Abstract: '"be not so passionate": Whorish Anger in Marston's The Dutch Courtesan' (Warburton)
Dublin Core
Title
Abstract: '"be not so passionate": Whorish Anger in Marston's The Dutch Courtesan' (Warburton)
Subject
The Dutch Courtesan, "Marston, John", Dutch Courtesan 2019, Toronto Dutch Courtesan, conference abstract, early modern drama, non-Shakespearean drama, female sexuality, violence, 'Ford, John", Tis Pity She's a Whore, sex Work, The Insatiate Countess, courtesan
Description
Abstract for Rachel Warburton's '"be not so passionate": Whorish Anger in Marston's The Dutch Courtesan'. Includes biography for Warburton.
Creator
"Warburton, Rachel"
Date
2019-03-23, 1605, 17th century
Contributor
Dutch Courtesan 2019 project team
Format
.pdf (96KB)
Language
en-CA
Type
Text Object
Identifier
DC2019-0011
Coverage
Toronto (CA), London (UK), 2019-03-22-23, 1605, 17th century
Date Available
2019-06-30
Date Created
2019-03
References
The Dutch Courtesan, Tis Pity She's a Whore, The Insatiate Countess
Extent
96KB
Medium
Digital PDF
Bibliographic Citation
Warburton, Rachel. '"be not so passionate": Whorish Anger in Marston's The Dutch Courtesan'. Abstract. 'Strangers and Aliens in London and Toronto: Sex, Religion, and Xenophobia in John Marston's The Dutch Courtesan'. DC2019-0011. Dutch Courtesan 2019. Toronto, March 2019. https://dutchcourtesan2019.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/54
Spatial Coverage
Toronto (CA), London (UK)
Temporal Coverage
2019-03-23, 1605, 17th century
Accrual Method
Materials solicited by the Dutch Courtesan project team.
Accrual Periodicity
Infrequently updated after 2019.
Audience
researchers, researchers of early modern drama, university instructors, undergraduate students, graduate students
Audience Education Level
Post-Secondary, Graduate, Post-Graduate
Instructional Method
large-group instruction, small-group instruction, independent research
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
‘“be not so passionate”: Whorish Anger in Marston’s The Dutch Courtesan’ (Panel 3:
Sexual Worlds of Marston’s Theatre – 11:15AM-1:00PM, 23 March 2019)
Rachel Warburton (Lakehead University)
Despite The Dutch Courtesan’s opening defense of prostitution, the play’s titular courtesan is the only character punished at the end of the play, indicating that “misogyny [is] a structural principle in city comedy” (Rose 1988, 49). This paper will argue, however, that Franceschina is not punished for monetizing sexuality. Indeed, Courtesan exhibits an anxiety surrounding the overlap between prostitution and marriage familiar to readers of early modern city comedy. And Franceschina participates in early modern hierarchies of sex work that place Continental, learned Courtesans above (English?) street sex workers: she performs music for her clients, falls in love with one client, and refuses to take on new clients when he jilts her. That is, despite Freevill’s final condemnation of prostitution and his rescue of Malhereux from Franceschina’s clutches, Franceschina’s sex work is rendered (almost) respectable on a couple of fronts. Ultimately, I will argue, it is her vengeful anger, an emotion denied to the idealized Beatrice, that threatens the social order. I will also explore the intersections of illicit female sexuality and excessive emotions in The Insatiate Countess and Ford’s ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore. Although Ford’s play is not a contemporary of Courtesan’s early performances, it is a near contemporary of Marston’s (disavowed) 1633 collection of plays. Moreover, ‘Tis Pity’s Putana appears indebted to both Franceschina and Beatrice’s nurse, Putifer. Certainly, both plays feature a spurned, vengeful adulteress who is ultimately tricked and punished at a wedding masque and whose non-standard language acts both as a register of her threatening anger and as dramatic justification for her violent expulsion from each play’s resolution. The idea that female emotional restraint and linguistic conformity demonstrate sexual propriety resonates today. Even in the wake of the #metoo movement’s righteous anger, Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee was notable for her continued equanimity and rhetorical control. Brett Kavanagh, on the other hand, appeared almost unhinged in his testimony. While masculine anger is still not exactly endorsed it remains tolerated. Moreover, female anger continues to be inextricably linked to illicit sexuality.
Rachel Warburton teaches English and Women’s Studies at Lakehead University. Her areas of research include early modern literature, queer/gender/feminist theories, and histories of sexuality.
Sexual Worlds of Marston’s Theatre – 11:15AM-1:00PM, 23 March 2019)
Rachel Warburton (Lakehead University)
Despite The Dutch Courtesan’s opening defense of prostitution, the play’s titular courtesan is the only character punished at the end of the play, indicating that “misogyny [is] a structural principle in city comedy” (Rose 1988, 49). This paper will argue, however, that Franceschina is not punished for monetizing sexuality. Indeed, Courtesan exhibits an anxiety surrounding the overlap between prostitution and marriage familiar to readers of early modern city comedy. And Franceschina participates in early modern hierarchies of sex work that place Continental, learned Courtesans above (English?) street sex workers: she performs music for her clients, falls in love with one client, and refuses to take on new clients when he jilts her. That is, despite Freevill’s final condemnation of prostitution and his rescue of Malhereux from Franceschina’s clutches, Franceschina’s sex work is rendered (almost) respectable on a couple of fronts. Ultimately, I will argue, it is her vengeful anger, an emotion denied to the idealized Beatrice, that threatens the social order. I will also explore the intersections of illicit female sexuality and excessive emotions in The Insatiate Countess and Ford’s ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore. Although Ford’s play is not a contemporary of Courtesan’s early performances, it is a near contemporary of Marston’s (disavowed) 1633 collection of plays. Moreover, ‘Tis Pity’s Putana appears indebted to both Franceschina and Beatrice’s nurse, Putifer. Certainly, both plays feature a spurned, vengeful adulteress who is ultimately tricked and punished at a wedding masque and whose non-standard language acts both as a register of her threatening anger and as dramatic justification for her violent expulsion from each play’s resolution. The idea that female emotional restraint and linguistic conformity demonstrate sexual propriety resonates today. Even in the wake of the #metoo movement’s righteous anger, Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee was notable for her continued equanimity and rhetorical control. Brett Kavanagh, on the other hand, appeared almost unhinged in his testimony. While masculine anger is still not exactly endorsed it remains tolerated. Moreover, female anger continues to be inextricably linked to illicit sexuality.
Rachel Warburton teaches English and Women’s Studies at Lakehead University. Her areas of research include early modern literature, queer/gender/feminist theories, and histories of sexuality.
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Citation
"Warburton, Rachel", “Abstract: '"be not so passionate": Whorish Anger in Marston's The Dutch Courtesan' (Warburton),” Dutch Courtesan 2019, accessed April 23, 2025, https://dutchcourtesan2019.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/54.
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