Chamberlain, R. (2012) The mask of the refuser. Paper presented to: Shakespeare Inside-Out: Depth, Surface, Meaning, Lancaster University, 24-26 February 2012. (Unpublished)
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Abstract:
Shakespeare’s refusers – those, in the plays, who are unable to offer their assent to socially-demanded customs and enjoyment – problematise the metaphor of depth and surface in discussions of selfhood. Moreover, their withdrawal from participation in communal values, usually at great cost to themselves, is sudden, unpremeditated, and irrevocable; this differentiates them from principled dissidents whose deeply-held personal convictions have led them to say no. Rather than indicating the nature of anything within, refusal happens to the individual from without, in much the same way that the compelling and overpowering subjectivity of ‘the Mask’ happens to its victims in the Jim Carrey film of the same title. Drawing upon Slavoj Zizek’s use of this example in discussing the symbolic and ‘the inhuman core of humanity’, the paper will discuss Shakespeare’s Joan la Pucelle and Marston’s Malevole as figures who trouble the notion of a ‘screen’ between inner self and outer world, and who threaten to collapse the ‘fantasy of reality’ played out upon this illusory surface.
Uncontrolled Keywords:
Shakespeare, Marston, refusal, depth, surface, identity, selfhood, Zizek, ideology
Subjects:
Creators:
Chamberlain, R.
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes:
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Faculty of Education & Humanities > English and Creative Writing
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Research Centre > Centre for Critical and Creative Writing
Faculties > Faculty of Education & Humanities > English and Creative Writing
Research Centres > Centre for Critical and Creative Writing
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Research Centre > Centre for Critical and Creative Writing
Faculties > Faculty of Education & Humanities > English and Creative Writing
Research Centres > Centre for Critical and Creative Writing
Date:
24 February 2012
Date Type:
Publication
Event Title:
Shakespeare Inside-Out: Depth, Surface, Meaning
Event Dates:
24-26 February 2012
Event Location:
Lancaster University
Event Type:
Conference
Language:
English
Status:
Unpublished
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