Women's Public Life in Renaissance England

• Main Authors: Mon Yi Lin, 林孟儀
• Other Authors: Shu Fen Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/21385363958641900092

碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 外國語文研究所 === 99 === Abstract This thesis aims to discuss women’s public life in Renaissance England. Queen Elizabeth I’s public life and that of the two heroines of Shakespeare’s plays—As You Like It and Twelfth Night will be the focus. Women in general in the Renaissance England could not participate in public life. Although women could not join public life, there were some exceptions, such as Queen Elizabeth I and two of Shakespeare’s heroines, Rosalind and Viola. All of these three women adopted androgynous tactics to join public life. Queen Elizabeth I denounced her role as a wife and a mother while Rosalind and Viola disguised themselves as men. Cross-dressing is an important issue in analyzing the three women. There are two different arguments: some suggest that cross-dressing subverted Renaissance tradition while others claim that cross-dressing did not help women escape the stereotypes of Renaissance patriarchy. Queen Elizabeth I entered public life through politics. The women in Shakespeare’s plays join public life by traveling to the woods or wooing in court. Their disguises enabled them to join public life. In Chapter 1, the audience will examine Queen Elizabeth I’s public life. Her strategy was to remain celibate and unify state and Church. In the second chapter, we will explore gender and family and how women dealt with these issues in Renaissance England. In Chapter 3 the readers will explore how two topics—family and gender—affected women’s public life. Rosalind participates in public life by becoming androgynous. Rosalind’s disguise is subversive but she never strays far from patriarchal tradition. She takes off her disguise and then gets married. In Chapter 4, we study the predicaments caused by cross-dressing. Although Viola joins public life, she also embraces patriarchy. Like Rosalind, Viola gives up her cross-dressing and gets married. Rosalind and Viola face the same dilemma: they take part in public life but the tradition of patriarchy still dominates them. Although the heroines eventually embraced tradition, their behavior still was meaningful because it set an example for and inspired women.