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Representation of women in Shakespeare
Characterization of women in Shakespeare
Shakespeare as feminist writer against criticism
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Women As Propriety In Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice and The Taming Of the Shrew
"We may say that the dominant ideas in most societies are the ideas of the dominant sex, associated and mingled with those of dominant class." (Chedgzoy, pg.50) During the Elizabethan time men dominated society. Historically speaking males have always held more power then females in most cultures. Although a few cultures were Matriarchal societies. Yet even in these cultures women were not the superior power but were valued as equal to men. Most of the matriarchal societies viewed women as the embodiment of the goddess. Women have never been the sole dominant sex in a society. The fall of the Matriarchal societies occurred mostly from the organization of Christianity. The Christian ideals taught that women were not intended to have influential roles in society. In the Elizabethan era women were in a weak social position. In addition when Shakespeare writes about women he encompasses the complex issues that socially surround females. Shakespeare allows the audience to observe issues that effect their own factual society acted out on stage. At this time the society was definitely patriarchal, where women were viewed as inferior. In addition women had little to no power over there own lives. Fathers viewed their daughters as their propriety. Which left daughters in a powerless position. The power that women did have was their personal sexuality, virginity was prized and seen as a jewel. Once daughters were married their husbands also valued them as propriety. "Marriages were still arranged, as they had been in the Middle Ages, to further the interests of land-owning families. On marriage all the girl's legal rights ceas...
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...ters he created in his plays. He also developed female characters who were obviously intelligent, dynamic, and strong willed. Thus creating dramatic plots that rise to the surface societal stereotypes and norms. As in modern society theatre and the media allow for people to express issues of concern in a none threatening manner. Shakespeare's dynamic plays have influenced literature globally for hundreds of years.
WORK CITED:
Kaston,David Scott. A Companion To Shakespeare, Blackwell Publishers Massachusetts. 1999.
Chedgzoy,Kate. Shakespeare, Feminism and Gender, New York, Palgrave 2001
Dusinberre,Juliet. Shakespeare and The Nature Of Women, New York, Barnes and Noble Books. 1975.
Pit, Angela Women in The Comedies and Last Plays, New York, Barnes and Noble Books 1981.
Bamber, Linda Comic Women, Tragic Men, California, Stanford University Press 1982.
Billy proves throughout the book that he is not mentally stable, yet somehow, he is persuasive in his interpretation of the truth.
...rs in the play) to function as the spokesperson for the law suggests that rather than an attack on the female sex, The Merchant of Venice subtly questions patriarchal assumptions about women.
Critique Of The Constancy Upon Women At The Time in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
Shamanistic healing is a special practice mainly of the people in Asia. The commentary presented by Yer Moua Xiong is written from a first person perspective to aid in the process of immersing oneself in the culture, and understanding truly what shamanism is all about. One central belief of the Shamans is the ability for the human soul to drift and wander, or even become lost from its host (Xiong 2003: 183). The body can host many souls, of which all can wander or be lost forever from a physical limb or organ detachment from the body (lecture, 1/25). The soul is the essence of life, without which a body will become ill or even die (Xiong 2003: 183). Deceased relatives of a patient will try to contact the patient by making them sick (Xiong 2003: 184). Therefore, the goal of the Shaman is to find the cause of an illness, generally believed to be a missing soul, and heal the person. As stated in the commentary, “The first time that I perform a healing ceremony, I must…search for the cause of illness (Xiong 2003: 184).”
“The Taming Of The Shrew” by William Shakespeare is a work of satire created to criticize the misogynistic outlooks of the 16th century. With this play, Shakespeare is trying to say that the idea and role of women in his society is deeply flawed and should be fixed, as well as to make other social commentaries, such as on the treatment of servants. Through exaggeration and parody, Shakespeare makes society look silly.
Firstly, The Elizabethan life for men was one of power. Men were expected to have all the say and they were de facto the head of the family and expected to be obeyed as women were believed to be inferior to men. Next, as the head of the family, -men had to guide the female members of the family and in case of wealthier people, arranged fruitful marriages for their sons and daughters. In spite of their superior position, they were expected to be lovable to their wives. “In fact, they were encouraged by the bible to love their wives and treat them lovingly”. As a gender role, men in Elizabethan period acted as an authoritative person being the head of the family
“It is to the . . . shaman that tribal peoples turn for aid in dealing with the urgencies of life” (Grim 8). Due to the harsh Arctic environment, the shamanism of the indigenous peoples of Siberia is closely related to the struggle for existence in their world. The shaman is sought to aid the community in surviving by curing the sick and attacking or destroying evil spirits, among other roles (Hinnells 293-294). Within the community, the shaman has multiple roles including priest, magician, medicine man, mystic, poet and psychopomp (Eliade 4). One of his main roles is that of medicine man or healer. Accordin...
But, let’s focus more towards the gender equality which occurs nowadays. Gender equality plays a big gap in terms of the role of women in the Elizabethan era and the present days. Furthermore, it is an important role of every woman since they gain their justice for having a job or profession they liked or wanted, they are respected by their loving husbands, and they could speak courageously and bravely since they had their freedom; the right to speak up which was not usual or present in the Elizabethan era. Today “anyone could be anything” in many
Slaughterhouse Five. Dir. George Roy Hill. Perf. Michael Sacks and Kevin Conway. Universal Studios, 1972. Netflix.
William Shakespeare’s play, The Taming of the Shrew, is notorious for its parade of sexism throughout the play. The Taming of the Shrew is a play that takes place in the Renaissance Era where Baptista, a well-respected man raises his two beautiful daughters: Katherine and Bianca. Bianca, the sweet and youth child is loved by her father and every other man in society. Katherine, however, is the least favorite woman in society because of her outspoken and blasphemous behavior what is not seen ass lady-like behavior. The men of the city fight to win Bianca’s sweet hand in marriage while they try to have nothing to do with Katherine. Baptista realizes that it is wrong to have his youngest daughter marry before his eldest so he puts up a propostion; Bianca can marry only if Katherine marries first. Lord Lucentio catches Bianca’s heart and falls deeply in love with her. Petruchio, a new comer to town is looking for a woman with an enormous dowry, and he finds Kate to be the perfect fit. Disregarding everyone who warns him of her shrewishness. Petruchio and Lucentio overcome several the obstacles until they both get the woman they desire. Sexism is portrayed in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew by using the role of women in society during the Renaissance Era.
Sexism is an ever changing concept in today’s world. Every day the concept morphs a little bit, changing the entire definition of what is sexist and what is not. In The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, the male characters lie to and abuse their women in order to have the women marry them. Lucentio come to Padua to study, but when he sees a beautiful girl, he pretends to be a teacher in order to marry Bianca. Petruchio on the other hand forces a woman to marry him and then trains her to follow his every command. Although the The Taming of the Shrew is frequently regarded as a particularly sexist play, it is not sexist and demeaning towards women.
During the times in which Shakespeare lived, women had certain roles which ensured they were a permanent underclass to men. In Women in Shakespeare’s world by Theresa D. Kemp, Kemp states that “The roles of early modern women included daughters and wives, sisters and mothers; they learned and worked and played but for the most part they were not expected to be school girls (whining or otherwise) As women they were expected to be the slightly beautiful beloved and not the balladeer. Women were not seen as fit to play soldier or the judge. And as keepers of the homes and the households, as in our own time, women withdrawn from a “world too wide” ( 29). This quote from Kemp shows how victorian women were seen a just a pretty face to do as told. They were to be obedient and non opinionated. A woman of that time period was very objectified and used, basically women weren't real people.
In the 16th century, women and men were defined as having specific and contrasting roles within society. Men were defined as being powerful and dominant while women were defined as being submissive and meek. These ideals can be seen across cultures and throughout time. With these definitions of gender roles in place, the text suggests that gender is a social construct therefore qualities of femininity and masculinity are subjective. This is shown when Portia cross dresses as the lawyer Balthazar (IV) and when the truths of the rings are discovered by the two women (V). The strong female characters in the play exemplify that women are not confined to their social construct as they manipulate the male characters. During the 16th century only
In Central America, 40% of all the rainforests have been cleared or burned down in the last 40 years, mostly for cattle pasture to feed the export market (often for US beefburgers). This industry in particular, and the continuing consolidation of land ownership in general, force the poor into rainforest in their search for land. Latin American environment groups have cited skewed land distribution as the most important factor frustrating the conservation and sustainable use of rainforest areas. Throughout South East Asia there are the...
Tropical rain forests and temperate forests are two different types of forests. They differ in density, diversity of species, regions, altitudes and their usefulness to humans. This usefulness is referred to as values. The values obtained from forests are aesthetics, scientific and educational purposes. In addition forests have the ability to absorb and store carbon dioxide released into the air from man’s endeavours. This CO2 contributes to the sudden increase in global warming. The total value of a forest ecosystem is the combined value of each individual species living within that habitat.