The Agora Speaker Series features inspiring thinkers, writers, and researchers sharing bold ideas on culture, politics, philosophy, and the arts. Named after the ancient Greek Agora — a public space for dialogue and exchange — the series invites audiences to explore new perspectives and engage with thought provoking questions in an open and welcomi
The Take-ative: Romeo and Juliet and the Infelicitous Performative
-
-
-
Wollongong
Room 24-203
About the talk
Abstract: There is a curious moment in the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet. Thinking she speaks in solitude, Juliet says: “Romeo, doff thy name, / And, for thy name, which is no part of thee, / Take all myself.” Emerging from the shadows, Romeo replies: “I take thee at thy word.” Suddenly, Juliet’s utterance has seemingly become binding: because they have been overheard by Romeo, her words have become her word. But is Juliet truly bound by her words given that she did not know they were being overheard? Using J. L. Austin’s notion of the performative, I consider the nature and status of Juliet’s utterance, its influence on the remainder of the scene, and what insight it might afford into the play as a whole.
Speaker Bio: Julian Lamb received his PhD from Cambridge University. He has published a monograph on early modern pedagogy, and his articles on Shakespeare, early modern linguistics, and English Renaissance poetry have appeared in journals such as English Literary Renaissance and Shakespeare Quarterly.