by Margaret Cavendish

Episode #4: The Queerness of Closet Dramas

Hosted by Kara Hankard and Madison Rudolph

Special Guests: Actors Katelyn Spurgin, Sophia Berrata, and Johnny Williams III

Points of Interest:

Names in Convent of Pleasure
- Cavendish’s naming strategy in The Convent of Pleasure may be to highlight the gender inequality between women and men in early modern society.
- True-life contexts (Margaret Cavendish vs.William Cavendish)
Production History
Defining genre – closet drama
Close-reading the Princess
- Body positivity
- Queen Elizabeth I
- Connections to Queer Theory and Feminist Theory
Scene Work – Act 3, Scene 1
- Version 1: Katelyn Spurgin as Princess and Sophia Beratta as Lady Happy
- Version 2: Johnny Williams III as Princess and Sophia Beratta as Lady Happy
Queer Textual Theory
- Compulsory heterosexuality and heterocentrism
- Pleasure
- Gender Identity

Episode Transcript and Bibliography available here.

Episode #5: Goin’ to the Convent and Not Gettin’ Married

Hosted by Macy Foss, Kelsey Linberg, and Rosemary Richards

Points of Interest:

Plot summary and discussion of non-linear elements within Convent
Analysis of Convent plot structure through the lens of Queer Theory.
Performance three short scenes from the play-within-a-play that highlights women’s struggles at the hands of men in Convent.
Biography of Margaret Cavendish’s life and how it relates to the play.
Definition of closet drama and how both Convent and the play-within-a-play fall into the closest drama category.
Explanation of scenes titled “written by my Lord Duke”.
Overview of the history, theology, and themes of convents and how they relate to the play.
Soapbox moments regarding censorship, queer theory, and feminism within Convent of Pleasure

Episode Transcript and Bibliography available here.