Tuesday, November 20, 2007

"Since I am not fit to belov'd"

Lamenting over Willmore's rejection of her love, Angellica swears revenge. But she first gives a speech demeaning her own worth as a marriageable - or even loveable - because of her occupation as a prostitute. She says, "I had forgot my Name, my Infamy,/And the Reproach that Honour lays on those/That dare pretend a sober passion here. / Nice Reputation, tho it leave behind / More Virtues than inhabit where that dwells, / Yet that once gone, those virtues shine no more" (IV.ii). In a play very much concerned with reputation, of men as well as women, how do we read Angellica's motivations for revenge? Is it really just about unrequited love, or is it possible that the gender double-standard might be at issue here as well?

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