Sunday, October 7, 2007

Inside / Outside in "The Changeling"

The tension between "inside" and "outside" is a force throughout the "The Changeling": inside or outside the madhouse; inside or outside a woman (4.3.52-3); outward appearance as an indication of one's interior (DeFlores' facial deformity shows interior moral deformity, Antonio dresses as a fool & is made a fool of and Franciscus dresses as a madman & proves to have little wit. BUT Beatrice is able to perform the outward signs of virginity when Alsemero gives her the potion, despite having been deflowered. Is this simply another example of woman's legendary ability to dissemble, a skill which honest men can't seem to master? Does it illuminate anything about the kinds of "changes" the play's ending fortells for its living characters? Is there always a gulf between the inside and the outside or are we meant to bring them into unity?

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