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Role of women in Shakespeare
Role of women in Shakespeare
Women's roles in Shakespeare's plays
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Lady Capulet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
A woman during the 16th century did not have the freedoms that a woman today enjoys. During Shakespeare’s life wives were not allowed the independence they take pleasure in today. Therefore, the role of the mother for Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is not commanding or authoritative because of the time period Shakespeare lived.
The role of a wife must be looked at in order to understand and appreciate Juliet’s mother. When a couple was married during the 16th century, Susan Amussen said it was the beginning of a partnership, but not one of equal proportions. The husband is awarded all the power in the family. He represents the family to the outside world and keeps the peace within the household. The wife is only an assistant. Her duties included feeding and running the household smoothly. Helping with the family business is another duty the wife has to carry out (86).
Lady Capulet abides by these rules when dealing with her daughter. She knows her husband is planning to marry their daughter to Paris. It is she that must prepare Juliet for the news because one of her duties is to take care of the household. However, Lady Capulet has no say of who Juliet should marry, because that is left to the husband who is lord of the manor.
Instead it is the wife’s duty to inform her child that she must prepare herself for marriage. Lady Capulet was married at an age younger than Juliet is. She says, "By my count I was your mother much upon these years that you are now a maid" (1.3.73-75). It is time Juliet leaves her nest and adds to the family’s fortune. The mother is the one to tell Juliet this news because she was put into the same situation as her daughter. During the ...
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...s set for a woman of this time and carried them out with dignity. She was a true 16th century woman.
Works Cited
Amussen, Susan. "The Family and the Household" in A Companion to Shakespeare. Ed. David Kastan. Malden Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 1999. 85-99.
Dash, Irene. Wooing, Wedding, and Power: Women in Shakespeare’s Plays. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981.
Pitt, Angela. Shakespeare’s Women. New Jersey: Barnes & Noble Books, 1981.
Rich, Barnaby. "Women as Property" in Dusinberre, Juliet. Shakespeare and the Nature of Women. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 1975. 115.
Shakespeare, William. The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The Norton Shakespeare Based on the Oxford Edition. Gen. Ed. Stephen and Ed. Walter Cohen, Jean Howard, and Katherine Maus. New York: Norton & Company, 1997. 872-941.
Riverside Shakespeare, 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1997. 366-398. Neely, Carol Thomas. “Shakespeare’s Women: Historical Facts and Dramatic Representations.”
Pitt, Angela. "Women in Shakespeare's Tragedies." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint of Shakespeare's Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
America’s most influential political figure during the 1830s, Andrew Jackson left a permanent imprint upon American politics and democracy. Born on the border of North and South Carolina, Jackson was left to confront the world on his own after the death of his parents. By the age of 29, he got involved in law and politics as he was elected as Tennessee’s first representative in the U.S. Senate. Jackson’s first successes came from war, specifically when he commanded American forces in the defense of New Orleans against the British in 1815. In 1824, Jackson decided to make his first run for the President of the United States and won both electoral and popular votes. Jackson is often connected to a new spirit of democracy that swept over the United
In conclusion, during Andrew Jackson’s life time, he was an eager politician; he was a great militarist, and a great president. He created many enemies, but he had made much more allies. He was a very popular president that is one of the reasons he won his presidency. During the military he was great at it, he was promoted through the ranks, because of his great mind. That influenced him during the political life, and gave him more popularity. Over all Andrew Jackson influenced many people and helped a lot of people and he was very great.
According to Elizabethan society, the center of Olivia’s dilemma with her marriage was ensuring her wealth, not marrying a man she loved (Joseph 170). Social class increases division among individuals in society. This play “ is not the story of a Juliet's or an Orlando's love .., but of the very realistic struggles and intrigues over the betrothal of a rich Countess, whose selection of a mate determines the future” (170). Readers looking past these boundaries created by class and gender, can find striking similarities in emotions characters have for each other. The personal struggles the characters face in this play demonstrate the obstacles that individuals faced because of their gender or place in the social hierarchy.
Pitt, Angela. “Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Shortly after the American Revolution, the United States entered an era of profound economic and social change that was dominated first by the Market Revolution and subsequently by Andrew Jackson’s skillful use of the power of the presidency to crack down on capitalist exploitation. Jackson’s first biographer, James Parton, however, describes the legacy of the seventh President’s administration as one fraught with controversy, “Andrew Jackson was a patriot, and a traitor. He was the greatest of generals, and wholly ignorant of the art of war. He was the most candid of men, and capable of the profoundest dissimulation. He was a democratic autocrat, an urbane savage, an atrocious saint.” Many people argue that Jackson, having turned the federal
Kemp, Theresa D. Women in the Age of Shakespeare. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2009. Print.
The struggle of women to fight for equal rights has always been a problem in society. This issue has transcended from generations and can be tracked down from many literary sources: books and articles, the conflict women went through to even be able to voice their point in in any matter, even ones that included them. William Shakespeare, as said by Scott Guffey, manages to bring “fourth [the] highly believable and realistic” (Guffey 2) judgment and belittlement of women during the Renaissance period in Othello. Shakespeare does this by establishing societies need for women to portray the image of the perfect wife and signifying the repercussion that occur when those needs are not meet. He illustrates what happens to Desdemona and Emilia’s credibility and treatment after their husband’s accuse them of cheating, an allegation that causes them to no longer hold the only thing women were valued for: their image of an impeccable wife. Although, they were both strong women by defying important men in their life, gender was represented as a source of supremacy, in Othello, and challenging those norms ultimately lead to both of these women’s demise.
Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in the 16th century, at a time where the role of the woman was to be subservient to men and act as a wife to their husband and a mother to their children. Women were expected to conform to the expectations of society, and were seen as possessions by their fathers and husbands. Fathers arrange their daughters’ marriages, usually for financial or social gain for the family. In Romeo and Juliet, the unfair treatment of women is conveyed through characters such as Juliet, a young girl who is growing into the expectations of society, and Lady Capulet, who represents a traditional side of love and values social position rather than men themselves. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet centres on the relationship between two young protagonists, but much of what occurs during the play is as a result of the inequality between men and women.
On the one hand, e-cigarettes hold the promise to save the lives of many smokers who switch to them; while on the other hand, they present mammoth risks to the society.
From “the fatal loins” (Prologue.5) of Lord and Lady Capulet, protagonist Juliet is born in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. Early on in the play Juliet is portrayed as a very dutiful daughter to her family. After her encounter with Romeo however, she begins a rapid transformation from a naive young girl into a woman. By the end of the play Juliet’s transformation evolves her from a dutiful daughter, into a faithful wife that is willing to desert her family in the name of love.
... or desires. This claustrophobic sensation daily burdens women, disabling them to reach their greatest potential. In Romeo and Juliet, this thick environment suppresses each of the three crucial women, and ultimately, it is the agent of their fate. Would Juliet's tragic death been avoided if the societal structure been changed? Would Lady Capulet had been so apathetic, withdrawn, and submissive if she was no longer bound by marriage? Or would the Nurse be so condemned every time she desired to speak her voice? Shakespeare constructs and illuminates these three distinct reactions to social oppression by portraying a determined, passionate lover, an idyllic, apathetic housewife, and a vociferous, bawdy attendant, and by doing so, he establishes that no matter what a woman does, the patriarchal society has already determined her fate in infinite, confined entrapment!
Firstly we will commence by discovering how women are presented in Shakespeare’s play .Through-out the play women are presented as immature , impuissant characters : Lady Capulet & Juliet ,all women are regarded as possessions of men ,for them to do as they please . They are ornaments, they cannot speak their minds nor can they make their own decisions. Women are in the men’s shadows.
In early 2001 the people of Queensland suffered from natural disasters that caused loss of life and property. Charitable support for these people of was overwhelming and the loss was sweetened by the generosity of fellow humans helping those in need. Can this generosity extend beyond our borders to help those that are suffering from the (preventable) lack of basic needs such as food? Or should Australians – and in fact all global citizens – only reach out to their own nations, turning a blind eye to those beyond their borders? The answer seems morally apparent, but why does chronic poverty still exist? Giving to the hungry needs to be an absolute (or universal) obligation, one in which all rational moral agents can abide insomuch that it will not significantly impact their own wellbeing.