During the Middle Ages and Renaissance period marriage and love were idealized, divine and celebrated. Weddings were large events that included the entire families of both the groom and the bride. Reality was different; women were viewed as being fickle, inferior to men and a possession of men. Women had very little, if any, choice in who they would marry. Marriages were arranged so that both families would benefit in gaining wealth or power. Even though the ruler of England for over 4 decades was female, women were still not respected. Women were kept at home and not allowed to take place in public events. In Shakespeare’s Richard III, male and female relationships are displayed as deeply cynical and are based on lies, lust and political gain. First, the relationship between Lady Anne and Richard is not the only, but one example, of a relationship that is based on lies. As Lady Anne mourns over the murder of her father-in-law Henry VI, Richard comes and greets her with “sweet saint” (1.2.49) and “bolsters this greeting with a string of compliments, to which she responds with curses” (Miner, 47). Richard says that the reason he murdered Henry VI and Edward is because of her beauty. “Your beauty was the cause of that effect/ Your beauty, that did haunt me in my sleep/ To undertake the death of all the world (1.2.126-128)”. In saying this, Richard “directs culpability from himself and onto the female figure” (Miner, 47). Richard thought that “her beauty served as incentive for murder” (Miner, 48). But he lied; he killed both to get closer to the throne, and wooed Anne for the same reason. Second, the relationship between Princess Elizabeth and Richard serves as an example of one that is based on lust. Since Elizabeth “remains t... ... middle of paper ... ...chard are used as political gain and the new King Richmond is crowned. The basis’s of these relationships are weak and did not, or in some cases, will not last. Richard realizes that Anne is no longer any use to him, and makes a plan to kill her. “Rumour it abroad / The Anne my wife is very grievous sick / I will take order for her keeping close (4.2.51-53)”. Queen Elizabeth saves her daughter from Richard and sends a proposal to Richmond. Richmond may try to form a closer bond with Elizabeth, or abuse his new power as king. Therefore, the examples in the play give us the message that, relationships that are not based on love, personality and happiness will end unsuccessfully. “Ay me, for aught that I could ever read / Could ever hear by tale or history / The course of true love never did run smooth (Shakespeare, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" 1.1.132-134)”.
Anne is quite like a modern woman in the way that if a man tells her
Firstly, Hunt explains to his readers the history of bastardry throughout the Tudor dynasty so that it is clear how the content of King Richard III reflected Tudor bastardry and why this was a potential risk for Shakespeare. He begins with John Beaufort the Earl of Somerset, who was Henry VII 's great grandfather who was declared a bastard . He then goes on to Henry VII 's grandfather Owen Tudor who fell in love with Catharine of Valois (the widow of Henry V). They had three children, Edmund, Jasper and Owen, however his sources show that Owen and Catharine may in fact never have been married, or at least right away,
In Shakespearean time and even up to the turn of the 20th Century men were expected to be the sole provider of the family, entailing them to be either well educated or hard working. They were also expected to be good with the handling of finances and property. It was also acceptable for them to be barbaric, boisterous and socially well connected. This has given the men of this time an overwhelming sense of power, respect and freedom; rights which were not given to women at this time. Far from what was socially acceptable in regards to men, the gender identity of women was of a somewhat weaker nature. Women during Shakespearean time were regarded as docile, quiet and non-opinionated. Their socially acceptable role in many cases was to be domestic, entailing them to spend countless hours in the home, tending to basic familial needs, such as cooking and cleaning. This position prevented many women to receive an education or to socialize outside of the home. As a result of their inferior social status, they were expected to be submissive and to cater to her husband’s needs at all times. Women in Shakespearean time were also treated as property, either by their husbands or fathers, which diminished any sense of self-worth they may have possessed. This gender ideology ultimately paralyzed women, as the majority were helpless to alter their social standing or designated familial role.
Compare the behavior and reactions of Richard, Anne and Elizabeth in Act One Scene Two and Act Four Scene Four.
In a relationship, Love is a feeling that humans share with a special person. Some bonds could be mutual, while others are dissociated. During the Medieval period, love affairs were dominated by one gender, men, and the women had little or no control over decisions. Before a gentleman married a lady, the gentleman first boasted about her beauty, championed the cause of the lady, and did whatever the lady requested. The era was influenced by knights, and dictated by honor and chivalry that each knight had to display to their king and queen. As a gentleman, a knight had to be just at all times, especially toward ladies. At this time, there was a king named Arthur. King Arthur had a flourishing kingdom that abruptly ended. Later on, many authors recounted the story of the reign of King Arthur. Sir Thomas Malory published Le Morte d’Arthur, and Geoffrey Chaucer published The Wife of Bath’s Tale. Although both of these books recount the reign of King Arthur, the stories are very diverse and unique in their own way. Both stories demonstrate for a relationship to be successful, both partners must be submissive, must be brave, and must be willing to learn from mistakes.
Similar to other works by Shakespeare, such as The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream embellishes the pressures that arise between genders dealing with complicated family and romantic situations. The plot includes a duke who is going to marry a woman he conquered in battle, the king and queen of the fairies embroiled in a fight so fierce that it unbalances the natural world, and a daughter fighting with her father for her right to marry the man she chooses. The girl’s father selects Demetrius to marry his daughter, but she is in love with another man, Lysander, who loves her in return, and her friend Helena is in love Demetrius, but he wants nothing to do with her. Considering the fact that males were dominant during that era, whereas, men chased women, and women remained submissive, Shakespeare dallies with those traditional roles and there are several possible reasons why. Perhaps he made women a stronger force in his plays because he wanted to give his audience a break fr...
He breeds anger in Clarence and the populace, not of himself, but of Edward and the rightful heirs. "We are not safe, Clarence, we are not safe,"3 he exclaims as his brother is hauled away to the tower. He preys on the "hateful luxury And bestial appetite"4 of the citizenry, catapulting himself to the thrown over a heap of bodies: deaths that hang on his head. But, it is Richard's attitude that his end goal of the crown justifies the murderous means that so closely links ...
Extreme passion results in irrational actions with horrifying consequences. The indecisive and fervent whims regarding love and the human heart are often selfish and fickle. For the victims of love, destruction is often inevitable. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, unrequited love forces both Romeo and Juliet to commit suicide, as neither one believes it is possible to continue life without the other. Both, through mere days of desperation, elation, deception, and grief, were ultimately cheated out of their lives by their love. Shakespeare develops a similar opinion through Helena in A Midsummers Night’s Dream. Helena is able to recognize love as a volatile creature, yet with uncontrollable power over the heart.The transient nature of love is channeled through deception and clouded judgement.
Love is often perceived as something perfect and flawless in today’s society. However, Romeo and Juliet, a play written by William Shakespeare, portrays love as a form of passionate and violent force that comes with both rewards and consequences.The tragedy focuses on two young lovers called Romeo and Juliet, whose families are intertwined in an ancient feud that disrupts the peace in Verona, Italy. For love, the two teenagers are driven to overcome obstacles they will never imagine doing, and as a result, they along other family members are forced to pay the price of their lives. Through the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare exhibits the reality of young love through the portrayal of the Queen Mab Speech, the impulsive actions taken by both lovers, and the results caused by the powerful nature of their love.
Centuries ago in Elizabethan England there were many traditions about marriage and the treatment of women. One strong tradition of these times was the practice of marriage between races. Interracial marriages were considered extremely taboo. (High Beam). In this era marriages were arranged by the parents with strong help from the local church. The individuals had little choice as to who they would marry. (Elizabethan England Life). Yet another example of these traditions was the respectable treatment of women. While the husband was in charge of his wife, as was the father, the husband were expected to treat the women right (Elizbethi). In spurning all of these traditions, Shakespeare demonstrates a view of marriage far different from that of Elizabethan England, in doing this he is trying to plant new ideas in the people who read or view the play.
... She asks that his wife be "more miserable by the death of him / Than I am made by my young lord and thee" (1:2:27-28). The fact that she marries Richard suggests that her curse is somewhat false. Perhaps she intentionally imposes a lenient punishment for his wife, one that she has already suffered, knowing that she might become his wife.
While courtly love may seem like a fixation of the ancient past, the model courtship, in which two young people fall in love and e...
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a play commonly viewed and known as a true love story; however, after analyzing several hints portrayed by the protagonists, it is evident that Shakespeare did not intend to make Romeo and Juliet seem like a true love story but a criticism of how superficial society’s view on love is.
...uld not be provide through any other character in the play as Martha Andresen-Thom states, “Though forced by sad circumstances that gesturer of trust frees them both…such is the “model” at the heart of this little society.. the ascendant of traditional feminine values” (Thinking About Women And Their Prosperous Art: A Reply To Juliet Dusinberre's Shakespeare And The Nature Of Women, 269-270). Andresen-Thom advises that in the farewell scene Richard is softened and shows emotion to his wife which frees him in the end to take a stand to fight at the end. Also, the Queen trust him as she lets go to be sent back to France, thus Shakespeare is keeping her in her domestic role of wife by obeying her husband. Once more, Shakespeare makes it clear that he uses the women characters like the Queen in the play as instrument to thicken the emotional depth and plot of his work.
To place this assumption into retrospect, in Shakespeare time, from the 1558 to the 1600s, England society was ruled by Queen Elizabeth. Although a women took ownership of the country, in Elizabethan’s society married women and minor girls were entirely in the power of their husband and guardianship of their father. None the less, even after Elizabeth I took the throne, she was expected to wed and “have her rights to rule limited or completely take up by her husband” (Wagner, 21). Women living in a society built upon Renaissance beliefs were only m...