It would be somewhat unfair to deem Lady Wishfort
"repulsive" because she does change towards the end of the play. She shows some positive
qualities and she also proves to have her maternal instincts in check by protecting her
daughter from being duped.
Yet, to agree with your
argument, Lady Wishfort does reunite a number of qualities that might seem shocking to
her peers, and maybe repulsive to men.
First, she literally
blobs herself with face paint (make-up) to hide her signs of aging. Second, she acts as
if she were a love-crazed teenager when, in fact, she is a woman in her 50's (quite old
for the time this play was produced -1700's) and openly displays the behaviors of a
man-eater.
Hence, the image of a big, older lady, ladden
with makeup, and making advances at younger men, could indeed prove repulsive to those
who are the victims of the advances. Lady Wishfort's inability to recognize herself as
an aging, hefty lady and her wild, sexual desire for men definitely play a part in
finding her character somewhat repulsive.
No comments:
Post a Comment