Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Leslie C. Dunn

Critical Essay by Leslie C. Dunn

SOURCE: Dunn, Leslie C. “The Lady Sings in Welsh: Women's Song as Marginal Discourse on the Shakespearean Stage.” In Place and Displacement in the Renaissance, edited by Alvin Vos, pp. 51-67. Binghamton, N.Y.: Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, 1995.

In the following essay, Dunn argues that Lady Mortimer's song in Act III, scene i of Henry IV, Part 1 represents a singular moment of a woman's domestic, erotic voice in a play dominated by male power struggle.

The lady in question is Lady Mortimer, the daughter of Owen Glendower, who makes a brief appearance on the stage of English history in Shakespeare's 1 Henry IV. Mortimer, Glendower, and Hotspur are about to launch their rebellion against the King; their ladies are brought in to bid them farewell. Frustrated in her attempt to communicate her love to her husband—Mortimer tells us that “My wife can speak no English, I...
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