SOURCE: Neely, Carol Thomas. “Broken Nuptials in Shakespeare's Comedies.” In Shakespeare's ‘Rough Magic’: Renaissance Essays in Honor of C. L. Barber, edited by Peter Erickson and Coppélia Kahn, pp. 61-72. Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, 1985.

In the following essay, Neely suggests that Shakespeare's comic marriages demonstrate varied patterns of disruption, postponement, or dislocation brought about by feminine resistance, female fear of submission, or a male perception of marriage as a threat to masculine friendship.

Marriage, no one doubts, is the subject and object of Shakespeare's comedies, which ordinarily conclude with weddings celebrated, re-celebrated, or consummated. But throughout these plays broken nuptials counterpoint the festive ceremonies, manifesting male and female antagonisms and anxieties which impede the movement toward marriage. The notion of “broken nuptials” is appropriated from Leo Salingar, who finds it the distinctive feature of a number of Shakespeare plays which have Italian novelle as sources...