Returning the Favor: Disability in Shakespeare

A few days ago, Nyssa very generously did some research to help me with my topic. This week has been a little busy for me, and I haven't gotten a chance to go back and look at the articles for me just yet, but even her summaries of the articles she found helped me out. I thought I should return the favor. She's already been very thorough in her research, so I though I'd approach it from a different angle.  

One of the things that most interested me about Nyssa's topic when she first mentioned it to me was the fact that disabilities are frequently discussed in Shakespeare--for example, Richard III is physically deformed, Othello suffers seizures, and Lady Macbeth goes insane. Although Nyssa is choosing to focus specifically on Glouscter and his relation to blindness, I decided to look up more information about these other examples, to see what else I could find. I'm thinking she might be able to use these articles for background information, or perhaps a brief compare-contrast example.

"Enabling Richard: The Rhetoric of Disability in Richard III"

In Richard III, Richard (coincidentally, the Duke of Glouscter before he becomes king) is physically deformed. This article briefly covers renaissance attitudes about disabilities, before analyzing how Richard actually turns his deformities to his advantage. In short, even though Richard isn't a good man, he still overcomes his disabilities and refuses to be constrained by them.

Key Quote: "His rhetoric about his body inevitably leads to performing the kind of body he deems useful. In other words, although characters repeatedly anatomize his form, the materiality of his form remains unclear until Richard highlight his shape--positively or negatively--with his rhetoric for specific purposes." A little obtuse, but this quote suggests that Richard's identity as "deformed" is, at least partially, an intentional construct on his part.

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - A Malady Shared By East and West: A Sri Lankan Look at Combat Stress and Trauma"

This article appears to be an overview of how PTSD has, historically, been viewed in both the East and West; I'm not entirely sure, though,  as I didn't read most of it. I could tell that the vast majority of the article wasn't going to be helpful, so I skipped to the good stuff.

Specifically, the author briefly mentions Shakespeare, and, more importantly, Macbeth. He describes how many symptoms of PTSD were worked into the play (including sleepwalking, nightmares, and obsessive-compulsive behavior), and praises Shakespeare's unexplained "immeasurable" "influence on psychopathology."

Bonus Points: This article was posted on a military website. When's the last time you got to quote THE ARMY for an English paper?

Key Quote: "Shakespeare had an extraordinary ability to grasp the dynamics of the human mind and fathom the dysfunctions of the human psyche." (7)

"Not Shaped For Sportive Tricks: Disability in Shakespeare"

In 2010, the Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago performed several scenes from Shakespeare, all focusing on aspects of disabilities. Several of the parts were performed by people with disabilities themselves, helping to lend additional weight to their performances. I wasn't able to find much solid information on the production, but here's what I was able to find:

A Press Release about the play, including a contact email!

A News Segment, including several shots of disabled actors

"Disability and the Characterization of Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew"

Didn't have time to read this one (sorry, life's been busy), but it's on a potentially helpful topic. According to the abstract, one of the characters mention in passing that Katherine walks with a limp. This paper examines the idea that, perhaps, Katherine is disabled, and how that might affect her character.