The Abject Maternal Body in Shakespeare's Sonnets

莎士比亞的《十四行詩集》有著相當特別的主旨與動機，迥異於同時期詩人獻給唯一鍾愛之女性的十四行詩集。一般認為莎士比亞的《十四行詩集》可分為兩部分：第一部分（1-126首）獻給一位年輕俊男，第二部分（127-152首）則是為一位黑膚女士所作。本論文從法國女性主義思想的角度，尤其是Kristeva與Irigaray的觀點，審視與分析此詩集，發現莎士比亞對黑膚女士的矛盾情感相當符合Kristeva所提出之厭斥母體(abject mother)的觀念，此母體既非主體亦非客體，而是介於主、客體之間的混沌不明的狀態，因此她不可能為主體吸收、同化，但卻不時吸引並困擾著主體。主體不斷想要遠離並消滅她，以確認自身之主體性，卻不斷為她所吸引，因為她其實緣起於主體自身的慾望。主體因而陷於此糾結情感中難以逃脫！莎士比亞為黑膚女士所作之十四行詩正體現了此種情感。

關鍵字

莎士比亞；十四行詩；法國女性主義者；母性／女性身體；厭斥

並列摘要

Different from the sonnet sequences written by his contemporaries, Shakespeare's sonnet cycle has very different themes and motifs. Instead of being addressed to the one single conventional beloved lady, Shakespeare's sonnet sequence Sonnets is considered to have two parts: the first part (Sonnets 1-126) is dedicated to a ”Fair Youth,” while the second (Sonnets 127-152) to a ”Dark Lady.” Perusing the contrast implied in the two parts from the perspective of French feminist thoughts, especially Kristeva's and Irigaray's ideas, this paper tries to show that Shakespeare's ambivalent feelings toward the dark lady in his sonnet sequence correspond with Kristeva's idea of the abject maternal body, which attracts and disturbs the subject at the same time but can never be assimilated. The subject, in order to set up his complete subjectivity, is always desperate to separate from and get rid of this abject mother but he can never succeed; on the contrary, he is always attracted to this abject female body as a result of his desire for the lack of mother. Thus, the subject is trapped in this ambivalence. Shakespeare's sonnets to the dark lady seem to exhibit this kind of feeling.