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Representation Of Women In Literature
Representation Of Women In Literature
The short brief summary of the Elizabethan era
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The Elizabethan Era (1558-1603) is named after Queen Elizabeth I. The era is also referred to as the Golden Age, a time of success, religious tranquility, and technological discoveries. During the Elizabethan Era, woman was known as housewives, nurturers, or daughters. The option of being labeled as a lawyer or doctor for woman was nonexistent. Inferiority was a synonym of women; they were inferior beings in a male dominated society. Women played the role as the weaker gender physically and emotionally. Living in a patriarchal society, a man’s expectation of the women in this period was to be beautiful, compliant, powerless, and obedient. William Shakespeare’s characterization of women differs from comedies to tragedies. In the plays, “Taming …show more content…
Her looks can be described as breathtaking because with one glance Lucentio falls in love at first sight. As we know from Shakespeare tactics, looks can be deceiving. In the play, it reveals a darker side of Bianca, evidently showing her selfishness and resentment. In the final scene with the “challenge of obey” Katarina responding to her husband showed her growing more as the Elizabethan women. Bianca has married Lucentio and when the challenge presented itself, Bianca fells she does not have to obey her husband anymore because she’s is married and can use marriage to indulge her selfish desires, whereas Kate takes the role as a wife serious. The article, “The Public, the Private, and the Shaming of the Shrew,” written by Gary Schneider explains the woman’s in public and private life. Gray Schneider says, “For women to be publicized means to be confronted with the social role appropriate to her gender and class…” (Schneider 2002). Although Katharina is forced with the reality role as a woman she remains true to herself. She declined the thought of being a traditional Elizabethan woman not only because she never learned how to truly act and behave like the ideal women, but because no one ever took the time out to tell her not to act this way or explained to her why she should act in that way. However, Bianca sees that acting like a lady comes with benefits, For example, Bianca gets treated …show more content…
The characteristics of an Elizabethan woman are to be submissive and obedient, passive, and constancy. Although Lady Macbeth is not the ideal Elizabethan woman, she has constancy. Like the ideal Elizabethan woman, she is devoted to her husband, Macbeth. In the article, “The Isolation of Antigone and Lady Macbeth by Catherine Boyd say “Lady Macbeth stands condemned by the laws of God and man which she’s has so willingly violated. Her Violation is inspired by human love, intense passionate love for he husband The scarifies which she makes for this love are emphasized by cruelty which she exhibits toward anyone or anything to keep her husband from attaining his wishes”. Why this may be true! Many critics say Lady Macbeth marriage was arranged because of the key elements Macbeth possessed which were land and royalty and she desired it all. From the beginning, Lady Macbeth's cultural value has generally included the sense that she is monstrous. Lady Macbeth is witty, evil, and conniving. She craves and desires power. Since women in this era couldn’t legitimately possess power, Lady Macbeth uses her easily persuaded husband to work her power. Ambition motivates her and power is her goal. Lady Macbeth desire for power is evident in Act 1 Scene 5. In Act 1 Scene 5 Lady Macbeth is calling upon a supernatural force to “unsex” her femininity. Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth is the wife of Macbeth from the tragic play by William Shakespeare. Macbeth is estimated to have been played for the first time in 1606. Lady Macbeth is one of the few and only woman we hear from in the play, except for the recurring weird sisters and a few comments from Lady Macduff. Being the female who draws the most attention to herself, Lady Macbeth would not only be a fascinating role to play, but she is an interesting character to analyse as well. Considering the typical stereotype of a woman and how she should portray femininity, Lady Macbeth would not be the most feminine of her kind. In the time period of Macbeth, a woman was the weaker sex, physically and emotionally, and it would be their significant other or father
Macbeth rejects conformation to traditional gender roles in its portrayal of Lady Macbeth’s relationship with her husband, her morals and their effect on her actions, and her hunger for power. Her regard for Macbeth is one of low respect and beratement, an uncommon and most likely socially unacceptable attitude for a wife to have towards her spouse at the time. She often ignores morality and acts for the benefit of her husband, and subsequently herself. She is also very power-hungry and lets nothing stand in the way of her success. Lady Macbeth was a character which challenged expectations of women and feminism when it was written in the seventeenth century.
Lady Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous and frightening female characters. As she is Macbeth’s wife, her role is significant in his rise and fall from royalty. She is Macbeth’s other half. During Shakespearean times, women were regarded as weak insignificant beings that were there to give birth and look beautiful. They were not thought to be as intelligent or equal to men. Though in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is the highest influence in Macbeth’s life. Her role was so large; in fact, that she uses her position to gain power, stay strong enough to support her unstable Lord, and fails miserably while their relationship falls apart. Everything about Lady Macbeth is enough to create the perfect villain because of her ability to manipulate everyone around her. It appears that even she can’t resist the perfect crime.
In general, it could be said that Lady Macbeth takes advantage of her femininity and uses it and her frail image to manipulate the situation to suit her purposes. In Act 1 Scene 7, Lady Macbeth ‘bullies’ her husband by doubting his masculinity and provoking a response. She called Macbeth “afraid” and a “coward”. I am inclined to think that Lady Macbeth chose these words as Macbeth values his courage and fierce nature as it has positioned him highly in society. It is possible that Macbeth’s greatest vulnerability is his love for Lady Macbeth, and that enables her to exploit his love for power.
In the beginning, a lot of what we learn about Kate comes from what other people say about her. In Act I, she is only seen briefly and she speaks even less, but our picture of Kate is pretty clear. Shakespeare, sets up a teaching lesson, helping us to see the mistakes of our own judgment. When Baptista announces that Kate must marry before Bianca may take suitors, Gremio describes Kate by saying "She's too rough for me" (1.1.55). Later in the scene, Gremio reiterates his dislike for Kate, claiming she is a "fiend of hell" (88) and offering that "though her father may be very rich, any man is so very a fool to be married to hell" (124–126). He finishes by saying that to marry Kate is worse than to "take her dowry with this condition: to be whipped at the high cross every morning" (132–134). Hortensio, too, is quick to add to the situation, calling Kate a devil (66) and claiming that she is not likely to get a husband unless she is "of gentler, milder mold" (60). Tranio, Lucentio's servant, is perhaps the only man in this scene not to talk ugly about Kate, claiming she is either "stark mad or wonderful froward" (69).
Gender roles in Macbeths society automatically expect men to be physically and emotionally stronger than women, however, lady Macbeth plays as a juxtaposition to Macbeth; encapsulating the emasculating woman prototype. She wants to abandon all her feminine qualities as she recognises that the characteristics she wants are not acceptable for females. She asks the spirits to "unsex" (1.5 46) her and to fill her "from the crown to the toe, top-full/ Of direst cruelty" (1.5 46). It is in gaining these ‘masculine’ characteristics in Lady Macbeth ultimately attacks Macbeths biggest insecurity- his masculinity. Lady Macbeth is more ambitious and power hungry than Macbeth, and uses him as a vice for her own power conquests. It is at times when he doubts what is right and wrong for his own ambition, that Lady Macbeth uses her power of manipulation to call his manhood into question. At first, Macbeth suggests that killing the King would make him less a man and would cause him too loose his humanity, however, he changes his mind as Lady Macbeth proposes that a real man keeps promises and acts on his ambitions: "When you durst do it, then you were a man;/ And, to be more than what you were, you would/ Be so much more the man" (1.7 54-56). Macbeth therefore murders Duncan to prove that he would be defeated neither by his fear
Lady Macbeth’s wicked character has an extreme impact towards her husband. Lady Macbeth is responsible for influencing her husband to commit both crimes; she unleashes the dark side of him and motivates him to become an evil and horrendous man. In various parts throughout the story we find that Lady Macbeth strives beyond limits to be converted into a bitter and sour women. The audience is revolted by her horrific actions and although she may seem repugnant, she is an extremely talented actor. In her role, having a deceitful and convincing character is important
Shakespeare was a literature genius during the Elizabethan times. It is also called the golden age in English history. The Elizabethan time occurred when the renaissance was at its highest. Elizabethan times were when Queen Elizabeth sat on the throne as the only leader. There was no king at this time and even though the leader was a woman, Queen Elizabeth, women were treated inferior to men at this time. Women were second class to men in every way. They did everything they were told to do by the men in their lives and did not really have any say at all. A woman in this time basically had two jobs and that was it. These two jobs were being a housewife and a mother. “The Elizabethans had very clear expectations of men and women, and in general men were expected to be the breadwinners and women to be housewives and mothers” (elizabethi.org). Women had many children at this time so they had to nurture them with their body which drained them of their own nutrients. This caused them to lose their teeth and age quicker. It was ordinary for the woman to die when giving birth. Most of the time the women did not even get to chose when or even who they got to marry. They just took orders and obeyed. In that time if the men thought that their woman was getting out of line it was perfectly ok to beat them back into line. Though if a woman were to kill her husband due to him beating her t...
Lady Macbeth is a very loving wife to Macbeth and she wants to do anything she can for him to achieve his goals. She just takes it a little too far, and she puts too much pressure on Macbeth to commit crimes that he is not sure he wants to do. After Macbeth sends her a letter about the witches’ premonitions, Lady Macbeth is no longer the sweet innocent lady we expect her to be. She turns into a person who is just as ambitious as her husband and she wants to do whatever it takes to help him get Duncan out of the way. She even goes to the point of calling Macbeth a coward, and mocking his bravery when he fails to complete the job. She is even willing to do it herself (plant the bloody knife with the guard). Lady Macbeth is constantly putting the pressure on Macbeth to do things that he is not sure about. She almost turns into a bully who dares Macbeth to go out and do evil things. She even says in a soliloquy that she wants to be released of all her morals and values so that she can help him commit these crimes.
Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband by questioning his manhood. She insists: “When you durst do it, then you were a man”. Macbeth is a proud soldier, in a culture where men are defined by their courage and masculinity. By challenging his manhood, Lady Macbeth is in effect questioning his professional and social status. Furthermore, the slur becomes all the more effective, coming as it does from the one person who should surely be a source of admiration and tenderness rather than humiliation. It is clear that Lady Macbeth’s affections are conditional and, unless he meets her expectations, she will continue to deny his role as a protector and husband. Seeing a king being humiliated by a female would have made the Elizabethan audience particularly uncomfortable, especially given the strong patriarchal society of the time. To recap, Lady Macbeth attacks Macbeth’s masculinity to manipulate him into doing what she wants.
In the Elizabethan era, the expectations for women were limited to being a housewife and a mother. Women were expected to obey their husbands. These expectations, and the person Lady Macbeth actually was, are polar opposites. Lady Macbeth did rely on Macbeth, but she only relied on him because she could only obtain her power through him. The methods she used to obtain this power go against the stereotypical Elizabethan woman.
Throughout history women have fought for the same rights of men. In the time of William Shakespeare they were seen in society as weak and vulnerable. They were seen to be good, caring and not as powerful as men. Men were the superior and ruled the land. Shakespeare has taken the stereotypical image of the women of the time and turned it on its head in ‘Macbeth’. Lady Macbeth is shown as a very powerful, strong woman. She has an evil about her that Shakespeare has used to make ‘Macbeth’ a supernatural play. Women were seen to be good and not as powerful as men, in ‘Macbeth’ Lady Macbeth is the dominate character and commands and persuades Macbeth to commit the murders and crimes that he does.
Lady Macbeth is one of the most compelling characters who challenges the concept of gender roles. Her relationship with Macbeth is atypical, particularly due to the standards of its time. Lady Macbeth becomes the psychologically controlling force over her husband, essentially assuming a masculine role, in order to inspire the aggression needed to fulfil his ambitions. Through her powerful taunts and persuasion, Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to murder the king and to take his throne. She emasculates over her husband repeatedly, knowing that in his desperation to prove his manhood, he will perform the acts she wishes. In Act 1, Scene 5
The relationship between Macbeth and his wife is strong. There is much trust between the two and there is also openness. However, the two butt heads and have opposing views many times. Even so, it is clear that Lady Macbeth is the dominant person in the couple. She is one of the major driving forces of Macbeth. This is shown when they are plotting the murder of Duncan. Macbeth asks her, ?If we should fail?? and she strongly replies, ?We fail! / But screw your courage to the sticking-place, / And we?ll not fail.? Whenever he is backing down she pushes him forward again. This is where a major flaw of our protagonist comes in. Macbeth cannot escape the trap of listening to his wife. He is subject to her commands and he knows it.
Shakespeare is known for strong male heroes, but they are not laying around in this play, not that Macbeth is full of strong female heroines, either. The women in the play, Lady Macbeth and the witches have very uncommon gender belief, and act as inhumane as the men. While the men engage in direct violence, the women use manipulation to achieve their desires. As Lady Macbeth impels Macbeth to kill King Duncan, she indicated that she must take on some sort of masculine characteristic in order to process the murder. “Come, you spirits/ that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/ of direst cruelty.” (i v 31-34) This speech is made after she reads Macbeth’s letter. Macbeth, she has shown her desire to lose her feminine qualities and gain masculine ones. Lady Macbeth's seizure of the dominant role in the Macbeth's marriage, on many occasions, she rules her husband and dictates his actions. Her speeches in the first part of the book give the readers a clear impression. “You shall put this night’s great business into my dispatch, which shall […] gi...