Masculinity, Corporality and the English Stage 1580-1635

249 Pages·2008·17.11 MB·English

by  Christian M. Billing

MASCULINITY, CORPORALITY AND
THE ENGLISH STAGE 1580–1635
This book is dedicated to my father, Dudley Michael Billing
Masculinity, Corporality and
the English Stage 1580–1635
CHRISTIAN M. BILLING
University of Hull, UK
First published 2008 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © Christian M. Billing 2008
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
Christian M. Billing has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Billing, Christian M., 1968–
Masculinity, corporality and the English stage, 1580–1635
1.English drama – Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500–1600
–History and criticism 2. Body, Human, in literature
3.English drama – 17th century – History and criticism
4.Masculinity in literature 5. Sex role in literature
6.Human anatomy – History – 16th century 7. Human anatomy
–History – 17th century
I. Title
822.3'093561
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Billing, Christian M., 1968-
Masculinity, corporality, and the English stage, 1580-1635 / by Christian M. Billing.
p.cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
ISBN 978-0-7546-5651-7 (alk. paper)
1. English drama—Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600—History and criticism.
2. Body, Human, in literature. 3. English drama—17th century—History and criticism.
4. Masculinity in literature. 5. Sex role in literature. 6. Human anatomy—History—16th
century. 7. Human anatomy—History—17th century. I. Title.
PR658.B63B55 2008
822'.3093561—dc22
2007044796
ISBN 978-0-7546-5651-7 (hbk)
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1 Man Made Woman: Early Modern Anatomy and the Emergence of
Sexual Difference 13
2 Homoerotic Metamorphoses: Ide, Gallathea and Falstaff 49
3 Apparel, Anatomy, Agency: Performative Challenges to Masculine
Authority 85
4 Roaring Girls and Tragic Maids: Strategies of Dramatic
Recuperation 133
5 Misogynist Anatomy: The Visceral Imperatives of Fordian Tragedy 181
Conclusion 211
Select Bibliography 215
Index 235
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List of Illustrations
0.1 Vagina, Uterus and Womb, taken from Fritz Weindler, Geschichte
der Gynäkologisch anatomischen Abbildung 5
1.1 Unknown artist, first printed delineation of the uterus (1493) 19
1.2 Leonardo da Vinci, The Principal Organs and Vascular and Urino-
genital systems of a Woman (circa 1507) 20
1.3 Detail of male and female genitalia from Andreus Vesalius’s tabulae
anatomicae (1538) 21
1.4 Leonardo da Vinci, Coition of Hemisected Man and Woman (circa
1492–1494). Windsor Leoni Volume 12281. (Showing the early
Renaissance notion of dual ejaculation and the vascular systems for
the perfection of blood into semen) 22
1.5 Leonardo da Vinci, The External Genitalia and Vagina with
Diagrams of the Anal Sphincter (circa 1508–1509) 33
1.6 Leonardo da Vinci, detail of the external female genitalia from Five
Views of a Fœtus in the Womb (circa 1510–1512) 34
3.1 Marcus Gheerhaerts the Younger, portrait of Captain Thomas Lee
(1594) 92
3.2 Nicholas Hilliard, portrait of George Clifford, Third Earl of
Cumberland (circa 1590) 94
3.3 First paragraph of the Hic Mulier pamphlet. © 2008 The British
Library. (C.40.d.27 first paragraph) 116
3.4 Miniature self-portrait of Sophonisba Anguissola. Photograph. ©
2008 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 117
3.5 Inigo Jones, costume for Penthesileia, danced by Lucy Harington,
Countess of Bedford, in The Masque of Queens (1609) 124
3.6 Inigo Jones, costume for Berenice, danced by Lady Anne Clifford,
later Countess of Dorset, in The Masque of Queens (1609) 125
3.7 Inigo Jones, costume for an Un-named Queen, dancer unknown,
The Masque of Queens (1609) 126
3.8 Inigo Jones, costume for Atalanta, danced by Alathea Talbot,
Countess of Arundel, in The Masque of Queens (1609) 127
4.1 Title page from The Maid’s Tragedy (1619) 152
4.2 Title page from Hic Mulier (1620) 153
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Acknowledgements
Many people and institutions, to whom I would now like to express my thanks,
have helped me in the preparation of this volume. Various sections of this book
were read by Heather Dubrow, Susanne Wofford, Hal Cook, Kate Chedgzoy, Peter
Davidson, Margaret Shewring, Kathleen McLuskie, David Thomas and Benoît
Meny. Archival research was undertaken at the British Library, the Bibliothèque
Nationale de France, the Brynmor Jones Library (University of Hull) and the
Memorial, Kohler, Middleton and Steenbock Libraries of the University of
Wisconsin–Madison. Practical research included direction of all-male productions
of Middleton and Dekker’s Roaring Girl; Dekker, Ford and Rowley’s Witch of
Edmonton; Ford’s Love’s Sacrifice and Jonson’s Epicoene. Each theatrical process
fed into my overall argument and I would like to thank Mamamouchi’s Miscreants
as well as Unlimited Theatre (especially Paul Warwick, Jon Spooner and Chris
Thorpe) for the commitment they put into rehearsals and performance. A debt
of thanks is also due to the staff of the Workshop Theatre (School of English,
University of Leeds) and to Martin Butler and Dick Andrews of that institution.
I was fortunate enough to sit in on rehearsals and to watch performances by
the Bread Loaf Acting Ensemble during productions of Shakespeare’s second
tetralogy. During this process I engaged in a range of practical workshops with
actors, which greatly informed my reading of Falstaff.
Two semesters of study leave were provided by the University of Hull. The
British Academy granted resources for research trips to France and funded
the reproduction of most of the images contained in this volume. The Society
for Theatre Research also provided a research grant in this regard. The British
Academy met travel costs for the presentation of international conference papers
in relation to Chapters 3 and 5. I am grateful to colleagues in the American
Comparative Literature Association and the Shakespeare Association of America
for responses to material presented at these events. Sections from my first two
chapters were presented at a Literature and Science conference organised by the
School of English, University of Leiden. Support for me to attend that event
was generously made available by Richard Beacham. Two anonymous readers
for Ashgate Publishing provided me with useful feedback regarding the focusing
of this volume, in particular with regards to its relationship to current gender-
political discourse. Antony Meech undertook proofreading at a time when he
could least afford so to do.
Having had so much help, it is difficult to see how I could have gone far wrong;
and I would like to draw readers’ attention to the fact that that any errors and
oversights that appear in this volume are the result of my own shortcomings,
rather than those of any who have helped me so significantly and selflessly. The
penultimate debt of thanks that must be paid is a very personal one. I would
like to thank my wife, Florence Liber, for putting up with the alterations of