‘The case appears too liquid’: The Two Sides of Androgyno
‘The case appears too liquid’: The Two Sides of Androgyno
Drawing attention to the subplot of Lady Would-be, the chapter untangles the differences between the androgyne and the hermaphrodite with the use of Freud and Lacan, comparing Volpone with The Symposium, Metamorphoses, Twelfth Night and Epicoene, demonstrating the two meanings of being an androgyne in Jonson. While it is suggested that fools ‘are the only nation / worth men’s envy or admiration’ (1.2.66-67), this chapter argues that Jonson’s androgyne is more like a eunuch, which can be read as an unconscious slip on the part of the dramatist.
Keywords: Androgyny, Hermaphrodite, Epicene, Plato, Ovid, Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Epicoene
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