The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 10.0729  Friday, 23 April 1999.

From:           Bill Allard <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Thursday, 22 Apr 1999 19:52:09 -0700
Subject:        Elizabethan Feminism

I am a graduate student in California and I need your input. I am
enrolled in an Elizabethan literature class where we have just finished
MND. Two female students gave presentations on how Hermia and Helena are
subjected and commodified by men. A few quotes of the ladies and their
bibliographic sources: "Patriarchal domination," "putting men one up
again," and "reminding us that the men haven't changed." My question is
this: Is there any male Shakesperian character who has any redeeming
qualities in his relationship with women? I realize this may open a can
of worms, but I do cling to what seems like a quickly fading notion that
academia is a marketplace of ideas where opposing views may be
expressed.

If men and women are the cause of the battle of the sexes, I do not see
how this angle of feminist criticism does anything to solve the problem.

Thank you.

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