From the conclusion of my term paper titled: 'She hath no tongue to call': The Reading of "Silent Female Bodies" in Early Modern English Drama:
“her voice was ever soft, gentle and low; an excellent thing is woman”
King Lear says this in The Tragedy of King Lear as he holds the corpse of his daughter Cordelia in his arms. There is much irony in his description of her excellent quality of voice. At the beginning of the play, Cordelia is rather vocal in expressing her views against her sisters' false and rather flowery declarations of love for their father. Yet at the end it is her softness of voice Lear seems to admire in a woman. I argue Shakespeare has a greater agenda here, one that superficially serves to represent the common Early Modern English notion that women should be less boisterous; however, he presents Cordelia as the only honest and virtuous woman in the play, and it is her voice, not a lack thereof, that reveals such character traits.
Basically I've just been searching for textual support for voicing my opinions. Found.
No comments:
Post a Comment