CONSTRUCTION OF A MALE IDENTITY IN THE DRAMATIC DISCOURSE OF THE ENGLISH RESTORATION

Abstract

In this article, the notions of discourse and identity are considered within the framework of a cognitive-communicative paradigm. I argue, that the dramatic discourse of the English Restoration was a product of a society in transition from one cultural, social, and political order to another and was constructed under the oppressive influence of Charles II, who actively used the institution of theatre as an instrument of spreading new ideas and reestablishing his royal power. In this paper, I substantiate, that the male identities constructed in the dramatic discourse of the English Restoration were often inspired and created by the group of the King’s friends and courtiers, the Wits, who participated in matters of state, were actively involved in play-writing, and disseminated the main ideas of the ruling class in their literary works. In this article, I present the findings of my research on the two male identities represented in the dramatic works of the English Restoration: the identity of a libertine-aristocrat (a libertine-hero) and the identity of a libertine-fop. I also emphasize the role of the pragmatic strategy of self-presentation in identity construction and single out the tactics of its verbalization, namely, the tactic of identification, the tactic of solidarization, and the tactic of distancing. In this paper, I substantiate, that in Restoration drama libertine-heroes present themselves as womanizers, debauchees, and swearers, while libertine-fops are represented as rakes and dandies. In this article, I argue, that through the tactic of identification both libertine-heroes and libertine-fops show their loyalty to the ideas of libertinism, while through the tactic of solidarization libertine-heroes’ and libertine fops’ adherence to the new ideology, fashions and trends is demonstrated. However, the tactic of distancing is used to emphasize a libertine-hero’s superiority over a libertine-fop.