『십이야』에서 크로스 드레싱과 젠더 인식의 지연

Abstract

This article compares Shakespeare’s Globe’s Twelfth Night in 2012 and Trevor Nunn’s film adaptation in 1996 in order to explore Viola’s cross-dressing in light of its gender performance. The production of Shakespeare’s Globe, in which male actors played female roles, might as well have delayed the audience’s perception of Viola’s gender because the part was played by a male actor. The audience were seeing that a man was playing a woman who was also pretending to be a male. When Viola revealed her love for Orsino, her desire must be mediated by Cesario that was enacted by herself. Orsino, then, could feel a homosexual impulse that was caused by Viola’s ambiguous appearance that was expected to be perceived as woman in the theatrical context. Yet, Viola’s feminity had already been contaminated by a masculinity that could not be failed to be perceived. Although the audience were laughing in the scene, they might have been anxious for breaking down of the gender binary because of the enacted masculinity (feminity). Therefore, the production demonstrated a threat to the notion of sexual difference which patriarchal gender order is deeply based upon. Meanwhile, the film version of the comedy (1996) presents a strong Viola played by actress. Although she could even overpower other male characters, she yearned to regain her feminity which was rarely unnoticed by other character. Yet both productions do not present a challenge to the binary category of man and woman Rather, the comic in the film renders the audience to remind the reaffirmation of the binary category. This comparison suggests that the stage such as Shakespeare’s Globe where a division between reality and fiction is often blurred be a right place for conceiving gender fluidity.