English 434
Dr. Desmet
Spring 1997
a. Bess is an English girl from a particular class (a barmaid). She travels to exotic foreign lands, where she is much admired. Her English companions are a mixed lot. What is the play's attitude towards English people, in comparison with the people of Fez?
b. We have not talked yet much about cross-dressing, but how is your reading of the play affected by realizing that Bess is a boy actor dressed in women's clothes who engages in some very masculine adventure on dangerous seas?