Staging Women: Masochean Masochism and the development of female agency in Restoration Comedy, 1670-1700

该项目通过应用吉勒斯·德勒兹(Gilles Deleuze)的Masochean受虐理论(1971)，探索复辟时期男性和女性剧作家对性和婚姻的描绘以及女性性中介的成长。将性爱幻想和否认的快感这一心理结构应用于复辟喜剧1670-1700，揭示了这一时期普遍存在的男性对阳刚之气和女性主导地位的焦虑：特别是探索了没有回报的放荡欲望如何造成了男性的性别认同危机。在这一时期的戏剧中，男性被女性化，变得顺从，而女性被授予通过羞辱和阉割来施加精神痛苦的性中介。我将把德勒兹的概念视野与细致的历史研究结合起来，思考这种顺从是否会成为一种拜物教欲望，满足男性的性幻想，最终肯定男子气概。我的研究将挑战最近受到历史扭曲的学术观点，主要是基于1660-1685年的表演史，即那个时期的性爱喜剧只反映了父权制试图削弱女性机构的企图。取而代之的是，我将探索一种假设，即这一时期在戏剧中展示了不同的母系统治表现，这一时期的演变反映了查尔斯二世统治和1688年后时期的社会道德主义态度。我打算调查这些起伏不定的优势描述，以及它对男性和女性观众身份的更广泛影响。将我的研究集中在1670-1700年之间的时期，使我能够在更广泛的社会历史视角下绘制这些代表。1670年出现了新的戏剧性声音的涌入，包括阿芙拉·贝恩和威廉·怀切利，以及更微妙的幽默和圆滑性格的开始；几十年来，这导致了喜剧戏剧的新方向，这是对1700年前动荡的历史事件的回应。我的论文将探索复辟喜剧如何作为社会变化的镜子和对立面，越来越多地嘲笑性道德的不稳定和虚伪。我将考察著名剧作家贝恩、怀切利和约翰·范布鲁的作品，以及托马斯·德尔菲等不太知名的剧作家的作品。我将展示这些戏剧如何在她们对女性的刻画中挑战占主导地位的性别结构：特别是通过颠覆父权控制和厌恶女性的态度。我将发展杰里米·韦伯斯特(Jeremy Webster)(2005)关于戏剧小说与皇室现实之间相互作用的学术研究，以及大卫·罗伯茨(David Roberts)(1989)关于女演员执照和女性观众地位如何改变传统男性空间的研究。我的研究将进一步推进戴安娜·所罗门(Diana所罗门)(2013)关于女演员崛起和戏剧受欢迎之间的联系的工作，调查女性特征如何演变为描绘无意识和颠覆性赋权的女性。我打算扩大对复辟喜剧的研究；例如，安妮特·克赖斯-施尼克(Annette Kreis-Schnick)(2001)认为喜剧保持了对男性性别优越感的积极看法，以及帕特·吉尔(Pat Gill)(1994)提出喜剧在概念和焦点上都被父权制领导的人物形象有害地改变了。

The project explores both male and female Restoration playwrights' depictions of sex and marriage and the growth of female sexual agency through the application of Gilles Deleuze's theory of Masochean masochism (1971). Applying this psychological construct of erotic fantasy and the pleasure of denial to Restoration comedy 1670-1700 exposes this period's prevalent male anxieties around virility and perceived female dominance: specifically exploring how unreciprocated libertine desire creates a male sexual identity crisis. In the plays of the period, men are feminised and rendered submissive while women are granted sexual agency to inflict mental pain through humiliation and emasculation. I will combine Deleuze's conceptual vision with meticulous historical research to consider whether this submissiveness becomes a fetishistic desire that satisfies men's sexual fantasies, ultimately affirming masculinity.My research will challenge recent historically inflected scholarship, primarily based on performance history 1660-1685, that the hypersexual comedy of the period merely reflects patriarchal attempts to diminish female agency. Instead, I will explore the hypothesis that the period demonstrates differing representations of matriarchal ascendency in the theatre which evolved to reflect the socio-moralistic attitudes of Charles II's reign and the post-1688 period. I intend to investigate these fluctuating portrayals of ascendency and its wider implications for male and female spectatorship. Focusing my research on the period between 1670-1700 allows me to chart these representations within a wider socio-historical perspective. 1670 saw an influx of fresh dramatic voices, including Aphra Behn and William Wycherley, and the beginnings of a more nuanced humour and rounder characterisation; over the decades, this led to a new direction in comedic theatre, which evolved in response to the turbulent historical events of the period up to 1700.My thesis will explore how Restoration comedy acted as a mirror and counterpoint to societal change increasingly deriding the instability and hypocrisy of sexual morality. I will examine the works of celebrated playwrights Behn, Wycherley and John Vanbrugh alongside lesser-known dramatists such as Thomas D'Urfey. I will demonstrate how these plays challenge the dominant constructions of gender in their characterisation of women: particularly through the subversion of patriarchal control and misogynistic attitudes. I will develop Jeremy Webster's (2005) scholarship on the interplay between theatrical fiction and the realities of the royal court, and David Roberts' (1989) research on how the licensing of actresses and female spectatorship altered traditionally masculine spaces. My study will further Diana Solomon's (2013) work on the link between the rise of actresses and theatre's popularity, investigating how female characterisation evolved to portray unconscious and subversive sexual empowerment I intend to expand research on Restoration comedy; for example, Annette Kreis-Schnick's (2001) argument that comedies maintained a positive view of masculine sexual superiority, and Pat Gill's (1994) suggestion that comedy was detrimentally altered in both concept and focus by patriarchally-led portrayals.