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.

Original Format

PDF

Files

DC2019-0011-Abstract-Warburton-2019-03-23.pdf

Citation

"Warburton, Rachel", “Abstract: '"be not so passionate": Whorish Anger in Marston's The Dutch Courtesan' (Warburton),” Dutch Courtesan 2019, accessed April 3, 2025, https://dutchcourtesan2019.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/54.

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