It’s A Private Matter. Space And Gender Issues In Shakespeare’s Cymbeline

Abstract

The paper investigates the preoccupations of the 16th and 17th-century English society for the emerging phenomenon and concept of privacy, reflected, among others, in the new ways in which space is employed in defining hierarchies and gender roles. The paper deals with elements of cultural history related to the use and meaning of privacy, private life and private space in a Shakespearean play which is significant for the visual illustration of the concept – Cymbeline, more specifically, the bed-trick scene.

Keywords

• bed-trick
• gender
• privacy
• private and public space