"Lear's Shadow" and "Nothing"

Shakespeare's Boy World: Misogyny in King Lear and Antony and Cleopatra

“Lears shadow” (1.4.206) is a spondee with a feminine accent. The feminine ending is a signal for alarm, as Lear’s shadow follows a stressed-stressed-unstressed meter. The use of a feminine ending to signal alarm is an act of misogyny. It’s bad enough that women are represented in Shakespeare's plays only to the extent that female characters are played by male actors. So, the use of the feminine ending to evoke alarm and a sense of eeriness emphasizes that Shakespeare’s world of 16th/17th century literature is a boy world--a world in which women are not allowed to exist beyond the costumes and disguises worn by male actors who mimic femininity. Shakespeare’s boy world or the theatre, as it’s called, is a microcosm for 16th/17th century, English society. The exclusion of women from the theatre parallels the haunting presence of misogyny in 16th/17th century English culture.

Anti-woman ideals appear in the language of Shakespeare's day. “Nothing” (1.2.126) is the term that refers to female genitalia as it is used in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. The genitals of man and woman are that which defines man from woman. The use of the word nothing to refer to female genitalia is an implication that in Shakespeare’s society women are perceived to be exactly that which defines them--nothing. In contrast, men as the victors, the dominant members of society are defined by their genitals, as are women. The difference, however, is the word used to define the male genital. This word is “cause” (1.2.127) as it too is used in Antony and Cleopatra. In contrast to the word nothing, the word cause implies existence and value. In its use in Antony and Cleopatra, the word “great” (1.2.127)precedes the word cause to signify the importance of male genitalia and--by extension--the importance of men in Shakespeare’s society.


Beata Ingabire
Section 1D Waldo