在莎士比亞悲劇研究中,以A. C.布萊德雷為代表的莎評家受到亞里士多德"性格缺陷"理論的影響,多把悲劇的原因歸于悲劇主人公的性格因素,從而遮蔽了"性別"因素在悲劇中的意義,因此有必要總結,系統研判,解析莎士比亞經典悲劇中主要女性人物違背文藝復興時期主流性別特征期待的越界行為,剖析越界這一具有行為和性別特征雙重屬性的問題在劇中人物命運中的作用,并由此提煉出一組跨越傳統性別疆域的幕后推手型權力女性形象、她們的分別是《科利奧蘭納斯》中作為越界母親的伏倫妮婭、《麥克白》中作為越界妻子的麥克白夫人、《安東尼和克莉奧佩特拉》中作為越界女王的埃及艷后。由此可見,文藝復興時期的女性主體是特定文化建構的產物,而悲劇發生的重要原因與菲勒斯中心主義支配下的女性性別特征相關,是社會文化賦予的性別特征的束縛與女性渴望權力、平等、自由和精神獨立之間的矛盾造成的性別悲劇。

In the study of Shakespearean tragedies, affected by Aristotle’s theory of "character flaw",most critics, including A. C. Bradley, have preferred to attribute the causes of tragedies to the character of the protagonists, and thereby have ignored and concealed the gender feature of the female protagonists. Given the roles of the women in the Shakespeare’s classic tragedies, the paper will focus upon the females’ transgressive gender feature and behaviors which go against the mainstream values of female gender expectations in Renaissance, including cases of Volumnia—a mother in Coriolanus, Lady Macbeth—a wife in Macbeth and Cleopatra—a queen in Antony and Cleopatra for discussion. All of them fall into the category of the female manipulator behind the males protagonists. The paper argues that the transgressive gender feature of the female subject in Renaissance is socially invested, culturally constructed and not naturally invested. Under the dominance of patriarchy and phallocentrism, the cause of the tragedy is mainly due to the transgressive gender feature of the women, which violates the convention of the traditional gender roles in the Renaissance society. In this sense, Shakespeare tragedies, are the tragedies which result from the clashing and contradiction between the socially invested gender feature limitations and the female’s innate desire to pursue power, equality, freedom and spiritual independence.