Looking for Violenta: Shakespeare’s “jealous” women

Submission note: A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, College of Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce, La Trobe University, Bundoora.

This thesis explores representations of jealousy in Shakespeare’s plays, highlighting the differences between male and female expressions of jealous behaviour by focusing on the different approaches Shakespeare takes in representing jealous women. Early modern theories of jealousy are examined within the social, biological and psychological framework of the period. Some of the early modern observations about jealousy bear a close resemblance to our contemporary understanding of the emotion, and both clearly agree on the key jealousy trigger — the imminent severance of a person’s primary social bond. In the early modern period, traditional expressions of jealousy are largely concerned with the male experience which had very different social and cultural implications for men and women. Shakespeare’s plays famously include jealous and vengeful men like Othello, Leontes and Posthumus Leonatus, whose jealousy drives them to lash out violently at their wives. The plays also include women who display similar jealous behaviour when confronted with unfaithful partners, but their actions often have disastrous results for the women themselves, and the erring men rarely suffer. Early modern theories surrounding melancholy (the humour responsible to jealousy) offer a safer alternate reaction for women, that of dotage or constancy. This reaction to abandonment and betrayal can be seen in Julia in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Helena in All’s Well That Ends Well, and Imogen in Cymbeline. While the strategies of both a jealous and constant response to the jealousy trigger has some similarities, the eventual outcomes are quite different. The disparity in outcomes can been seen in the fates of Julia, Helena and Imogen, where their expression of constancy is presented as a more advantageous response, allowing the women to reaffirm and reconnect the social bonds that have been threatened, without transgressing social mores, and succeeding in their ultimate goal of restoring former relationships.