The Care of the Self in The Maid of Honor

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the practice of the care of the self in The Maid of Honor by means of Michel Foucault’s theory of the technologies of the self. According to Foucault, the technologies of the self are interconnected with the technologies of power, and their contact point resides in governmentality. The subject is shaped by the governing schema of the ruling authorities while concurrently being modified by the self through self-government. The subject must comprehend the governing tactics of the authorities in order not to be governed too much and can further govern other people for personal purposes. To be able to do so is to be equipped with a philosophical ethos of critique, which can be executed in three perspectives: thought – an attitude of criticism, action – the plebian quality, and words – the practice of parrhesia. The study discusses the heroine in terms of the _x000D_ four aspects proposed by Foucault in the relationship to the self: the determination of _x000D_ the ethical substance, the mode of subjection, the means of ethical works, and the telso of the ethical subject. It investigates how the heroine takes care of her self through her attitude of critique, plebeian quality, the practice of parrehsia, and skills of government.