Essay - Cross dressing in The Merchant of Venice & Twelfth Night PDF

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CROSS DRESSING IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS THE MERCHANT OF VENICE & TWELF NIGHT

SVIETE ATHENAS PORTUGAL LEÓN Literatura Inglesa (XVI – XVII) 19th December, 2019

Sviete Athenas Portugal León Literatura inglesa XVI -XVII

Content 1.

Cross dressing, The Theatre and Gender Struggles ............................................ 3

2.

The Merchant of Venice ......................................................................................... 4

3.

2.1.

Jessica ................................................................................................................ 4

2.2.

Portia (and Nerissa) ......................................................................................... 5

Twelfth Night, or What You Will .......................................................................... 5 3.1.

Viola .................................................................................................................. 5

3.2.

Fest .................................................................................................................... 6

References........................................................................................................................ 7

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Sviete Athenas Portugal León Literatura inglesa XVI -XVII

1. Cross dressing, The Theatre and Gender Struggles The Cambridge dictionary defines cross-dressing as “the act of wearing clothes usually worn by the opposite sex”. However, this simple term implies a more complex concept than just wearing clothes. Cross dressing, until the end of the Middle Age, was condemned, due to its relation with sex and promiscuity. This cross-dressing did not have a dramatic purpose and it was not as condemned to women as to men, due to the fact that women assumed the role of men as a sign of superiority and freedom and, on the contrary, men which cross dressed as women lost some status. In the sixteenth and the seventeenth, the idea of masculinity having a higher status than femininity still rules those centuries. It is acknowledged that women were not allowed to be actresses in the Elizabethan time and the feminine roles were played by men. However, since dress in theatre was a highly regulated semiotic system, there was not a real problem. The controversy appears, in the contrary of the Middle Age, when women cross dressed as men. There were limits on how much cross dressing a woman could do, and everything remained fine as far as the woman would maintain her subordinated status. Therefore, the idea of women acquiring too much masculinity because of her cross dressing was a real concern on the English society of the Renaissance. Generally, cross dressing is related to gender and sexuality. Some people feared that cross-dressing would corrupt the audience and destroy the distinction between the sexes and, in consequence, their sexual orientation. Nonetheless, the audience is very aware that they were watching a boy playing a female character and Shakespeare explodes this agreement between the audience and the actors to tease

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Sviete Athenas Portugal León Literatura inglesa XVI -XVII

them during the play with that knowledge, since they see a boy playing a feminine role which at the same time is cross dressed as a man.

2. The Merchant of Venice 2.1. Jessica Jessica is the daughter of Shylock, a Jewish moneylender. She is portrayed as “a princess who lives with an ogre”. In order to elope with his lover, Lorenzo, she disguises as a torch-bearer. However, she feels uncomfortable wearing boy’s clothes and she says: I am glad ’tis night, you do not look on me, For I am much ashamed of my exchange. But love is blind, and lovers cannot see The pretty follies that themselves commit, For if they could Cupid himself would blush To see me thus transformed to a boy. (Act II, sc. 6)

She feels embarrassed because it is not honorable for women to wear men’s clothes but she does it for love. Lorenzo attitude to a disguised Jessica does not change his sexual orientation, because he knows the truth (and so does the audience); actually, he praises her for her witness and bravery and says she is beautiful even in men’s clothing On the other hand, Jessica’s disguise allows her more freedom and makes her able to elope to start a new life: she has the same rights of walking surrounded by men with any. The cross dressing function as a bridge to her new identity, as wife and as Christian. She does desire to convert into something different from what she is: A Jewish. Her cross dressing does not have other purpose than escape from the life she hates.

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Sviete Athenas Portugal León Literatura inglesa XVI -XVII

2.2. Portia (and Nerissa) Portia is a different figure, since she belongs to nobility. Cleverness and beauty characterize her. She disguises as a young lawyer to save Antonio, Bassanio’s friend. On the contrary to Jessica, she does not feel uncomfortable wearing men clothes. It seems she enjoys having the power of a man and she is going to take advantage of her male condition to prank her husband and also to see if Bassanio truly loves her. On the other hand, Nerissa does feel reluctant at the beginning but the she understands the power that being a man gives her and ended up helping Portia with pleasure and also pranking her husband, Gratiano. Cross dressing for Portia in the only way to help her husband and she, as the virtuous woman she is, will do anything to do it. However, she has to be cautious seeing that cross dressing in women was considered unvirtuous. Nevertheless, Portia and Nerissa take the time to fully enjoy their disguises and they tease Bassanio and Gratiano.

3. Twelfth Night, or What You Will 3.1. Viola Viola is a character that completely represents the troubles it brings as times passes by. She finds herself almost drown and alone in a foreign land, and in order to survive, since she doesn’t have money, she decides to cross dress as a eunuch and serve Duke Orsino. However, cross dressing and changing gender is not as easy as it seems. It ends up creating sexual confusion: she falls in love with Orsino, who thinks she is a young man named Cesario, therefore she cannot reveal her feelings; Olivia is in love with Cesario, who is actually Viola

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Sviete Athenas Portugal León Literatura inglesa XVI -XVII

disguised; and Orsino is unaware of his attraction to Cesario/Viola and tries to court Olivia. The result is a very confusing love triangle. During the play, it can be seen that whereas Viola apparently change her gender through cross dressing, she cannot change her sex: she possesses these feminine features that attract both, Orsino and Olivia. Here comes a paradoxical situation: Orsino likes Cesario and is attracted to him without noticing. He mentions: For they shall yet belie thy happy years That say thou art a man. Diana’s lip Is not more smooth and rubious. Thy small pipe Is as the maiden’s organ, shrill and sound, And all is semblative a woman’s part.

He is not aware of his feelings towards Cesario/Viola yet, but from the beginning it is known that Cesario is not masculine even disguised and entirely dress as a mas; and here comes the other paradoxical situation: Olivia seems to like the feminine attributes Cesario possesses and, in consequence, she likes Viola. Viola suffers because cross dressing also has brought an identity crisis: she cannot be who she is and has to pretend someone she is not. Viola, disguised as Cesario, declares: “I am not what I play”. She finds herself trapped and this causes her pain since nobody in Illyria knows her real identity but everybody has their own opinion of her. At the end of the play, when, the whole situation is reveled, she feels liberated from the burden of being a man.

3.2. Fest The cross dressing in Fest is not concerned about gender or sexuality but about some opposite professions. He is the clown of the play and also a servant. When he, Maria and Sir Toby plan to tease Malvolio, he dresses up as Sir Topas, the

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Sviete Athenas Portugal León Literatura inglesa XVI -XVII

priest, and fools him in the darkness. This is a different type of cross dressing: he really does not need wear different clothing, since Malvolio is locked up and unable to see the outside. Fest is such a good actor that could play both roles, the priest and the fool, even without the robe and the beard that Maria gave him. However, it seems that having the clothes of the priest allows the audience to depict the funny situation in which they are involved. Also, watching the fool disguised as a priest is as shocking as watching a woman disguised as a man: you can’t be both at the same time and they are complete different from each other.

References -

Bullough, Vern L. (1993). Cross dressing, sex and gender. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press

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Shakespeare, William (2008). Twelfth night, or, what you will / edited by Keir Elam. London: Arden Shakespeare

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Shakespeare, William (2000). The Merchant of Venice / edited by John Russell Brown. London : Arden Shakespeare

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