난봉꾼에서 신사로: 왕정복고기와 18세기 영국드라마의 자기전복성 (From Libertine to Honnête Homme: The Subversiveness of the Restoration and the Eighteenth-Century English Drama)

서지정보

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초록

This paper aims to probe the subversiveness of the libertine in the Restoration and the Eighteenth-century English drama. In the libertine dramas of this period, this paper argues, despite the flamboyant refusal of the social convention of the contemporary society, the libertine’s raison d’être is questioned continuously, not by the attack from the outside but by the internal paradox. The libertine dramas of this period expose inadvertently the libertine's insecurity behind his insatiable quest for women and his will to dominate.
William Wycherley’s The Country Wife(1675) reveals how the libertine’s attempt to flout social convention is frustrated by impregnable societal hierarchy. Horner’s strategy, that is, to conquer the high-class ladies by assuming the odium of eunuch, fails as he still remains a eunuch in a society where appearance governs reality. In this conservative society, the real heroes of the play are the so-called “virtuous gang,” as they demonstrate their thorough understanding of the society’s inner dynamics in their exploitation of Horner’s imperfect understanding and in their challenge against the patriarchs who attempt to maintain societal hierarchy through the oppression and suppression of their desires.
While Horner reveals how a libertine gives up his will to dominate for his quest for lust, Dorimant, the hero of George Etherege’s The Man of Mode(1676), discloses how the libertine’s unceasing quest for domination defeats himself. Dorimant reveals his desire to stand on the apex of society through demonstrating his ability to flout society’s norms when he exercises his never-ending and often ungrounded aggression on the people around him. Yet, when he attacks the convention of the heroic play of the past, this paper argues, he attacks himself inadvertently, as the hero and heroine of the heroic play and he share the same dominant characteristics, that is, to be distinguished from others and thus to lord them over on the top of societal hierarchy. Dorimant further comes to the painful recognition that, as he falls in love with Harriet and feels the “pangs of love” he has despised in other people before, the life as libertine cannot go on as before.
In William Congreve’s The Way of the World(1700), Fainall represents a Dorimant who has chosen to remain as libertine and Mirabel embodies a Dorimant who has given up the libertine way of life. Mirabell defeats Fainall in the struggle for the Wishfort estate through the trust he attains from Mrs. Fainall and his compact with Millamant, so the newly-emerged honnête homme who operates to the principles of trust triumphs over the old-style libertine/patriarch who still believes in the sovereign male prerogative. The proviso scene in which Mirabell and Millamant agree to their marriage, however, reveals that the libertine and patriarch did not vanish away as Mirabell attempts to restrict Millamant’s liberty with libertine’s cunning and discloses his primal instinct as patriarch in his ardent desire for a male heir who will inherit his estate by the right of birth.

영어초록

This paper aims to probe the subversiveness of the libertine in the Restoration and the Eighteenth-century English drama. In the libertine dramas of this period, this paper argues, despite the flamboyant refusal of the social convention of the contemporary society, the libertine’s raison d’être is questioned continuously, not by the attack from the outside but by the internal paradox. The libertine dramas of this period expose inadvertently the libertine's insecurity behind his insatiable quest for women and his will to dominate.
William Wycherley’s The Country Wife(1675) reveals how the libertine’s attempt to flout social convention is frustrated by impregnable societal hierarchy. Horner’s strategy, that is, to conquer the high-class ladies by assuming the odium of eunuch, fails as he still remains a eunuch in a society where appearance governs reality. In this conservative society, the real heroes of the play are the so-called “virtuous gang,” as they demonstrate their thorough understanding of the society’s inner dynamics in their exploitation of Horner’s imperfect understanding and in their challenge against the patriarchs who attempt to maintain societal hierarchy through the oppression and suppression of their desires.
While Horner reveals how a libertine gives up his will to dominate for his quest for lust, Dorimant, the hero of George Etherege’s The Man of Mode(1676), discloses how the libertine’s unceasing quest for domination defeats himself. Dorimant reveals his desire to stand on the apex of society through demonstrating his ability to flout society’s norms when he exercises his never-ending and often ungrounded aggression on the people around him. Yet, when he attacks the convention of the heroic play of the past, this paper argues, he attacks himself inadvertently, as the hero and heroine of the heroic play and he share the same dominant characteristics, that is, to be distinguished from others and thus to lord them over on the top of societal hierarchy. Dorimant further comes to the painful recognition that, as he falls in love with Harriet and feels the “pangs of love” he has despised in other people before, the life as libertine cannot go on as before.
In William Congreve’s The Way of the World(1700), Fainall represents a Dorimant who has chosen to remain as libertine and Mirabel embodies a Dorimant who has given up the libertine way of life. Mirabell defeats Fainall in the struggle for the Wishfort estate through the trust he attains from Mrs. Fainall and his compact with Millamant, so the newly-emerged honnête homme who operates to the principles of trust triumphs over the old-style libertine/patriarch who still believes in the sovereign male prerogative. The proviso scene in which Mirabell and Millamant agree to their marriage, however, reveals that the libertine and patriarch did not vanish away as Mirabell attempts to restrict Millamant’s liberty with libertine’s cunning and discloses his primal instinct as patriarch in his ardent desire for a male heir who will inherit his estate by the right of birth.

참고자료

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