In the male dominated world these women lived in, to be
taken seriously it was necessary to be a man. Had Portia and Neressia appeared as
themselves in the court, they probably would not have been allowed to speak. Portia
would not have been able to question Shylock but disguised as a man, no one questioned
her skill or knowledge. As women, they were not free but as men they
were.
As for Jessica, she woud not be noticed in the
company of men if she was dressed as a male. As a woman, she would have been
noticed.
Of course a more practical reason was that during
the Elizabethan period, women were not allowed to act on stage and thus women's parts
were played by young boys and men. They would have been much more comfortable dressed
as boys and men.
It is evident from the beginning that
Portia is a captive of her father's will. The caskets are his defense against greedy
men who only wish to marry Portia for her money, which is
considerable.
It is also clear that Jessica is also a
captive. Perhaps Shylock is an over protective father considering how Jews were
regarded by Venice's Christian society.
In that world,
women submit to men.
No comments:
Post a Comment