A Cultural History of Disability in the Renaissance by Susan Anderson;Liam Haydon;

Author:Susan Anderson;Liam Haydon;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK

CHAPTER FIVE

Deafness

Deafnesses and Silences in Shakespeare’s England

JENNIFER NELSON

In early modern England, including in Shakespeare’s plays, deafness and silence are frequently used as devices of empowerment by hearing people; to fine tune this concept, deaf people are not allowed a similar luxury (Nelson and Berens 1997).1 I have often been told, “But Shakespeare and other writers show deafness as a Good Thing!” A general example of this positivity might be the phrase “to turn a deaf ear,” which means to ignore someone willfully in order to seize control of the argument or conversation. A notable example of this is Ferdinand of The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster. When the Duchess tells her brother that “a scandalous report is spread / touching mine honor,” Ferdinand’s response is as hopeful as it is unsuccessful: “[L]et me be ever deaf to it” (3.1.48). Ferdinand’s inability to be deaf to anything concerning his sister’s chastity finally results in her death, those of her family, and his own; being “deaf” here may have helped this situation.

Phrases such as this are used to empower the hearing, not disable them, and many early modern works are rife with these selectively deaf references—hence the “good thing” comment, which ties in with the current concept of “Deaf Gain.” As coined, Deaf Gain is used to “counter the frame of hearing loss as it refers to the unique cognitive, creative, and cultural gains manifested through deaf ways of being in the world” (Bauman and Murray 2014: xv). I will be using the lowercase “deaf” in this chapter for deaf people as the capital D concept was not used in the early modern period. I will use the capital D for Deaf in Deaf Gain as that is modern usage. Although Deaf Gain certainly was not a concept then, it works well in framing how deafness was used and exploited in the literature of the time.

5.1. FINDING A KIND OF DEAF GAIN IN EARLY MODERN LITERATURE AND CULTURE

The usual strategy in the works of Shakespeare, Spenser, Jonson, Traherne, and others is either to wish for temporary “deafness” in the face of the world’s voices in order to seize control or to be silent in order to shut out the poisoned outer world and to take control (Nelson and Berens 1997). However, this is a very lopsided “good thing,” a partial kind of Deaf Gain in terms of lack of extension to those who are deaf in real life, which ultimately reveals the audism in the concept. According to Bauman and Murray, the concept of Deaf Gain involves a different paradigm and understanding not of loss, but of difference: “To many in the deaf community, being deaf has nothing to do with ‘loss’ but is, rather, a distinct way of being in the world, one that opens up perceptions, perspectives, and insights that are less common to the majority of hearing persons” (2014: xv). As such, marginalized knowledge is now being seen in a gainful and positive way. Looking to deaf people and their language “increases the already astounding variation on ways to be human” (2014: xix).

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