Rachel mentioned the other day that the last scene of the play still feels really awkward and wrong to her - which makes sense; it'd be pretty disturbing if it felt all fine and dandy. But it made me think about how it's not just the obvious things - the attempted rape, Valentine's "offer" - that make it so icky.
It's also the language of ownership as applied to the women which dominates even - especially - the "happy" part of the resolution. Thurio describes Silvia as "mine" - and part of Valentine's words against him dare him to "take possession of her." When he gives up and the Duke then bestows her on Valentine, he thanks the Duke for this "gift."
I realize that not all of this is necessarily disturbing - the way we express marriage with language always to some degree turns on language of ownership, i.e. that spouses belong to each other. But I really do feel that this play's finale takes it too far, or perhaps in the wrong direction, as basically all the men treat Silvia as if she is either theirs to give (Valentine, Duke) or an object to compete for (Thurio, Valentine).
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