Detailansicht
Gender relations in selected Restoration comedies in the mirror of sociological role theory
Johanna Holzer
Art der Arbeit
Diplomarbeit
Universität
Universität Wien
Fakultät
Philologisch-Kulturwissenschaftliche Fakultät
Betreuer*in
Ewald Mengel
DOI
10.25365/thesis.22163
URN
urn:nbn:at:at-ubw:1-29709.76425.797754-6
Link zu u:search
(Print-Exemplar eventuell in Bibliothek verfügbar)
Abstracts
Abstract
(Deutsch)
Die englische Restorationsperiode war eine Zeit des Aufbruchs und der Umbrüche, die weitreichende kulturelle und sozio-politische Veränderungen nach sich zog; besonders die Stellung der Frau in der Gesellschaft wurde durch diese durchaus tumultösen Jahren geprägt. Frauen hatten sich sowohl in den Augen des Staates als auch in den Augen der Kirche Männern unterzuordnen; sie waren nicht gleichberechtigt und hatten in jeder Hinsicht wenig Rechte, eine Tatsache die sich erst gegen Ende der zweiten Hälfte des 17. Jahrhunderts zu ändern begann.
In der Restorations Komödie wurden Charaktäre oft aus Stereotypen mittelalterlichen Satiren abgeleitet; sie folgten traditionellen Mustern, die die Frau gleichermaßen als zerbrechlich, schwach und weich darstellten und Männer als welterfahrene und geistriche sexuelle Eroberer. Aus diesen Stereotypen der naiven Frau leitete sich schließlich auch der Ausdruck „das schwache Geschlecht“ ab, ein Vorurteil so wohl als auch ein Idealbild der Restorationsperiode, der die Frau zu entsprechen hatte. Von einem heuchlerischen Patriarchat unterdrückt, wurden Frauen als schwache, dem Manne unterlegende und daher auch untergebene Wesen dargestellt.
Restorationskomödien die im 17. Jahrhundert hauptsächlich zur Belustigung und Aufklärung der Massen das Treiben der englischen Oberschicht wiederspiegelten, liefern uns heute wertvolle Hinweise über die Stellung der Frau in der damaligen Gesellschaft und über ihre Rechte und Pflichten. Weitere wichtige und immer wiederkehrende Themen der Restorationskomödien wie zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen, Liebe, sexuelle Intrigen, Seitensprünge und Ehebruch zeichnen ebenfalls ein Bild der Zeit. Im Zuge dieser Diplomarbeit erfolgt eine Analyse der Restorationskomödien Stereotypen anhand der soziologischen Rollentheorie nach Dreitzel, die, anhand von vier ausgewählten Komödien, William Wycherley The Country Wife, George Etherege The Man of Mode or, Sir Fopling Flutter, William Congreve The Way of the World und George Farquhar The Beaux' Stratagem, eine Interpretation der Rollen der weiblichen und der männlichen Charaktäre in den Stücken ermöglichen soll. Weiters werden auch historische Hintergrundinformationen geliefert, die helfen sollen, auf die sozialen Strukturen der Restorationsperiode einzugehen und größere Zusammenhänge wie zum Beispiel die sexuelle Doppelmoral in der Zeit des 17. Jahrhunderts, zu verstehen.
Abstract
(Englisch)
Restoration Comedy with its recurring themes and types of ‘the man about town’, the witty heroine, love affairs or marriage as an industry are indeed in itself a reflection of the major cultural changes that deeply affected women’s place in society at the time. The years from 1660-1710, the return of Charles II to England and the restoration of monarchy, as well as “theatrical experiment and the conventions of the time” (see Vrablitz 2-3), marked a period of profound and tumultuous change and had a huge impact on society, the English culture and – as a consequence - on Restoration Comedy. Not only because Charles II who had spent years in exile in France introduced French mannerisms, cavaliers and interest in (French) drama (McDonald 2) but also because his
worldly and witty Court patronized a theatre which catered for aristocratic taste, in intrigue, in fashionable conversation, in the merry-go-round of sex, marriage and adultery, even in the high-flown nonsense of heroic plays and lachrymose tragedies. (Jeffares vii)
The Restoration Period was indeed a time of conventions and transgressions, especially in regard to the ongoing debate on the social position of women in society as a whole: even though women were still legally (and also according to the church) subordinate to men, toward the latter half of the seventeenth century women were allowed a greater amount of liberty and equality in terms of choosing a partner in marriage etc. (Young 16 ff) For the first time, we also have actresses on the stage.
In Restoration Comedy, female characters were most often stereotypes adapted from medieval satires: the character of the shrew or the conventional nagging housewife for example followed the traditional pattern „of the shrewish wife reformed by her husband“. (McDonald 10) Women were thought to be fragile, weak and soft, and it is during the Restoration Period that the common expressions “the fair sex”, “the soft sex” or “the gentle sex” came to be used to describe women’s qualities and ideals. Women, their traditional standing in society and the way they were treated by their families, husbands and by society in general, were illustrated within the process of love and courtship. Since seventeenth-century political philosophy and religious teaching enforced the notion of patriarchy, women remained under the constraint of male authority and society’s customs and were usually depicted as oppressed and inferior objects. (Fromm 9)
Restoration Comedy provided its Restoration contemporaries (and still provides us today) with a social commentary, particularly emphasizing „the fragility of love in marriage and its cold-blooded vision of marriage as a business contract.“ (McDonald 17) It differs from the previous comedy in its class character: it deals with high society’s gallantries, underlining the distinctive features of the culture it reflects, picking up on that broad, important and often very entertaining topic of human relations and featuring almost exclusively recurring themes such as love, sexual intrigue and cuckoldry. (Jeffares vii) Marriage was a vital connective issue, it was an important topic that each and every one could relate to or at least had an opinion of. (Singh 195)
Another strong element in Restoration comedies are the recurring stereotypical characters or figures: usually the plot revolves around a graceful young beau-rake, a faithless wife, a deceived husband, a mistress and a charming, young heroine who is bestowed in the end on the rake. Those relationships between characters have been investigated many a time; most commonly it is the gender issues and cuckolding plots that spark scholarly interest, more precisely the relationship between the cuckolding rake and the adulterous wife is the one that is most frequently analyzed. Gender relations, therefore, will be an important part of my analysis. Gender, the division of people into separate categories, namely “men” and “women”, is socially constructed. It is acquired through interaction and socialization and results in different behavior, emotions and attitudes of men and women. (Borgatta; Montgomery 1057). Gender relations can be described as the way a culture of society defines a man or a woman’s rights, responsibilities and their identity and relation to one another. (Kuscher 40)
The aim of this thesis is to analyze said gender relations in a handful selected Restoration Comedies in the light of sociological role theory. Role theory primarily concerns itself with characteristic social or societal roles, positions and behaviors that are assumed by social participants. Every individual occupies a set of roles or positions and endorses normative behavioral expectations for itself. But not only do individuals hold behavioral expectations for themselves, they also hold expectations for other individuals occupying counter-positions. (Jackson 50) My intent is to use the concept of role theory to unmask Restoration Comedy characters’ real identities, which are (usually) carefully hidden behind high self-monitoring abilities, role-play and social masks. Looking at the various characters’ relationships I will point out their roles and positions in society and compare the role of men and women in the Restoration plays mentioned below.
Schlagwörter
Schlagwörter
(Englisch)
Restoration comedy Etherege Congreve Wycherley Farquhar role theory gender relations
Schlagwörter
(Deutsch)
Restorationskömodie Etherege Congreve Wycherley Farquhar Rollentheorie Geschlechterverhältnisse
Autor*innen
Johanna Holzer
Haupttitel (Englisch)
Gender relations in selected Restoration comedies in the mirror of sociological role theory
Paralleltitel (Deutsch)
Geschlechterverhältnisse in ausgewählten Restorations Komödien im Spiegel der soziologischen Rollentheorie
Publikationsjahr
2012
Umfangsangabe
93 S.
Sprache
Englisch
Beurteiler*in
Ewald Mengel
Klassifikationen
AC Nummer
AC10694603
Utheses ID
19793
Studienkennzahl
UA | 343 | | |