terrible time management + shakespeare and trans studies
- Tadhg Kearney
- Dec 6, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 25, 2024
Originally posted 6th December 2023; Edited 25th April 2024
I’ve been feeling guilty of late for neglecting this blog. I was well behaved at the start of the year, writing two posts in the two weeks following the commencement of the module. I deluded myself into thinking that I’d write at least on a semi-regular basis, whether that be on this blog or in my own fiction, but all I’ve done in that vein is outline a novel or four and neglect both this blog and my WIP that has been sitting at the 50k mark for the better part of six months. But no plan tends to survive contact with the real world.
But I have found this program a lot more difficult than I expected. This, with a sudden shift in priorities, has made this academic year a lot different to my previous ones. The oddest change is having classmates who I actually speak to (hi, lads, if ye’re reading this, how’re ye getting on?) and not just one, but two jobs. I’ve gone from hunched over a desk in the library, living and breathing academia, to a different sort of thing which I can’t really articulate. But academia, although I still love it, has fallen on my list of priorities. And I have to admit I’m looking forward to time away from it.
(Copyright: Manuel Harlan, taken from Royal Shakespeare Company website, 06/12/23)
Rant over, the subject of this actual blog post is a seminar I attended. Rant over, the actual topic of this blog is a recent seminar I had the pleasure of attending. Hosted by Dr. Simone Chess, the title of the session was entitled “An Egg Theory Approach to the ‘Twelfth Night Problem’: Shakespeare, Trans Studies, and Trans Fantasy.”
I do have an interest, both as a critic and as a writer, in the representation of trans-people in fiction, so I was excited to attend this session. Dr. Chess’s own research interests focus on disability, queer, trans, and gender studies and the intersection between them. The focus of the seminar was on Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, a play I probably should have re-read in anticipation of this seminar. The last time I read this was as an absent-minded first year student, three years ago, and it was the text that got me interested in gender non-conformity in fiction. Dr. Chess was kind enough to provide some definitions of the topics she discussed so brilliantly and articulately. The first term I was unfamiliar with was ‘Egg Theory’ which she described as the type of reasoning of a person pre-transition, to prove the impossibility of transition.
Dr. Chess goes on to discuss a desire amongst spouses, and also trans-people before coming out, for the people around them to die. This is quite clearly a desire for a do-over, a way to start over life away from people already in one’s life, a form of liberation. Closeted trans people might yearn for a life where they don’t have to come out and indeed just be themself, use their desired pronouns, dress how they want to dress, whatever it might be… So begins Dr. Chess’s argument: in order to continue to read Twelfth Night as a play about gender, the focus must be shifted away from cross-dressing and towards the shipwreck, or indeed, the consequences thereof.
Viola’s sudden impulses to become Cesario can be explained with this Egg Theory in mind. Any reading, or indeed rereading, of Twelfth Night by me will be done in conjunction with a lot of research on this Egg Theory. One thing that I felt was neglected in this discussion was Viola/Cesario’s gender fluidity. I do not want to suggest that today’s seminar almost reinforced the gender binary, rather than challenge it; Dr. Chess seems to be a champion of queer and gender rights, so I’m guessing this was intentionally omitted due to time constraints. There is only so much we can talk about in a fifty minute session riddled with technology hiccups.
The two most interesting aspects of this seminar were things that were only touched upon. The first was what Dr. Chess called ‘The Disguise Problem’ whereby people who cross-dress, for comedy reasons for example, aren’t viewed in the same light as people who disguise themselves as another race, the “comedy” of black-face for instance. I am entirely too uninformed to offer an opinion on this, but it has piqued my interest. The other topic was one broached by one of Dr. Chess’s students. They brought up the fact that dramatic irony, a literary tool to amplify suspense in a text, is very much like a real-life feeling experienced by trans-people. A fear of being outed, a feeling that is all too prevalent before, during, and after somebody’s transition. This was a rather eye opening comment for me. As readers, watchers, whatever else, expecting trans-people to be portrayed a certain way is detrimental to trans-people as a whole.
(Jules as Shakespeare's Juliet; Copyright: Eddy Chen/HBO)
I must admit, this is where mine and Dr. Chess’s research interests divert, where mine rest squarely on and around (to a point) 21st century literature, she focuses on the Early Modern period. One example of a text I might apply Dr. Chess’s theories to is Euphoria, a 2019 show by HBO. For all of its flaws, Euphoria offers a great portrayal of a trans-woman, in Jules Vaughn. It is true to the insecurities and problems a trans-woman might face, in particular the trans-misogyny perpetrated by the show’s antagonist, Nate Jacobs.
The second season of the show comments on what it means to be a woman, and the answer it settles on is a beautiful one a woman is whatever the fuck she wants to be. The show allows Jules to explore more androgynous clothing and hairstyles while allowing her to retain her feminine identity. The show goes out of its way to avoid the stereotypical coming out story when texts centre queer and transgender characters.
The Egg Theory is especially relevant in early 2000s gay and lesbian stories for example. Glee is often hailed as one of the most important shows that centre queer characters. But two of the most important gay characters in the show are defined by the fact they're closeted and most of the feelings of the audience, or at least by me when I watched it, was the suspense of when they’d be outed. In the case of Santana, portrayed by the late, great Naya Rivera, this was done horribly. It lacked sensitivity and amounted to little more than cheap melodrama.
(Brittany (left) and Santana (right) from Glee; my own screenshot. Copyright: Fox)
Euphoria skirts this issue by avoiding the concept of ‘Eggs’ altogether. Jules is out, and the only ridicule she faces is by the antagonistic forces in her life: Nate and her mother. I suppose what I’m saying is we are at a very unique moment in time where shitheads will do their best to attack trans-lives regardless of anything, so as story-tellers and critics, our focus should not be to write coming out stories that cater to a very specific audience, but rather queer stories for queer people. Barbie has shown that stories that are created outside of patriarchal expectations of what stories should be, can be successful. This trend should continue. Every story has an audience, ready and willing to consume it. We should strive for authenticity. But until then, let’s go on fantasising about the death of our loved ones, so we can imagine what a life free from expectation might possibly look like.
IMAGES USED
First image obtained from:
Second image my own screenshot.
Third image obtained from:
All images accessed 25th April 2024.
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