Desiring Spectacular Discipline: Aspiration, Fraternal Anxiety, and the Allure of Restraint in Nō's Dōjōji

How should we understand performance's role in shaping gendered desires? I theorize how masculinity is managed through nō performance by examining how fraternal bonds depend upon particular forms of theatricality to thrive. In the play Dōjōji, especially, the aspiring professional actor's virtuosity relies on a feminine protagonist's riveting display of physical restraint. I consider how this spectacle functions within two overlapping homosocial spheres: the all-male temple community depicted in Dōjōji and the overwhelmingly male community of professional nō actors for which Dōjōji serves as an initiation. I read the play allegorically to theorize "spectacular discipline," a distinctive form of virtuosic restraint that bridges these two spheres and enthralls viewers in part by sublimating subjection. I argue that transgressive femininity proves serviceable to patriarchal regimes operating both onstage and off.