Shakespeare's military spouses and twenty-first century warfare / Kelsey Ridge.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ridge, Kelsey, author.

Series:

Routledge Studies in Shakespeare

Routledge Studies in Shakespeare ; v.1

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Characters.

Shakespeare, William.

Military spouses--United States--History--21st century.

Military spouses.

Feminism and literature--England--History--17th century.

Feminism and literature.

Feminism and literature--England--History--16th century.

Military spouses--United States--Social conditions.

Military spouses in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (225 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York, New York ; London : Routledge, [2022]

Summary:

"This volume presents a fresh look at the military spouses in Shakespeare's Othello, 1 Henry IV, Julius Caesar, Troilus and Cressida, Macbeth, and Coriolanus, vital to understanding the plays themselves. By analysing the characters as military spouses, we can better understand current dynamics in modern American civilian and military culture as modern American military spouses live through the War on Terror. Shakespeare's Military Spouses and Twenty-First-Century Warfare explains what these plays have to say about the role of military families and cultural constructions of masculinity both in the texts themselves and in modern America. Concerns relevant to today's military families - domestic violence, PTSD, infertility, the treatment of queer servicemembers, war crimes, and the growing civil-military divide - pervade Shakespeare's works. These parallels to the contemporary lived experience are brought out through reference to memoirs written by modern-day military spouses, sociological studies of the American armed forces, and reports issued by the Department of Defence. Shakespeare's military spouses create a discourse that recognizes the role of the military in national defence but criticizes risky or damaging behaviours and norms, promoting the idea of a martial identity that permits military defence without the dangers of toxic masculinity. Meeting at the intersection of Shakespeare Studies, trauma studies, and military studies, this focus on military spouses is a unique and unprecedented resource for academics in these fields, as well as for groups interested in Shakespeare and theatre as a way of thinking through and responding to psychiatric issues and traumatic experiences"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Series

Title

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgments

"Our Great Captain's Captain": An Introduction

Critical Framework

Masculinity

The US Military and a Post-9/11 Context

Definitions: Who Is a Military Spouse?

Necessary Violence and the Modern Military

Lending Your Ears

1 "Our General's Wife Is Now the General": Desdemona and Emilia

Desdemona and Emilia as Military Spouses

Negative Impacts of Toxic Masculinity

Jealousy

Domestic Violence

2 "But Yet A Woman": Lady Percy and Lady Mortimer

Lady Mortimer

Kate Percy

3 "Think You I Am No Stronger Than My Sex": Portia and Calpurnia

Portia

Calpurnia

4 "In Time of Action": Andromache and Patroclus

Andromache

Patroclus

5 "Of A Woman Born": Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff

Lady Macbeth

Lady Macduff

6 "Thy valiantness was mine": Virgilia and Volumnia as Military (In)Dependents

The Misevaluation of the Women

The Performance Masculinity

Assimilation to the Military Culture

Civilians

"My story being done": A Conclusion

Glossary

Acronyms

Supplementary Vocabulary

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-00-318703-X

1-003-18703-X

1-000-42533-9

9781003187035

OCLC:

1261366731