Monday, January 13, 2020
How do the writers present sexuality and gender in Tales Of Ovid?
Gender roles have been continually redefined throughout literary history. The evolution of sexuality and gender is presented in Behind The Scenes At The Museum, A Streetcar Named Desire and Tales Of Ovid as driven by context and in particular patriarchal society. From Hughesââ¬â¢ classical presentation of a ââ¬Ëhuman passion in extremisââ¬â¢[1], so strong that it ââ¬Ëcombusts, levitates, or mutates into an experience of the supernaturalââ¬â¢[2] to Streetcarââ¬â¢s ââ¬Ësucces de scandaleââ¬â¢[3], dealing with sex to an extent, and in a manner not yet encountered on the stage and then Museumââ¬â¢s sterile and comical view of sex, the mutability of sexuality and gender has transcended generations but has been subject to contrasting literary perspectives. The degree of fluidity of gender can be clearly seen to mirror the context of societal and historical change within which the three works were created. In the introduction of Ovid, Hughes describes the significance of the tales being written at ââ¬Ëthe moment of the birth of Christ within the Roman Empire. The Greek/ Roman pantheon had fallen in on menââ¬â¢s headsââ¬â¢[4] and Hughes makes a clear attempt to equate Adonis with Jesus Christ, describing him as ââ¬Ëthe miraculous babyââ¬â¢[5] and ââ¬Ëperfectionââ¬â¢[6]. For all its Augustean stability, Rome was at sea in hysteria and despair, caught in a tension between the sufferings of the gladiatorial arena and ââ¬Ëa searching for spiritual transcendenceââ¬â¢. This era of volatility is reflected in the marked fluidity of sexuality in Hughesââ¬â¢ Ovidian world, where men and women becomes birds and trees. As such, identity itself is problematic; gender can no longer be exclusively prescriptive. According to Leo Curran, Ovid recognised the ââ¬Ëfluidity, the breaking down of boundaries, due to the uncontrollable variety of nature and the unruliness of human passion. ââ¬â¢[7] Hughes unsettlingly explores this in the story of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus, where the carnal nymph Salmacis rapes the bashful boy Hermaphroditus. You can read alsoà Similarities and Conflicts in â⬠a Streetcar Named Desireâ⬠As he continues to struggle, she prays that ââ¬Ëwe never, never/ shall be separated, you and meââ¬â¢[8]. Her plea is hubristically answered and, ââ¬Ëwith a smileââ¬â¢, the gods look on as ââ¬Ëthe two bodies/ melted into a single body/ seamless as the water. ââ¬â¢[9] The conjunction of the two sexes seems incompatible as observed in the drowning of what a modern audience would recognise as a hermaphrodite. Hughesââ¬â¢ selection of this myth, with the same destructive conclusion as Ovidââ¬â¢s original, conveys the commingling of the two sexes as resulting in the debilitation of the male qualities, rather than their strengthening, thus presenting effeminacy pejoratively. The dissolution of gender boundaries is reiterated by Hughes in his story of Tiresias. Tiresiasââ¬â¢ passage through femininity, ââ¬Ëhaving lived and love in a womanââ¬â¢s bodyâ⬠¦and also in the body of a manââ¬â¢[10] leaves him with the unique experiences of both sexes. His knowledge about feminine pleasure, that women do, as Jupiter contends ââ¬Ëend up with nine-tenths of the pleasureââ¬â¢, angers Jupiter and his revelation proves damaging as she blinds him. It takes only one man, formerly a woman, to destroy the reassuring view that placed wives beyond the influence of pleasure. Social upheaval was also explicit at the beginning of the 20th century. Two World Wars had, temporarily, shifted the gender power balance with women filling vacant male roles only for these to be reassumed in the 50ââ¬â¢s. Williamââ¬â¢ Streetcar is an astute depiction of the continual metamorphosis gender roles were encountering in the struggle for supremacy, both at home and nationally between the Old South and the New America. In Streetcar, Blanche, as a manifestation of the antebellum, is taken away, leaving Stanley holding his new son. The new decedent acts as a symbol of the end of the decaying Du Bois line and a sort of victory for the new Kowalski family. As the Cambridge Companion To Tennessee Williams states ââ¬ËTheatregoersâ⬠¦ did not easily shake off lingering apprehensions that were born of the 1930ââ¬â¢s depression and nurtured by the 1945 unleashing of nuclear weaponsâ⬠¦ in this climate, the loose structure and morale ambiguities of Streetcar struck a chord of truth. ââ¬â¢[11] Furthermore, when Williams describes Stanley shouting ââ¬ËSttellah! [12] in a ââ¬Ëheaven splitting voiceââ¬â¢, we see the further power of the Kowalskis, who have rocked the status quo to the same extent as Venusââ¬â¢ ââ¬Ëdoomed loveââ¬â¢[13] in Ovid, that means she has ââ¬Ëneglected even Olympusââ¬â¢[14]. Ted Hughesââ¬â¢ exploration of gender fluidity is a more progressive one, in that a 21st century audience is much more open to transgender and sexual deviance than Tennessee Williamsâ⠬⢠contemporaries. Williamsââ¬â¢ homosexuality was illegal for the greater part of his life, but he found ways, open or oblique, of speaking of them in his plays. There is, indeed, a real sense in which Williams is a product of his work. When he began to write he was plain Tom. The invention of ââ¬ËTennessee' was not merely coterminous with the elaboration of theatrical fictions; it was of a piece with it. In that sense it is not entirely fanciful to suggest that he was the product of the discourse of his plays. Indeed he created female alter egos, such as Blanche in Streetcar, before he began, as he did in later life, to dress up as a woman[15]. Where did his work end and his life begin? The man who consigns Blanche to insanity later found himself in a straitjacket. As critic Hana Sambrook more explicitly notes ââ¬Ëthere are those who believe that the tragic figure of Blanche Dubois is a transsexual presentation of the promiscuity of Williamsââ¬â¢ himselfââ¬â¢[16]. Certainly, Blancheââ¬â¢s many ââ¬Ëintimacies with strangersââ¬â¢[17], her unfeminine like licentiousness and charade of hypocrisy aligns Williams with his protagonist. For a man for whom the concealment of his true sexual identity was for long a necessity, the fragmentation of the self into multiple roles offered a possible refuge. Blanche enters the play an actress and Williams creates her character as a series of roles, by using structural techniques to focus the audience upon her even when off stage; heard bathing ââ¬Ëserenely as a bellââ¬â¢[18] whilst singing obliviously in ââ¬Ëcontrapuntalââ¬â¢[19] contrast to the lurid revelations of her past being detailed by Stanley in the adjoining room. Blancheââ¬â¢s desire for disguise is a phony pretension, using the smoke and mirrors of her alcoholicism and fine clothing, to concoct an elaborate alternative reality she can abscond to, enabling her to ââ¬Ëput on soft colours, the colours of butterfly wings, and glowââ¬â¢[20]. This indirect, dramatic language and vivid imagery is typical of her escapism and her view of herself as ââ¬Ëdelicateââ¬â¢[21] reinforces the image of Blanche as a fragile moth that pervades Williamsââ¬â¢ stage directions. Despite this, Williams does not wholly present Blanche as a ââ¬Ëfaded Southern belleââ¬â¢[22] as some critics claim, but rather sheds a favourable light on Blancheââ¬â¢s attempts to protect and preserve the genteel values of the old Southern civilisation. Williamsââ¬â¢ states that ââ¬Å"Blanche was the most rational of all the characters [heââ¬â¢d] createdâ⬠, evident in her contradictory wilful ignorance of the causes of the loss of Belle Reve, yet her understanding that the root cause was her familyââ¬â¢s ââ¬Ëepic fornicationsââ¬â¢. Williams also reveres Blanche as his ââ¬Ëstrongest character in many waysââ¬â¢[23] and her unique internal integrity of ââ¬ËNever inside, I didnââ¬â¢t lie in my heartââ¬â¢[24] has seen her resist the brutality and savagery of a relentless modern society. Thus, even to the very end of the play, Blanche has never yielded to any coarse violent actions and rude behaviour, crying ââ¬Å"Fire! Fire! â⬠during Mitchââ¬â¢s attempted rape and fighting Stanley to her physical limit with a broken bottle when eventually violated. When the big Matron tries to subdue her physically on the floor, she never stops resisting until the Doctor gently offers her his arm like a real gentleman. Blancheââ¬â¢s dignified leaving further indicates her spiritual integrity, as critic Robert James Cardullo[25] claims ââ¬ËBlancheââ¬â¢s ascension from crucifix pinioning on the floor and her spirited leading the way out of the hell of her sisterââ¬â¢s home creates a moving tragic catharsis for the audienceâ⬠¦ Blancheââ¬â¢s defeat has considerable aesthetic dignityââ¬â¢. Williamsââ¬â¢ literature was strangely unmoved by the issue of gay rights and the issue of homosexuality that was so prominent in his private life, while clearly a strand in his work, was never a central theme and certainly never defended or promoted, neither publically nor politically. He seems to use Blanche as an expression of a conflict which clearly existed between his morality and sexuality, never to be resolved and never aired fully in his plays, despite its pertinence in the playââ¬â¢s political context. By contrast, in Behind The Scenes many aspects of life seem constant and the stability of gender roles seems to reflect this. In Museum, the past permeates the present and the present is doomed to replicate the past. The shop ghosts and objects such as the pink glass button that goes rolling down the years act as chronological touchstones and history repeats itself through the lives of successive women. Sophia, Alice, Nell and Bunty all lead lives marred by misery, disappointment and domestic drudgery. None of these women marry for love and all encounter marital strife. Alice, an impoverished widower marries Frederick in order to give up teaching, Nell marries Frank out of desperation, her two previous fiances having been killed in the war, and Bunty marries George when abandoned by her American fiance Bick. Thwarted in potential, trapped and unhappy, the women share a sense that they are ââ¬Ëliving the wrong lifeââ¬â¢[26]. Parallels between past and present create a sense of historical inevitability that is endorsed by a series of echoes between the lives of different women. Nell falls for Jack who has ââ¬Ëhigh, sharp cheekbonesâ⬠¦ like razor clam shellsââ¬â¢[27] and by the end of the novel, Ruby has fallen for a strikingly similar Italian with cheeks ââ¬Ëas sharp as knife bladesââ¬â¢[28]. Bunty looks like Nell and Ruby looks like Alice. The latter pair both believe in ââ¬Ëdestinyââ¬â¢[29] and embrace it in the mistaken form of men. Alice, Bunty and Ruby have all ââ¬Ëhad enoughââ¬â¢[30]. With typically perceptive narration for her tender age, Ruby accounts for this hereditarily as ââ¬Ëone of those curious genetic whispers across time dictates that in moments of stress we will all (Nell, Bunty, my sisters, me) brush our hands across our foreheads in exactly the same way that Alice has just doneââ¬â¢[31]. The reference to genes by Atkinson implies that behavioural patters are inherent and inescapable. Even Adrian, as the sole gay man in the novel, is presented in cliched terms as having an interest in hairdressing, his intimate conversation with a barman prompting a dramatically ironic exclamation of ââ¬Ëthatââ¬â¢s queerââ¬â¢[32] from the unwitting Uncle Clifford. Gender roles within all three texts are enforced through the sexual dominance of men over their female companions. Critic C. W. E Bigsby noted that ââ¬Ëthe shock of Streetcarâ⬠¦lay in the fact that this was the first American play in which sexuality was patently at the core of the lives of all its characters, a sexualityââ¬â¢[33]. Williams presents sex as having the power to redeem or destroy, to compound or negate the forces, which bore on those caught in a moment of great social change. The ââ¬Ëgaudy seed bearerââ¬â¢[34] Stanley is a bestial representation of the new South and he uses his intense virility and sexual power to great effect. His sexual magnetism is exemplified by the symbolic package of meat thrown to a visibly delighted Stella in the opening scene. The connotations of his sexual proprietorship over Stella and her sexual infatuation with him are not lost on the watching Negro woman. In stark contrast, Bunty feigns deafness at the butcherââ¬â¢s ââ¬Ëinnuendo laced conversationsââ¬â¢[35], exposing him as a ââ¬Ëbluff parody of himselfââ¬â¢[36]. Her caustic description of him as ââ¬Ëa pigâ⬠¦smooth shiny skin stretched tightly over his buttery fleshââ¬â¢[37] is both comical and telling in her uptight rejection of his smutty behaviour. This mordant tone continues into the awkwardly comical depictions of male sexual supremacy in Behind The Scenesââ¬â¢ fornications. Rubyââ¬â¢s conception by a typically tipsy George and equally typically stoic Bunty who is ââ¬Ëpretending to be asleepââ¬â¢[38], summarises well Atkinsonââ¬â¢s presentation of a tired female submission to male virility in the repressed society of 40ââ¬â¢s England. Georgeââ¬â¢s demise is with his trouser round his ankles, a less than dignified ââ¬Ëepileptic penguin[39]ââ¬â¢, as the World Cup final ââ¬Ëcarries on regardlessââ¬â¢[40] in another typically callous death of Behind The Scenes. This dominance leads to a trapping sexual dependence of women upon men, symbolically reflected by Williams in the eponymous streetcar, ââ¬Ëbound for Desire, and then for the Cemeteriesââ¬â¢[41]. The streetcar stands for Blancheââ¬â¢s headlong descent into disaster at the hands of her lust. Like the streetcarââ¬â¢s destination, Desire, the stop called Elysian Fields is an obvious symbol; an ironic fantasy however, as the Elysian Fields ââ¬â the abode of the blessed dead in Greek mythology ââ¬â turns out to be a rundown street in New Orleans. The very same symbol of the ââ¬Ërattle trap streetcarââ¬â¢[42] is used by both sisters in scene 4, as a euphemism for sexual experience. They speak explicitly of the ââ¬Ëblunt desireââ¬â¢[43] that decides their choice. In answer to Stellaââ¬â¢s question ââ¬Ëhavenââ¬â¢t you ever ridden on that street-car? [44] Blancheââ¬â¢s bitter riposte of ââ¬Ëit brought me hereââ¬â¢[45] displays both self-knowledge and self-condemnation of her current destitution. Ominously the matter-of-fact Stella offers no words of self-criticism prior to the only fleeting moment that she confronts her guilt; ââ¬Ëoh god, what have I done to my sister? ââ¬â¢[46]. Moments later, in the middle of her ââ¬Ëluxuriousââ¬â¢[47] sobbing, she yields to Stanleyââ¬â¢s lovemaking, compounding her guilt. This dependence is echoed in ââ¬ËTiresiasââ¬â¢ from Ted Hughesââ¬â¢ Ovid where women are said to take ââ¬Å"nine tenths of the pleasureâ⬠[48] during sex. Men are vital for women to experience any sexual satisfaction and female desire ultimately renders them reliant and weakened. Their dependence is compounded by a financial reliance. Marxist feminist theory argues an economic dependence on men deprives women of the right to dominate their own fate, reducing them to existence by male affiliation. On ââ¬Å"a teacherââ¬â¢s salaryâ⬠¦barely sufficient for her living expensesâ⬠[49], Blanche ââ¬Ëhad to come [to New Orleans] for the summerââ¬â¢ as ââ¬Ë[she] didnââ¬â¢t save a penny last yearââ¬â¢[50]. In the wake of her husbandââ¬â¢s suicide and the ââ¬Ëepic fornicationsââ¬â¢[51] of her ââ¬Ëgrandfathers and father and uncles and brothersââ¬â¢[52], she is forced again to turn to men for financial support, depending, as is her mantra ââ¬Ëon the kindness of strangersââ¬â¢[53]. Her attempted allurement of Stanley is based on the recognition that ââ¬Ëmaybe he is what we need to mix with our blood now that weââ¬â¢ve lost Belle Reveââ¬â¢[54]. Her spiral of desperation turns to Mitch and finally the nebulous millionaire Shep Huntleigh who comes to stand as a symbol of material strength of dependence and guarantee for women, more exactly for Blanche. Blanche recognises that Stella could be happier without her physically abusive husband, Stanley, yet her alternative of Shep still involves complete dependence on men. When Stella chooses to remain with Stanley, she chooses to rely on, love, and believe in a man instead of her sister. Williams does not necessarily criticise Stellaââ¬âhe makes it quite clear that Stanley represents a much more secure future than Blanche does. That Shep never materialises strongly suggests that if women place their hope and fortune on men, their oppressed and subordinate status can never be changed. Bunty, like Stella, who has to request that her husband ââ¬Å"better give [her] some moneyâ⬠[55], confirms her reliance on George in having ââ¬Å"no intention of working after her marriageâ⬠[56]. Buntyââ¬â¢s quest for stardom and self-discovery conflicts with a mode of motherhood that requires service, sacrifice, and selflessness. As she moves into adulthood during World War II, Bunty tries out a series of different quixotic identities in the search for selfhood; Deanna Durbin[57], Scarlett Oââ¬â¢Hara[58] and Greer Garson[59]. However, as her family grows, her dreams diminish, and Bunty is forced to forgo a self she has not yet fully realised. The erosion of self is symbolised by the abbreviation of her name for Bernice, to Bunty, which George truncates to ââ¬ËBuntââ¬â¢[60]. Ironically, George marries Bunty only because ââ¬Ëhe thinks she will be a big help in the shopââ¬â¢[61] and thus Bunty is comically presented as trapped in the role of the ââ¬ËMartyred wifeââ¬â¢[62] despite her belief that marriage to George would free her from the graft that she imagines herself to be ââ¬Ëaboveââ¬â¢. Rubyââ¬â¢s mock expression of pity in her narrative gives an account of Buntyââ¬â¢s woes in a sardonic tone; her tranquilisers are ââ¬ËBuntyââ¬â¢s little helpersââ¬â¢[63] and Atkinsonââ¬â¢s pathetic portrayal of Bunty as put out but ultimately accepting of her role as a married woman contrasts with Williamsââ¬â¢ poignant subdual of Blanche and Stella. Sexual and financial dominance coalesces in another tool for the subjugation of women; rape. Hughes presents his women in terms of capital value; Philomena is a ââ¬Ëpriceless giftââ¬â¢, available to ââ¬Ëcash in your whole kingdom forââ¬â¢[64]. As a result of rape in Streetcar and Ovid, the victimised females are presented as devalued and diminished in ââ¬Ëworthââ¬â¢ in the views of patriarchal society. Myrrha, ââ¬Ëutterly disgusted with her lifeââ¬â¢[65] is described as ââ¬Ëpollutedââ¬â¢[66] and ââ¬Ëcontaminatedââ¬â¢[67] in the wake of her incestuous act, which ââ¬Ëremoves [her] from life and deathâ⬠¦ in some nerveless limboââ¬â¢[68]. Male exploitation of Blancheââ¬â¢s sexuality has left her with an equally poor reputation. This notoriety makes Blanche an unattractive marriage prospect, but, because she is destitute, Blanche sees marriage as her only possibility for survival, trapping her in the cycle of submission to men. It is telling that Blancheââ¬â¢s rape is not condemned, and it can be argued that Williams portrays her violation as inevitable in patriarchal culture and also self-inflicted by her provocative behaviour, a controversial thought for a modern audience. In her ingratiation of Mitch, she uses all kinds of strategies to ââ¬Å"deceive him enough to make him-wantâ⬠[69] and conceals her true age, because ââ¬Å"Men donââ¬â¢t want anything they get too easy. But men lose interest quicklyâ⬠¦ when the girl is over-thirtyâ⬠[70]. This represents the internalisation of patriarchal society that her behaviour has precipitated. Her trunk, symbolic of her own displaced and materialistic identity, is full of the flashy pretension of fake finery that she perceives men to desire, and the Chinese lampshade softens the glare of the Mitchââ¬â¢s gaze on her fading beauty and adds to the ââ¬Ëmagicââ¬â¢ Blanche desires; the dressing up of ugly reality. However, both are ultimately violated with a strong sense of dramatic irony. When first Mitch and then Stanley tear off the paper lantern, she cries out as in pain. The opening of the trunk becomes a divesture of interiority ââ¬â Stanleyââ¬â¢s question ââ¬Ëwhat is them underneath? ââ¬â¢[71] becomes a central one as the trunk functions as a metonymy for some unchartered territory about to be fundamentally disrupted, but to no condemnation from the playwright. Similarly, even when the male hunter Actaeon is punished upon inadvertently offending the nakedly bathing goddess Diana with his sight, Hughes suggests that Actaeonââ¬â¢s crime was one of fortune: ââ¬ËDestiny, not guilt, was enough/For Actaeon. It is no crime/To lose your way in a dark woodââ¬â¢[72]. Hughes suggests here that Actaeonââ¬â¢s death is the necessary ordeal to lead him through hell to paradise. When sexual aggression or rape is exhibited by females however, the result and portrayal are markedly different. Salmacis and Blanche are remarkably alike in this respect. Salmacis is a naiad (a nymph who presided over springs and brooks) and as such is described in typically natural imagery as ââ¬Ëperfect / as among damselfliesââ¬â¢[73], ââ¬Ëgathering lilies for a garlandââ¬â¢[74]. This peaceful language of the natural world is tinged however with a more foreboding aggression in the ââ¬Ëviperââ¬â¢[75] like elegance of her ââ¬Ësinewy otterââ¬â¢[76] like body, which portends her sexual experience in contrast to the innocent young boy Hermaphroditus, who blushes at the naming of love. Hughes places the emphasis on the feminine snares of the lascivious water nymph, who is aggressively sexual in a very Blanche like manner. She knows ââ¬Ëshe had to have [Hermaphroditus]ââ¬â¢[77] and proceeds to unashamedly flirt, ââ¬Ëchecking her girdleâ⬠¦ her cleavageââ¬â¢[78]. Her sensual language is heightened by its inference of a taboo love with the incestuous reference of ââ¬Ëwhat a lucky sister! As for the mother/ Who held you, and pushed her nipple between your lips/ I am already sick with envyââ¬â¢[79], exemplifying her sexual command over the boy, who refuses her advances without really knowing what she wants. He desires only to bathe and his obliviousness to her advances are indicative of his youth and inexperience but also his male gender precluding him from the experience of passion, as echoed in the ââ¬Ënine tenths of the pleasureââ¬â¢[80] that the female takes in Tiresias. Thus he becomes an easy prey and ââ¬ËLike a snakeââ¬â¢[81] she ââ¬Ëflings and locks her coils/ around himââ¬â¢[82], a ââ¬Ëtangle of constrictors, nippled with suckersââ¬â¢[83] ââ¬â the disturbing organic metaphors further exemplifying her atypical literary position as the female aggressor of rape. Throughout this scene however, Salmacis is never rendered as in sexual control; Hermaphroditus ââ¬Ëwill not surrender/ or yield the least kindness/ of the pleasure she longs for/ and rages for, and pleads forââ¬â¢[84]. Hughesââ¬â¢ implication of their demise as a result of their unnatural union is clear ââ¬â the only way in which a woman can rape a man is if he is not clearly male. To conclude, in the words of an anonymous critic ââ¬Ëgender roles figure so prominently in literature that they begin to take on a life of their own, whereas to become fluid in the mind of the writer and reader alikeâ⬠¦ it is evident that when working with ambiguity, man and woman, whose boundaries are few and far between, become locked in a dimension of transmutationââ¬â¢. These words said of Ovid, offer a concise summary of the three works, applicable mainly to Hughesââ¬â¢ characters such as Salmacis and Tiresias, and Williamsââ¬â¢ Blanche. Ultimately however, despite the differing time periods in which they were written the role of gender is an inextricable fibre in ancient, southern and modern literature. The three writers posit sexuality and gender contrastingly; Williamsââ¬â¢ uncompromising ââ¬Ëpersonally and socially powerfulââ¬â¢[85] play, Hughesââ¬â¢ matter-of-fact narration and Atkinsonââ¬â¢s comically cliched bildungsroman. A prominent similarity in the treatment of gender by all three authors is the ability of each to manipulate and intertwine not only their ideas of the gender line but also those of their contextual popular culture in order to effectively and complexly examine its role.
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