GENDER STUDIES
introduction
gender has been the basic distinction in human social order since the beginning of recorded history
gender has determined role and function, gender difference has influences the way we think and we perceive realty
although identical tasks may be performed by either gender in different communities the 2 genders usually perform different tasks in any one community
these divisions are accorded social roles are abstracted into principles seen as imposed by both nature and identity
masculine and feminine principles thus become expressions of nature law embracing the world
this distinction does not arise out of nature
conditioning and training are responsible for the division of labour presently considered natural in most of the western world
only women concive, gave birth and produced milk to feed the newborn-> because of these involuted but very visible functions women came to be seen as closer to nature than men
at some time this seeming closeness to nature was worshipped as divine
as the sense of things developed women closeness to nature became a stigma and women began to be seen as lower than men
the definition of gender principles and our categorization of experience in accordance with them can be traced in every human tradition: in language, law, religion, art, philosophy and science but the fullest accessible expression of these ideas is found in literature
Shakespeare think in terms of men and women male and female not as similar member of single species but as very different creatures, subject to different needs and desires, capable of different kinds of action, and judged by different standards
he began his career with profound respect for masculine qualities and profound suspicion of feminine ones-> by the end of his career he has come to fear and deplore the power and capiscousness of the masculine principle and to idealize certain aspects of the feminine
he did not think about moral principles in terms of gender division but his work rappresents a lifelong effort to harmonize moral qualities he did associate with the 2 genders
THE GENDER PRICNIPLES
the notion of dividing experience into gender principles is a masculine one, because it originally arose as a form of control
they are not necessarily identical with gender
the extreme of the masculine side is the ability to kill
the extreme of a feminine side the ability to give birth
the masculine principle is the pole of power in the world, associated with power and ownership, physical courage, assertiveness, autorità, independence, at the rights and legitimacy, ability to define and administer justice, supports law and order
it values action over feeling, thought over sensation, its immediate goal is the attainment and maintenance of power- in- the- world
is linear, temporal, and transcendent, for it aims to construct something in the world and within time that will enable the individual to transcend nature, time and mortality
it is profoundly threatened by present pleasure, surrender to mortality
associated with the feminine principle identified with nature
the masculine principle is the standard of humankind and identifies the human with the male
the feminine principle was spited by Christianity in 2: the eve and the Mary
INLAW: the benevolent aspects of nature purified of their malevolent side. an expression of the benevolent manifestations of nature. founded on the ability to give birth, it include qualities like compassion, mercy. it require voluntary relinquishment of power in the world. it values the comunity
OUTLAW: associated with darkness, the sinister, magic and sexuality, it is submersive undermining of the masculine principle. It sees the end of like as pleasure. rebellion against the male
it is not passive it find pleasure in the good rather than in assertion of the self
the f. principle is circularity is associated with the cycle of nature eternal recurrence, eternity and the present moment
associated with civilization thus occasionally women are identified with culture, control of the animal man and morality
also associated with the devine
the masculine principle is through most of literature identified with males
females rapresent the nonhuman ( superhuman or subhuman). they are seen only in relation to males and the male human standard, seen as trying to exert control over the male-human
in Shakespeare: male figures are changed by their experience instead female figures existence doesn't change
femals are bound inside the feminine principle in traditional western thought and literature
even when in 18-19th century female figures begin to act as human figures they are constricted within a type
they are expected to fit into a narrow "feminine" category but also expected to use only a fragment of their capacities: the in-law feminine principle (aspect that supports the dominant male establishment)
in S. males are urget to incorporate the in-law feminine principle but females who attempt to incorporate the masculine principle fall inevitably into the outlaw feminine principle
female limitation are so severe in shakepeare's work that females are static: they don't change
the 2 gender principles occupy different conceptual realms the human and ethical versus the type and mythical. both principles are abstractions from universal human experience
these conceptions have little to do with actual life they rest on perceptions that have been forgotten by the conscious mind but which are perpetuated by the conventions of literature, art and language
the greatest poets of the English renaissance attempted to synthesize the gender principles: their visions involved male figures assimilating the qualities of the feminine pricinple through education, suffering becoming in the process good governors, good men or not doing so and being destroied
FORMAL EQUIVALENTS OF THE GENDER PRINCIPLES
works concerned with the masculine principle are dominated by a male figure
they are linear and transcendent, they contain a narrative which progress chronologically and a protagonist who has a specific worldly goal which will place him in a transcendent postion
this trascendente is always to be archived through worldly means
a clear cosmic order hovers in the background an order which sanctions the masculine claim to legitimacy and right
English literature form Shakespeare to the mid- late 19th century is dominated by masculine works
literature concerned with the feminine principle is circular and eternal it juggles time or ignores it.
they are not mainly concerned with progress toward a goal but with depiction of the texture of life, its quality
they focus on interior experience (sensation, emotion and reflection) and are syntactical rather than analytic
they are built around a central female figure
there's no great external goal to be archived because there is no purpose to human life beyond continuation and pleasure. even power in the world is nullified-> feminine worlds are essentially anarchic
feminine literature is outlaw literature: it challenges masculine world structure, power and permanence. it celebrate flux the moment, the sensation and emotion
literature dominated by the feminine principle is found mainly in the medieval period, the 16th century and the 20th century
the work of Shakespeare may be roughly divided into gender categories by division into comedy and tragedy
in most of his plays he attempts either a synthesis of the principles or an examination of the kind of worlds that realist when one or the other principle is abused, neglected, devalued or exiled
drama of character is always masculine because they very notion of individuality is masculine (the feminine principle=community)
comedies and tragedies deal with identical material (they have similar events)
in tragedies events are irrevocable, in comedy they are revocable
the irrevocable world (tragedy) is one of action; the revocable world (comedy) is one of language
play with language is equivalent to challenging the masculine principle, masculine minds believe that words have fixed meanings, that there's should be a unity of heart and tongue and thus that feelings and words can be fixed, permanent and irrevocable
play with language denies all this. language suggests relativism and ambiguity in human life
the early comedies of Shakespeare celebrate the flexibility of language and the confusions attendant on this
the tragedies concentrate on words and action which are true because they are irrevocable and those words and actions lead inevitably to death, the ultimate truth-> truth defined by a masculine culture is permanent.
commedia exploit not a linear truth but a vertical or circular one: inner truth-> comedies present the multiple truths that make up a human beings and community
comedy is circular, tied to nature and eternal recurrence
the comedies don't have a strong plot-> they move by elabroration
in tragedy the focus are on power
tragedy has plot (and it may have also subplot ) since it is linea, externally oriented, and concerned with the individual it is necessarily disintegrative
the world of tragedy is hierarchical: one figure dominates, the others take their places in ranks beneath him
comedy is expansive: it permits entertainment of the most serious questions without necessarily entailing serious consequences
tragedy is constrictive it concentrates on a single course of action a more defined world than comedy
history plays are primarily masculine because their subject mater is power-in-the-world but they contain more femminine elements than tragedies because they are not concerned only with one character but with the ongoing life go society which does endure
MONEY 💰
in the merchant of Venice the power of the feminine principle is pitted against that of the masculine
VENICE ⛵ dominated by the masculine princple
they are related to each other and share certain concerns
BELMONT dominated by the feminine principle
the meaning of Venice is understood by the belmonters (porita) but the meaning of Belmont isn't by the Venetians
the opening scene depict the value of Venice: money and manners
manners are
femminine when they are dictated by the self-subordinating desire to please
masculine when they are dictated by a desire to assert the self and show superiority
love is not a value in this world where women are vendible
venice undestands only economic language
Salerno and solaio are infatuated with 💰and possessions; gratiano and Lorenzo are concerned with money and manners; Antonio and shylock both lend money
shylock's house is joiless: sensuous plaseure is forbidden theater it be food, drink, music, or even watching other at pleasure
shylock lends money to make money / Antonio lends money to earn love
in this world bassaino is a failure
both users bc they give in order to receive
for them money is the equivalent of love
the departure of bassanio from Venice is a loss for Antonio = elopement of Jessica is a loss to shylock -> both losses are felt in economic terms
portia = Antonio is sad because she lacks love and will use her wealth to purchase love
portia and narissa discuss morality and the ambiguity of human conduct-> MORAL FLEXIBILITY
portia offers a set of satiric sketches of her suitors: satirizing the merchant world and the masculine values in general
antonio' lost ship are symbolic of his loss of bassiamo / shylock cries out for his ducats and his daughter
TRIAL
the 2 men speak the same language and entertain similar values but Antonio gives his love for bassianio priority instead shylock puts his ducats first
moral flexibility means mercy, compassion and support
portia's disguise allow her to enter the masculine princple, she couldn't act in Venice in her own identity
law is an attempt to use language precisely, to codify shades of meaning to fix mortality
Antonio's love for bassaino
there are 2 kinds of love shown in the play: femminine: giving- masculine love is codified love, code of honor or fidelity, marriage
portia uses Belmont values in her mercy speech but this fails her nothing she must use Venetian values to win
bassanio and gratiano during the trial subordinate their feminine love to their masculine one: bassanio claims he would sacrifice portia to shylock id that would help Antonio- gratiano wishes nerissa dead so she could intercede for Antonio in heaven
the first septs in the giving up of the rings 💍
neither husband understands the Maning of his act until the women equate the symbolic ring with an emotional stance
the moral flexibility of Belmont permits forgiveness and the sexual banter that ends the play
victory of morality over legalism
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Pitagora numeber 1 ♂good, right- 2 ♀, evil, magic, darkness
nature benevola nurturing and malevolent
stil and stable-> every form of control
he can change and lear with mistakes and evolv