Tuesday, October 9, 2007

The Changeling...er, beauty and the beast?

I might be wrong, but is this the first play in which we see a man whose job is the personal servant to a woman? Through this play, though cosmetic changes are not used often, we see a strong change in role through the facial characteristics of De Flores' character. While using her sexuality and beauty to lead him on, Beatrice calls him so ugly that she cannot bear to even be in the same room as him.
That is, until she needs him, and then his facial features can be improved upon and he can be made tolerable. Once this change takes place The power switches slowly to him (granted it is more noticeable by the knowledge of the murders). Even his speaches become uncharacteristically giddy when she calls him in a now soft and begging voice.
Along with these facial feature remarks, we see a woman who has the crinkle of a philosopher's brow. After Lollio asks Franciscus to come on stage to see how "handsomely" he'll look (3.3.37-45), Francisco comments on how Isabella looks "sweetly,...Oh, but there's a wrinkle in her brow as deep as philosophy."
Once again, we see the role reversal of man and women--a woman having a strong facial feature and tied to a study that would likely have been saved for men of the time, correct?

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