MALE VS. FEMALE / MIND VS. BODY: A COGNITIVE DISCOURSE APPROACH TO TWO PLAYS BY SHAKESPEARE

The aim of the present paper is twofold: i) to show that the idea of a “savage mind” does not make sense unless accompanied by that of a wrong restraining body which needs to be broken to let the so-called “savage mind” out, and vice versa and ii) to prove this relieving process to be ultimately affected by gender. While women seem to need to resort to a third party body disguise in order to show their real selves out of their constraining bodies, it is precisely men’s minds which aim to liberate them. Examples to illustrate this idea will be taken from Rosalind and Audrey in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, on the female side, and Caliban and Ferdinand in The Tempest, on the other, male side.