Marriage and Love in Elizabethan England
The movie, Shakespeare in Love, provides insight into the world of Elizabethan England. Through the character of Viola De Lessups the audience is shown how marriage was an institution entered into not for love, but as a strategic maneuver designed to enhance the lives of those who would benefit from a union, whether or not the beneficiaries were the people actually exchanging vows. As Queen, Elizabeth I chose not to enter into such a union. She expressed the thoughts and feelings she had about the subject in both her speech, “On Marriage” and her poem “On Monsieur’s Departure.” A comparison of the character of Viola to the real life Queen of England, Elizabeth I, can provide the reader a greater understanding of marriage and love in Elizabethan England.
Queen Elizabeth and Viola both realized that their station in life would determine their prospects for marriage. Elizabeth had the power to decide not to marry. Viola’s marriage to Wessex decided for her as “a daughter’s duty and the Queen’s command”(Shakespeare).[2] Viola is the daughter of a wealthy merchant and while she is “not so well born” she is, as her nurse points out, “Well moneyed” which “is the same as well born” and “well married is more so” (Shakespeare). Likewise, Elizabeth knew that if the Queen of England were to marry she would have to make a union that would benefit her country. She felt pressure from Parliament to marry and addressed it in her speech, “On Marriage”, given to Parliament in 1559. She assured them that they could put that idea “clean out of [their] heads” for “whensoever it may please God to incline [her] heart to another kind of life,” she intended “not to do...
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...n that she understood that duty prevented her from such a marriage. In her poem, “On Monsieur’s Departure” she allows a glimpse into the pain it caused her to be unable to fully pursue a life of love.
Works Cited:
[1] William Shakespeare, “Sonnet CXVI”, The Longman Anthology of British Literature: The Early Modern Period, ed. David Damrosch, 2nd ed., vol 1B (NewYork: Longman, 2003) 1233-34.
[2] Shakespeare in Love, dir. John Madden, Perf. Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes. Mirimax/Universal, 1998.
[3] Elizabeth I, “On Marriage,” The Longman Anthology of British Literature: The Early Modern Period, ed. David Damrosch, 2nd ed., vol 1B (NewYork: Longman, 2003) 1084-85.
[4] Elizabeth I, “On Monsieur’s Departure,” The Longman Anthology of British Literature: The Early Modern Period, ed. David Damrosch, 2nd ed., vol 1B (NewYork: Longman, 2003) 1081-82.
Livius, Titus. The Early History of Rome. Trans. Aubrey De Sélincourt. London: Penguin Group, 2002. N. pag. Print.
The role of women in society is often debated. In many ancient cultures, women were not granted the same rights that men had. When it comes to Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, women had very similar roles yet vastly different influences on society. The myths of these cultures helps us to see exactly what those differences are. This paper will examine the role and perceptions of women in Greek society and Roman society as exemplified by the mythology that guided these societies.
Mandela used this forgiveness to assist him in his attempts to “win over skeptic whites” and negotiate “the country’s first all-race elections” (Myre).
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.
Cloud, Amanda. Gender Roles of Women in the Renaissance. n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2009. < http://www2.cedarcrest.edu/academic/eng/lfletcher/shrew/acloud.htm >.
"Sonnet 116." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Vol. 1. Eds. M. H. Abrams,
Lefkowitz, Mary R., and Maureen B. Fant. Women's Life in Greece and Rome. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2005.
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The international students are expected to pay the full tuition fee, whereas the domestic students are eligible for heavy government subsidies and that is one of the reasons why there is a huge difference between the fee amounts. Many students take up part time jobs to make ends meet, but it is imperative to note that job opportunities are very limited and even those jobs that are available do not give a substantial income. Therefore, they must rely on their own money and be prepared for the expenses.
Parliament addressed Elizabeth, “of whose most lawful right and title in the succession of the Crown, thanks be to God, we need not to doubt” (Beesly 1).
“Love and Marriage.” Life in Elizabethan England. Elizabethan.org, 25 March 2008. Web. 3 March 2014.
Gonzalez, Justo L. 1984. The early church to the dawn of the Reformation. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Coster, P., & Woolf, A. (Eds.).(2011). World book: South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Movement, (pp. 56-57). Arcturus Publishers: Chicago.
	Jane Austen uses Elizabeth as the focal character in the novel Pride and Prejudice to relay a message to the reader. Her own voice comes through Elizabeth to make the political statement that it is unwise to marry for any reason other than love. Elizabeth (and thus Austen) feels that true happiness cannot be achieved in a marriage unless there is a great deal of love between the partners, and so explains her pursuit for true love, and her disapproval of marriage between those she knows are not in love.
I was treated well in prison; security guards grew a certain respect for me. I decided not to waste my time, so I informed my cellmates about the apartheid, and their horrible laws. They listened attentively, and wanted to help, so together we organized hunger strikes and protests. After 27 years, on February 11, 1990 I was released from jail. I could’ve got out of jail in 1985, P.W. Botha offered me a release but only if I would stop the armed conflict. Without a doubt, I chose to stay in prison because I believed that the right thing to do was to put an end to apartheid. P.W. Botha was an evil man, he committed to state terrorism and to thwart black majority rule. He had a stroke in 1989 and Frederick Willem replaced Botha. Frederick on the other hand, was the complete opposite of Botha. He set me free from jail.”