旅行、地理與性別：彌爾頓宮廷舞劇《可慕思》中的邊境論述

Travel, Gender and Space: Discourse on the Borderland in Milton's Comus

彌爾頓的宮廷舞劇《可慕思》在一六三四年演出，劇本是以旅行為架構，敘述三兄妹在前往路德婁城堡的過程中，對抗森林精怪可慕思的故事。這部文學作品呈現了前現代時期的空間及邊界論述，若從地理環境特質、作品時代背景與政治訴求的層面切入，《可慕思》不僅提供文化地理的閱讀模式，而且更可以深入了解彌爾頓宮廷舞劇背後的文化圖像。《可慕思》的宮廷舞劇似乎透過荒蕪、無人治理的地理意象來表達前現代時期管理與行政主體建構的重要性。《可慕思》中所涉及的空間地理，亦反映出前現代時期的邊界論述。邊界若從本質主義角度審視，意味著固定的疆界，若從建構主義的切面觀察，則涉及個體與文化認同。既然彌爾頓在宮廷舞劇中將可慕思呈現為森林的浪遊者，彌爾頓的作品頓時突顯出當時的社會政治意涵。本篇論文將從空間和地理，地理與身份認同關係的角度，試圖探討彌爾頓宮廷舞劇《可慕思》所呈現的人文地理所涉及的權力結構，並剖析文本中浪遊者與被強化的空間政治意涵。

John Milton was commissioned by Earl Bridgewater to write a masque, which was presented at Ludlow Castle in 1634. In the cultural history of the western world, the masque was a powerful instrument developed in the pre-modern era. Although it was a theatrical genre associated with courtly celebrations and festivals, it often carried political meanings or expectations from the producers. Comus the masque reflects Puritan sentiments representing a simple story of three young travelers who encounter Comus the enchanter. The drama develops from the episode when they become lost in a dark forest and the young lady becomes enchanted by the sensualist magician who has disguised himself as a villager. Milton portrays Comus, the son of Baccus and Circe, as a wanderer in the forests on the borders of England and Wales and leader of a beast-headed rout. Those who are enchanted by Comus and drink the potion he had prepared turn into beasts and start their lives of wandering without knowing their names and families. The central motifs of the story, however, are the internal fortitude of the Lady and her recognition of inevitable temptation. Throughout the play, the world juxtaposed with the human world is one that is riotous, exotic, sensuous and blasphemous, exceeding the boundaries of normality. This paper discusses the politics of space and boundary crossing as represented in the play. From the outset, three young travelers are people crossing the boundary, but from the context it is obvious that it is Comus who manipulates the space on the borders and traverses the codes of normality. Comus is tamed at the end of the play, but Comus in the context of seventeenth century England represents the anxiety of the government over the masterless men, namely, the rogues, vagabonds and beggars who roamed the countryside and borderland. This paper discusses space, gender and identity as represented in Milton's Comus from the perspective of cultural geography.