Shakespeare and #MeToo Public

Abstract

How have sexual violence and harassment aged in a modern climate through Shakespeare’s performances? How did Shakespeare engage with issues of victimization, consent, allyship, enforced silence, rape, and masculinity? This project addresses such questions through the lenses of performance and cultural studies. Stephen Greenblatt defines “strategic opacity” as key elements that Shakespeare omitted from his plays so in order to intensify the audience’s response. Utilizing his understanding of strategic opacity, I examine how opacity in textual moments, such as the lack of stage directions and ambiguous plot points, has influenced performance choices through our changing perspectives on sexual violence. In tracing how the #MeToo movement has influenced the social climate, I aim to better understand how performance choices of Shakespearian plays are received by audiences. This analysis should contribute to filling the literary gap connecting Shakespeare to modern feminism by analyzing texts, performances, and literary discourses. While Shakespeare’s plays often enforce silence upon women who have been wronged, emerging cultural shifts condemning non-consensual sexual behaviors and the #MeToo movement give more powerful voices to victims who wish to share their stories. This cultural shift creates a critical discussion in Shakespearean studies as these plays have carried significance throughout time and are still taught to developing teenagers today. Tracing the variations in performance choices, textual strategic opacity, and audience reactions through a #MeToo lens will illuminate how early modern plays influence the modern societal acceptance of behaviors.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

#MeToo Movement: Social History and Sexual Violence 5

Chapter 1: Much Ado About Nothing: Allyship and Masculinity 8

Chapter 2: Measure for Measure: Consent and Victimization 18

Chapter 3: Titus Andronicus: Enforced Silence 29

Conclusion 37 

Works Cited 40

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	English
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Women's Studies Literature, English Performing Arts
Mot-clé	Performance Much Ado About Nothing Strategic Opacity Shakespeare Gender Victimization Sexual Violence Enforced Silence Renaissance Literature Allyship Measure For Measure Masculinity Titus Andronicus Sex #MeToo Consent
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Higinbotham, Sarah, Emory University
Committee Members	Goss, Devon, Emory University Cavanaugh, Sheila, Emory University

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