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Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview
William Shakespeare;counterfeit death;feminism;Romeo and Juliet;Much Ado about Nothing;feminist Shakespearean scholarship;Hero;Juliet;Shakespearean heroines;death in literature;early English literature
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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
'Many Feign As They Are Dead": The Counterfeit Death In Romeo And Juliet And Much Ado About Nothing, Julie Bowman
'Many Feign As They Are Dead": The Counterfeit Death In Romeo And Juliet And Much Ado About Nothing, Julie Bowman
Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview
Examines the function of the trope of the couterfeit death for two Shakespearean heroines, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Hero in Much Ado about Nothing. Using the plays, antecedents, analogues, and cultural materials, argues that the feigned death functions as a strategy for coping with the limitations and strictures of the heroines' cultural environment; it helps them achieve their particular goals, in both cases a desired marriage. Thus, the heroines become active players in the plots, exercising a measure of agency by counterfeiting death, rather than passive victims of the patriarchal culture.