•  
  •  
 

Document Type

Humanities

Abstract

This article presents, and seeks to remedy, the argument that Shakespeare’s female characters are deprived of equal representation as complex humans through narrative gaps, action relegated to offstage scenes, and reduced opportunities for direct-to-audience speech, mirroring the social hierarchies of early modern gender, which continue to be reflected in modern society.

While this critique is not new, this essay argues that the criticism of these theatrical inequalities is insufficient to remedy their harms. Instead, this author proposes a performance-based, generative model of restorative justice termed the Historic Shroud, which seeks to give voice to sidelined female characters by placing them in dialogue with real-world historical and contemporary women who share parallel experiences. In order to justify this model, the article analyzes three alternative restorative models: The Female-First Academic Reading, The New-Text Model, and The Visual Model, and explores the risks and limits of each, focusing on their inability to restore vocal, complete agency to the women they represent.

As a proof of concept of the Historic Shroud model, the article presents an original  “lost soliloquy” for the character of Lady Macbeth, created through the use of quotations from real-world women associated with dictatorship, political proximity, mental illness, and institutionalization. By doing so, the article seeks to restore the voices of the real-world women who served as the inspiration for Shakespeare’s plays. ethically re-voicing them and combating female historic erasure, while maintaining the text of the original plays.

Download

Share

COinS