Surprisingly, nearly more than Viola, Callaghan believes Molvolio serves as a key figure in gender roles throughout the play. Molvolio is a male who is metaphorically and socially castrated as he attempts to climb the social ladder. His endeavor towards upward mobility is referred to by Callaghan as In trying to change his social class, he “class transvestism” (36). loses his manhood, and he even considers the possibility of a for “trading steward’s servility Yet, by the conclusion of the play, his anger is even more greatly fueled by sexual service” (37). the unnatural nature of his efforts which result in Molvolio being “feminized, ridiculed, (37). The word is used to describe both attempts to alter social ranks and castrated” “unnatural” Callaghan further insists that transgression is far less Molvolio’s figurative castration. Viola’s offensive to the audience than and therefore social rank perhaps hold a very Malvolio’s ambition resilient association to gender roles and what they meant during the Elizabethan Era. Yet, despite the correlated ideals between class and gender, Callaghan still believes that female gender roles are extremely significant to the play. Although many critics claim that bawdy humor is used much less in then is many of other plays, Twelfth Night Shakespeare’s Callaghan maintains that this is untrue. In fact, the female genital becomes an active theme throughout the play and is even the heart of (36). It is claimed that the “at Molvolio’s gulling” subject of the is clearly shown as Molvolio my life, this is my woman’s vagina says, “By lady’s hand: these be her very her and her and thus she makes her great It is in C’s, U’s, T’s, P’s. contempt of question her (36). Therefore, Callaghan believes that these lines obviously hand” signify a (37). woman’s “cunt” Besides the alarming reference by the use of the typically offensive word “cunt”, Callaghan finds it of more significance to address exclusion from the stage women’s “while examining the representation of her she concludes that private parts” (46). Thus, “[…] we have
Surprisingly, nearly more than Viola, Callaghan believes Molvolio serves as a key figure in gender roles throughout the play. Molvolio is a male who is metaphorically and socially castrated as he attempts to climb the social ladder. His endeavor towards upward mobility is referred to by Callaghan as “class transvestism” (36). In trying to change his social class, he loses his manhood, and he even considers the possibility of “trading a steward’s servility for sexual service” (37). Yet, by the conclusion of the play, his anger is even more greatly fueled by the unnatural nature of his efforts which result in Molvolio being “feminized, ridiculed, castrated” (37). The word “unnatural” is used to describe both attempts to alter social ranks and Molvolio’s figurative castration. Callaghan further insists that Viola’s transgression is far less offensive to the audience than Malvolio’s ambition and therefore social rank perhaps hold a very resilient association to gender roles and what they meant during the Elizabethan Era. Yet, despite the correlated ideals between class and gender, Callaghan still believes that female gender roles are extremely significant to the play. Although many critics claim that bawdy humor is used much less in Twelfth Night then is many of Shakespeare’s other plays, Callaghan maintains that this is untrue. In fact, the female genital becomes an active theme throughout the play and is even “at the heart of Molvolio’s gulling” (36). It is claimed that the subject of the woman’s vagina is clearly shown as Molvolio says, “By my life, this is my lady’s hand: these be her very C’s, her U’s, and her T’s, and thus she makes her great P’s. It is in contempt of question her hand” (36). Therefore, Callaghan believes that these lines obviously signify a woman’s “cunt” (37). Besides the alarming reference by the use of the typically offensive word “cunt”, Callaghan finds it of more significance to address women’s exclusion from the stage “while examining the representation of her private parts” (46). Thus, she concludes that “[…] we have
gender_roles_and_feminism_in_twelfth_nig.docx