"크레시다가 [진정] 여기 있었소?" : 드라이든의 거듭난 요부 Dryden's Regenerated Femme Fatale = "Was Cressida here?"

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

John Dryden's adaptation of Shakespeare's play, Troilus and Cressida or Truth Found Too Late, vindicates Cressida, a traditional femme fatale, departing considerably from the tradition of the Criseida story. He portrays Cressida as an "emblem" of the patriarchal ideology of order and heroism rather than as a symbol of female infidelity. Many critics point out that Dryden's "tragedy" is a failure in that the writer misunderstood traditional implications of the Criseida story. In the Preface of his drama, Dryden defends himself that he has reduced the chaos of Shakespeare's "problematic" play to enhance dramatic order. A closer examination, however, reveals that his is not only a destruction of the heroine from the tradition but also just another male attempt to maneuver the female "text" in the antifeminist patriarchal ideology. Just as how the open, antifeministic characterization of Cressida works in Shakespeare's play, it is important to see how Dryden's transformation of the "heroic" Cressida is orchestrated in his tragedy.
Dryden's Cressida is portrayed as the most unblemished heroine in the whole tradition of the story : guiltless, faithful, and even heroic. His regenerated femme fatale, however, shares with the tradition an important aspect concerning the heroine-the victimization of the heroine. Although Dryden downplays this aspect in characterizing his heroine, her tragic ending inevitably evokes our compassion, not because she behaves nobly, but because she falls victim to the war and her male-centered society. Dryden stands up for the stereotype(through her noble death) only to restore the heroic statue of the ancient world, which is totally demolished in Shakespeare's play. Having witnessed Cressida's betrayal (though it is disguised) in 4.2., Troilus asks Ulysses-"Was Cressida here?" This question indicates that Troilus, shocked by the infidelity scene, cannot believe what he has seen, Cressida's unbelievable change of mind. We readers, who know well the whole tradition of the Criseida story, cast the same question about Dryden's transformation of traditional "antifeminist lesson"-Was Cressida here in this play?"

목차 (Table of Contents)

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• Works Cited
• Abstract