite the Catholic Church and Protestants12. Although it was not written by Elizabeth, she was the supreme ruler of England at the time of the Articles and acutely aware of actions of the church. Elizabeth was not married and had already turned down a marriage proposal from her brother-in-law, Philip II of Spain. She also is reported to have told an envoy that she would rather be a single beggar woman than a married queen13. In addition, she had a very close personal relationship with the married Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. When his wife mysteriously died in 1560, a great scandal arose regarding his relationship with the queen14. Regardless of the veracity of the scandal, Elizabeth was hardly the model of a wife depicted as ideal in the homily. There are several references to the homily in relation to The Taming of the Shrew on the internet, but I have not found one that notes the ironic tone in Kate's speech as juxtaposed with the homily. Since The Taming of the Shrew was written in 1593, Shakespeare would have been well aware of "An Homily on the State of Matrimony," and, as Elizabeth's negotiations for marriage had been long ended, he must have seen the irony between the ruler's situation and that preached from the pulpit. The Taming of the Shrew, especially Kate's speech at the end, seems to be Shakespeare's nod to this fact. Kate is a reformed woman; she is a model wife. She is not, however, the model wife from the homily. She is manipulating her husband to get what she wants and is berating her peers for not doing the same. Harold Bloom states in Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human that "one would have to be very literal minded indeed not to hear the delicious irony that is Kate's undersong, centered on the great line 'I am asham'd that women are so simple'." He continues that Kate "is advising women how to rule absolutely, while feigning obedience,"15. In essence, she is instructing them how to use disguises to reach their goals.
Kate's speech also has many references to the husband as regent. It seems to describe a figure awfully similar to Elizabeth. Kate says in Act V, scene 2:
- Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
- Thy head, thy sovereign-one that cares for thee,
- And for thy maintenance commits his body
- To painful labor both by sea and land,
- To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
- Whilst thou li'st warm at home, secure and safe. (V.ii.146-50)
This sounds like a direct reference to Elizabeth herself. She is the husband that toiled at sea against the Spanish Armada while her "wife," England, slept safely at home. Later Kate remarks that a disobedient wife is like a "foul contending rebel / And graceless traitor" (V.ii.159-60). This seems disproportionately strong language of a political bent with which to compare a headstrong wife. In addition, Kate likens disharmony in marriage to wives offering "war where they should kneel for peace" (V.ii.162). This sounds like a jab at Elizabeth's having turned down Philip II of Spain's marriage proposal, a proposal which would have ensured a harmonious relationship between England and Spain. Finally, Kate asks why a woman would "seek for rule, supremacy, and sway / When they are bound to serve love and obey" (V.ii.163-164). Elizabeth was bound to serve England but she was an excellent queen and a popular ruler. After creating such women as Rosalind and Viola, who seem destined to have marriages of equality thanks to their bright natures, it is unlikely that Shakespeare honestly meant to suggest that any woman would prefer to be subservient in a relationship over one where she could rule, or at least one where she could rule over herself. I believe that Shakespeare is talking about Elizabeth in this speech. Elizabeth chose the "disguise" of husband instead of wife. She is the lord and supreme ruler. Had she chosen the role of wife she would have been rebelling against her better judgment and therefore become a traitor to herself. Elizabeth ends up fulfilling the role idealized in the homily, only it is that of husband to England with her subjects as the wife.
The Faerie Queene
Spenser was not only inspired by Elizabeth to place strong women in his writings, he wrote to and for Elizabeth and used her likeness profusely. Gloriana, the regent of Faerie Land, is an obvious tribute to Elizabeth. She is a fair and just ruler and is loved; this character represents Elizabeth as decision maker and leader. She is also chaste but marries late. Gloriana, in fact, marries Arthur, from whom Elizabeth claimed to have been descended16. The name became synonymous with Elizabeth and is even the title of an opera of her life. Britomart, on the other hand, represents the warrior Elizabeth. She is the personification of chastity. Like some of Shakespeare's heroines, she is disguised as man for much of her appearance in The Faerie Queene and, like Elizabeth, defeats other men in battle. In order to battle, Britomart must be disguised or she would not be allowed to demonstrate her skill. The male knights would be alienated and emasculated if they saw the woman who had defeated them. She loses only once, and it is to Artegall, the man she will eventually marry. When he unveils her by cracking open her helmet so her hair can pour forth, the real Britomart emerges, fragile and cautious in her new relationship with Artegall.
The Faerie Queene is far too large and difficult for my students, but Cantos i-iii of Book III (Britomart's introduction and history) and iv and vi of Book IV (the tournament and her "unmanning") will give them a taste of the text and have such a compelling plot that they will keep the kids' attention. Since Britomart is a warrior figure, Elizabeth's "Speech to the Troops at Tilbury" matches her bearing, a perfect example of the queen as commander in chief. She has the body of a woman but the heart of king, as does Britomart. Spenser makes the "female knight, Britomart, his chief personification of chastity," and she is "clearly labeled as a type for Elizabeth by her name (martial Britoness)…and by maidenliness and chastity that she shares with the queen"17. Spenser meant for his readers to recognize their queen. We even learn "that she wears her hair long in the manner of a marriageable virgin, a style similar to the one that Elizabeth maintained as an aged queen according to the Rainbow Portrait."18 The contradictory situation of a chaste female knight on an errand to meet a man is one with which my students will have fun. Britomart is a clear representation of Elizabeth when she was testing her powers as queen and seeking a husband while maintaining her identity.
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