Theory of wonder; theatre of wonder

Postured like a whore? Misreading Hermione's statue

“…76 By chastening our reading we deny the moment's drama of choice; by allowing uncomfortably erotic connotations to complicate 'the ceremonious and ecstatic rhythms of this scene' we appreciate the effort involved in reawakening innocence, reading with monosemic intent, turning a blind eye to the temptations of aggressive (pornographic) or unnatural (incestuous) attraction. 77 That Hermione proves not to be Galetea, that the natural reality of the situation does not hinge upon artifice, that the posture was natural and that the natural was not postured, fundamentally undermines the Pygmalion fantasy 'whereby a woman cannot be the object of sexual desire and cannot desire in return unless she has been made so by male effort'. 78 Furthermore, by evoking then rejecting our recollection of the period's principle pornographic artists, Paulina and Hermione demystify the masculine fantasy of artistic omnipotence 'whereby a passive and formless raw material is given shape by a man's productive power': the stories of women are more 'real' than the artistic and erotic fantasies of men.…”

“…(I. ii [67][68][69][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86]. It is this imagic and lexical vocabulary of sexual disgust that could be learnt from Pygmalion narratives and that permeates and informs Leontes' speech, colouring his increasingly aggressive sight.…”