性別混淆、婚姻與浪漫喜劇：再檢視《如願》與《第十二夜》
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2005
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本論文探討莎士比亞的兩部浪漫喜劇《如願》與《第十二夜》中浪漫喜劇成規(convention)之呈現。伊麗莎白時期浪漫喜劇經常被視為頌揚異性愛情與婚姻之次文類。然而我認為此種認知若套用在《如願》與《第十二夜》上並不恰當。雖然此二劇本被歸類為浪漫喜劇，在它們稱頌異性愛情及婚姻的表象下，同性之間的情愛透過女主角的變裝(cross-dressing)所產生的性別混淆流動於角色之間而婚姻的穩定性與價值也受到質疑。第一章由分析不同評論者對浪漫喜劇的定義與討論，探討浪漫喜劇的成規。這些成規包含以愛情故事為劇情主軸、戀人必須經歷的磨難 (ordeals)、求愛的過程(wooing)以及婚姻。這些成規使一些評論家對莎士比亞的浪漫喜劇產生既定且不妥的認知，例如認為莎士比亞的浪漫喜劇遵循異性戀傳統並且頌揚婚姻為社會和諧之象徵。第二章分析《如願》與《第十二夜》中同性情愛的元素。兩部劇本中，女主角的變裝使她們的性別產生混淆，而此性別混淆為同性之間的情愛創造了流動的空間。在此二劇本中，異性愛情並非愛情的唯一面貌或可能，愛情亦存在於同性之間。第三章則藉由檢視《如願》與《第十二夜》中浪漫喜劇成規之呈現，探討其對婚姻的質疑。兩部劇本中對磨難與求愛等成規的呈現質疑了婚姻的價值。而劇本中對婚姻的描繪更突顯出婚姻本身的不穩定及弱點。換言之，《如願》與《第十二夜》並未將婚姻理想化為完美快樂的結局。雖然《如願》與《第十二夜》中運用了浪漫喜劇的成規，它們卻也為這些成規加入了變化。這些變化不僅創造更多詮釋的空間亦說明成規本身並非固定的規範。因此，若一味將此二劇本視為對異性愛情及婚姻的歌頌則忽略了它們在成規上所呈現的變化。我認為《如願》與《第十二夜》不但藉由性別混淆強調同性之間的情愛，亦質疑婚姻的穩定性與價值。
Abstract This thesis is a study of the presentation of Elizabethan romantic comedy conventions in Shakespeare’s As You Like It and Twelfth Night. Elizabethan romantic comedy is usually regarded as a sub-genre that celebrates heterosexual love and marriage; however, these presumptions that romantic comedy contains a heterosexual tradition of love and celebrates marriage as the symbol of social harmony seem to be problematic considering As You Like It and Twelfth Night. Although these two plays are classified as romantic comedies, they portray homoerotic potentials through the gender ambivalence of the cross-dressed heroines and they also present the questioning and the deflation of marriage. In the first chapter, I examine various discussions of romantic comedy in order to trace romantic comedy conventions of love, including a central love story plot, ordeals, wooing, and marriage. Further, I investigate certain critics’ “problematic” presumptions based on these conventions that Shakespearean romantic comedy contains a heterosexual love tradition and celebrates marriage as the reaffirmation of social harmony. In the second chapter, I look into the employment of homoerotic potentials in As You Like It and Twelfth Night. The gender ambivalence produced by the cross-dressing of Rosalind in As You Like It and Viola in Twelfth Night creates space for homoerotic potentials to surface in the course of heterosexual love. In the final chapter, I explore the questioning and the deflation of marriage by examining the modifications of such conventions as ordeals, wooing, and marriage in both plays. To conclude, I propose that the modifications of conventions in the plays not only create more interpretative possibilities but also indicate that conventions are never prescriptive rules. Therefore, we should not respond uncritically to conventions in these two plays. Despite their ostensible celebration of heterosexual love and marriage, As You Like It and Twelfth Night accentuate homoerotic potentials and question the value and stability of marriage.
Abstract This thesis is a study of the presentation of Elizabethan romantic comedy conventions in Shakespeare’s As You Like It and Twelfth Night. Elizabethan romantic comedy is usually regarded as a sub-genre that celebrates heterosexual love and marriage; however, these presumptions that romantic comedy contains a heterosexual tradition of love and celebrates marriage as the symbol of social harmony seem to be problematic considering As You Like It and Twelfth Night. Although these two plays are classified as romantic comedies, they portray homoerotic potentials through the gender ambivalence of the cross-dressed heroines and they also present the questioning and the deflation of marriage. In the first chapter, I examine various discussions of romantic comedy in order to trace romantic comedy conventions of love, including a central love story plot, ordeals, wooing, and marriage. Further, I investigate certain critics’ “problematic” presumptions based on these conventions that Shakespearean romantic comedy contains a heterosexual love tradition and celebrates marriage as the reaffirmation of social harmony. In the second chapter, I look into the employment of homoerotic potentials in As You Like It and Twelfth Night. The gender ambivalence produced by the cross-dressing of Rosalind in As You Like It and Viola in Twelfth Night creates space for homoerotic potentials to surface in the course of heterosexual love. In the final chapter, I explore the questioning and the deflation of marriage by examining the modifications of such conventions as ordeals, wooing, and marriage in both plays. To conclude, I propose that the modifications of conventions in the plays not only create more interpretative possibilities but also indicate that conventions are never prescriptive rules. Therefore, we should not respond uncritically to conventions in these two plays. Despite their ostensible celebration of heterosexual love and marriage, As You Like It and Twelfth Night accentuate homoerotic potentials and question the value and stability of marriage.
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浪漫喜劇, 成規, 變裝, 性別混淆, 同性情愛, 婚姻, romantic comedy, convention, cross-dressing, gender ambivalence, homoeroticism, marriage