Date of Graduation
1995
Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
Recent critics of Shakespeare's plays have acknowledged that the playwright's treatment of the lower classes is not as negative as once believed. Yet more critics claim the Shakespeare presented prostitutes and bawds, certainly among the lowest members of society, with callous indifference if not contempt. The plays that take up the issue of illicit sex reveal that Shakespeare's prostitutes and bawds are given the opportunity to speak about their problems from the stage. His plays consistently imply that the prostitutes are not a fountainhead of evil, that they carry out their profession simply as a means of survival. The dissertation is a study of Renaissance prostitution and its connection to the theatre. Contemporary proclamations and anti-theatrical pamphlets are used to reconstruct the controversies surrounding the sex industry and the theatre. The plays of Marlowe, Jonson, and Marston are read against the attitudes constructed by the state and pamphleteers. The playwrights typically support the conservative opinions and present prostitutes as petty criminals, sexual monsters, extortionists, and murderers. Shakespeare's plays, however, often subvert the dominant ideology and yield a more balanced presentation of the prostitute. Performance theory is used to reconstruct Renaissance staging of prostitution. Plays are examined for indications of costume and gesture that would indicate that a character was a prostitute. Twentieth century productions are discussed to suggest possible solutions to problems presented in the Renaissance texts. While Shakespeare never praises the actions of prostitutes and bawds, his texts never condemn them. He consistently implies that the existence of the sex industry is not primarily the responsibility of the prostitutes. Men who patronize the brothels are found to be equally at fault. Shakespeare's prostitutes and bawds are often accused of other crimes, but these charges are always unfounded. The conspicuous lack of condemnation is atypical and noticeably absent in the work of Shakespeare's contemporaries, official discourses, and the work of the pamphleteers.
Recommended Citation
Winland, Gregory George, "Staging whoredom: Prostitution on the Renaissance stage." (1995). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 10032.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/10032