fem flashys Flashcards
Pol to H reminiscing a/b idyllic childhood w/ L
‘We were as twinn’d lambs that did frisk i’ the sun’
Here, the phonetic qualities of clipped and soft assonance present a nostalgic tone. Further, the pastoral and biblical pattern of diction evokes imagery of a prelapsarian Eden prior to the corrupting influence of women.
‘nine changes to the watery star’
Drawing attention to Hermione’s pregnant body Polixenes remarks (insert quote) since he left BO for SI = maternal imagery to justify reason for leaving which positions woman as agitators to androcentric systems of power and undermines fundamental role woman play
‘three crabbed months that soured themselves to death’
imagery of decay and bitterness contrasts with Polixenes recollection and shows women being fundamentally undervalued in male centred societies.
Pol to H on how/why halcyon days ended:
‘O my most sacred lady!Temptations have since then been born to’s’
Additionally, Polixenes description about how the prelapsarian days ended are (insert quote). The dichotomy between ‘sacred’ and ‘temptaions’ resonates with Marilyn French’s proposition that female stereotypes are split into both ‘inlay’ and ‘outlaw’ principles. The ‘inlaw’ version of femininity represents benevolent attributes, such as Hermione being ‘sacred’. However, ‘outlaw’ attributes is associated with sexual pleasure tends to subvert traditional masculine goals of dominance by being ‘temptations.’ More broadly, this binary of female gender roles demonstrated in the play is reflected in society as a rational for mysogyny. Thus polixenes positions women as disruptors of homosocial bonds, which is a longstanding stereotype of women.
L sexualizing H + generalizing women by suggesting many men ‘suffer’ from ‘revolted wives’:
‘And many a man there is…That little thinks she [his wife] has been sluiced in’s absenceAnd his pond fish’dby his next neighbour’
Leontes launches a salacious diatribe against Hermione, (insert quote) he utilises common female stereotypes to generalise his feelings to all relationships, in which ‘many men suffer’.The obscene language ‘sluiced’ and ‘pond fish’d’ sexualise women and catagorise them as ‘outlaw’. Shakespeare connotes male fellowship through ‘neighbour’, positioning men as victims and women disruptors of this fellowship and therefore harbour blame for other men’s actions..
manyaman’→generalizing perceived actions of one woman to all women + positioning men as victims‘sluiced’+‘pondfish’d’ = salacious lang to describe women as sexual objects/facilitatorsContrast wcamaraderie connotedby‘neighbour’ →women harbouringblame for men’s actions
Seizing Mam from H:Give me the boy. I am glad you did not nurse him. Though he does bear some signs of me, yet you have too much blood in him.
Mam forcibly removed from nurturing fem space / name connotes bond b/wmother+child →adumbrates Mam’s untimely death b/c X survive w/o maternal nurturance‘not nurse him’
–placing H as source of corruption (broader pattern of d) *‘too much blood in him’ –L seeks to rid his world of “corrupting” fem influ→doomed to fail b/c integrole women play
As the ship shifts from Courtly Sicilia to Bucolic Bohemia. Clown recounting the sinking of Sic ship which was:
‘…swallowed with yeast and froth…’
*Visceral descript of ship’s sinking positions goddess nature as revenge-seeking for treatment of women in first part of play
*Purgative storm=divineinterventiontocleanseworldofpatriarchalforces+allowfecundityofwomentoflourishinsecondpart
Florizel praises Perdita ahead of the sheep shearing fest:
‘This your sheep-shearing
Is as a meeting of the petty gods,And you the queen on’t.
F provides more credible foil to L as he uses his lang to elevate P’s status as opposed to degrade her
Loves her for who she is + sees her as ‘queen’ even when he thinks she is a lowly shepherdess →break from patriarchal convens
F provides more credible foil to L as he uses his lang to elevate P’s status as opposed to degrade herLoves herforwho she is + sees her as ‘queen’ even when he thinks she is a lowly shepherdess →break from patriarchal convens
Stage directions:[Paulina draws back the curtain and reveals] Hermione like a statue
Paul brings H’s statue to life: Music, awake her; strike!
stage directions indicative of agency of feminine characters in 2nd part of play
Paul brings H to life through series of imperatives + through art (music)
*Previously castigated by L for being ‘a mankind witch’ he now wishes for her ‘magic’ to be ‘an art as lawful as eating’ suggesting he has come to appreciate women’s role in society
*Paul taken over as divine force in the play + refuses to explain her powers as she knows they would be ‘hooted at like an old tale’
‘thou shouldst a husband take by my consent’
‘shouldst’ modality indicates expectation of women
‘by my consent’ paulina just peformed most powerful act of the play but is quicly dismissed as the power is transferred to Leontes. = dissatisfying end for feminist readers.
Paul and Hermione dialogue after H ressurection = ‘our Perdita is found’
‘you gods… place your graces upon my daughters head’
paul reveals fulfilled oracle
‘our’= possessive pronoun indicative of female solidarity
Hermione elevated status of deity ( statue= idol) + wishes to endow perd w ‘inlaw fem principles’ perhaps before patriarchy can inflict ‘outlaw’ princpiles
H only speaks to gods + perd -> reinforces symbiotic relationship between mother and daughter (prosp + Cres) but problematises rship bw L and H = does she forgive him?
Despite believing that Hermione is innocent, Antigonus the archetypical patriarch, threatens to ‘geld’ his daughters if Hermione is prooved guilty so that they shall not ‘bring false generations’
threaten to desex suggests women are merley serving functional role and that all women must suffer for the actions of one.
