The three occurrences of the word 'masculine' turn masculinity into an oddly monstrous phenomenon.. In 1 Henry VI, Burgundy, Talbot, and Burgundy speculate on the sex of Joan of Arc:
20 But what's that Pucelle whom they term so pure?
Tal.
21 A maid, they say.
Bed.
21 A maid? and be so martial?
Bur.
22 Pray God she prove not masculine ere long,
23 If underneath the standard of the French
24 She carry armor as she hath begun. (1H6 2.1.20-24)
In Twelfth Night Viola assures her new-found brother Sebastian that she will change her "masculine usurp'd attire" and confirm her identity as his sister (TwN 5.1.250). In Troilus and Cressida Thersites calls Patroclus the "masculine whore" of Achilles (Tro. 5.1.17).
26 July, 1999
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