The Aardvark Review The Review is made possible by funds from the Associated Students of Weber State College, under the supervision of the Media Board, the guidance of the Office of Publications, and by gifts from the Office of Cultural Affairs and the College Development Office. Editor Penelope A. Armstrong Assistant Editor Elizabeth Anne Andrews 1979 1980 Associate Editors Frank Cook Chris Hunter Jan Kirkham Marion Pellom Cover design: Lana Hubbard Special thanks extended to Jean B. White, Gordon T. Allred, Edith G. Hester, Levi S. Peterson, Elray L. Pedersen and Linda S. Ferguson for their gifts of time, effort and counsel. WHITHER NOBLE HEROINE? by Suzi Miya In striving to depict the human essence with themes of violence, justice, sacrifice, and redemption, Shakespeare confers to his noble heroes the privilege of error that "all flesh is heir to" that flaw which in its realization purges and thus elevates him. Yet, for Shakespeare, it was a privilege extended only to his male characters. If his tragic heroes are the producers, as well as the products, of their passions, then his heroines are merely the passive receivers whose existence is not only necessitated by the central male figure, but also remains peripheral to it. Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth, Othello, and even Antony all are complex, tangential figures open to multiple interpretation; for Shakespeare gives them the human prerogative to flounder and to strengthen, to sin and yet to redeem. Yet each noble figure is attended by a much less noble, colorless female character who lacks the multidimensional personality respectfully due a woman. For example, there is no woman comparable in strength to Sophocles' Antigone, whose defiance of the highest social order to consummate her conviction to the highest moral order makes her a worthy tragic figure. Again, there is no woman comparable in stamina to Euripedes' Medea, whose great pride would dictate the murder of her beloved sons for the sake of hate and yet be redeemed. In contrast to these feminine giants are the one-dimensional heroines of Shakespeare like Ophelia, who is totally dependent for her existence, even her sanity, upon Hamlet; Lady Macbeth, whose stature as a major character is dictated by the degree of importance her husband attains. She has no existence outside the periphery of Macbeth's "vaulting ambition," and her plight becomes secondary to Macbeth's great fall. Cordelia, totally without passions, indeed, without even compassion, is a flat and undeveloped character whose survival as a dramatic figure depends on Lear's compelling need to receive her approval. Desdemona, too innocent to be real, is thoroughly overshadowed by the complicity of both Othello and lago. And lastly, even the greatest female figure of antiquity, the brilliant queen of Egypt, in Shakespeare's view must remain subservient to a drunken Antony, from whom she receives her fulfillment as a ruler and as a woman. In Macbeth, Shakespeare portrays Lady Macbeth as an extremely ambitious woman obsessed with the desire to make her husband King of Scotland. Glamis thou art, the golden crown To have thee corwn'd withal. Act I scene V reveals her masculine directness and determination. The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements. Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood; Stop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose nor keep peace between The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers, Whenever in your sightless substances You wait on Nature's mischief! Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark To cry "Hold, hold!" She exhorts all the unholy spirits to "make thick her blood," to steel her feminine veins with masculine verve in order to accomplish the primary goal she seeks for her husband. Her aspirations are focused entirely on Macbeth, thereby subjugating her own existence for his. She even renounces her own femininity "unsex me here Come to my woman's breast and take my milk for gall." She would obliterate her own identity to perpetuate his. Because Macbeth is the axis around which she rotates, conniving at all times to further his gain, Lady Macbeth has no reality outside of Macbeth. On the other hand, Cordelia though not as strong in personality as Lady Macbeth, is nevertheless drawn to the focal point by the aspirations of a central figure. Cordelia, in contrast to Goneril and Regan, has so little feeling that she neither loves nor hates greatly. In this respect, she is as one-dimensional as the two evil sisters whose total lack of filial affection provides no redeeming value as human beings, thus making them unreal in the common sense. But Cordelia, too, functions as a peripheral element placed for the benefit of the growth of Lear. Cordelia's presence in the play is rare, thus making it evident that Shakespeare depicts her as more a symbol than a character of her own importance. As a symbol she is Lear's rationality; he is searching for her at every stage of his growth. At the beginning of this human process, Lear's banishment of Cordelia mainly represents his immaturity. It becomes evident that Lear's actions toward Cordelia are merely used as the setting for his growth from this particular point. By undergoing all the adversities attendant to humanity at odds with the lessening of physical, as well as mental powers, Lear grows with maturity. But the growth is happening from within him, not from without. Cordelia functions as a catalyst to Lear's inner maturity but is never actually present in the play. She remains simply his inspiration until the end when she rejoins Lear whereupon she expires, for Lear no longer needs that impetus to grow. In contrast, both Desdemona and Ophelia lack color. They have little development of their potential character. They are, in fact, the stereotypic women of Shakespeare. 1