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Looking for Goneril and Regan
- Author(s):
- Cristina León Alfar (see profile)
- Date:
- 2003
- Group(s):
- CLCS Renaissance and Early Modern, LLC 17th-Century English, LLC Shakespeare, TC Women’s and Gender Studies, TM Literary and Cultural Theory
- Subject(s):
- Seventeenth century, English literature, Feminist theory, European drama--Renaissance, Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
- Item Type:
- Book chapter
- Tag(s):
- 17th Century, drama, Evil, Power, women and gender, 17th century, Renaissance drama, Shakespeare
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6SR5R
- Abstract:
- In _King Lear_ the power Goneril and Regan desire and the violence in which they participate defy orthodox notions of appropriate feminine conduct. Because power as a feminine attribute is rejected as a violation of nature, they become “evil.” Rather than assuming that real women, or good women, will not defend their own power or the sovereignty of their nation with violence, I argue that the play points precisely to the abuse of power by all monarchs, regardless of gender, as inherent to absolutism.
- Notes:
- This chapter can also be found in my book, _Fantasies of Female Evil: The Dynamics of Gender and Power in Shakespearean Tragedy_, U of Delaware P, 2003.
- Metadata:
- xml
- Published as:
- Book chapter
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 6 years ago
- License:
- All Rights Reserved
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