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Women characters in Shakespearean drama
Gender roles in Literature
Gender roles in Literature
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William Shakespeare often used disguised characters in his plays to enrich the plot; women characters often disguised themselves as men in Shakespeare’s plays. Shakespeare used these disguises to his advantage, especially the woman characters. What other purposes did Shakespeare have for writing disguised characters into his plays? More times than not, these disguises led to trouble, confusion, and misplaced affection. Shakespeare’s use of disguises taught not only the characters in involved but the audience that appearances can be deceiving and that everything is not as it seems. Shakespeare’s best-disguised characters are the ones that do not require a change clothing and name. For example, in Measure for Measure a character named Angelo is disguised as a moral and virtuous man but is soon revealed to be nothing more than a liar and hypocrite. Normally when Shakespeare wrote for his characters to be disguised it was for the purpose of safety. However, as the plays progress we see characters using their disguise to overcome social norms, observe behind the scenes, and to teach other major characters about love. In this paper I will compare and contrast As You Like It’s Rosalind and Twelfth Night’s Viola circumstances for disguising themselves as men, how they use their disguise, and the problems that were created in play because of their disguise.
In As You Like It, a comedy written by Shakespeare, Shakespeare has two major characters Rosalind and Celia in disguise for the purpose of safety. Rosalind and Celia have been banished by Celia’s father, Duke Frederick. Rosalind and Celia decide to escape to the Forest of Arden (As You Like It I.iii.107) and that it would be safer to disguise themselves as shepherds rather than to just ...
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...ino that while women are not as passionate as been are about love they more than make up for it in their loyalty and faithfulness, and refers to this in.
“Too well what love women owe may owe men;
In faith, they are as true of hear as we,
My father had a daughter lov’d a man
As it might be perhaps, were I a woman,
I should your lordship.” (Twelfth Night II.iv.105-108)
Viola also teaches Olivia that love is not vanity and materialistic things offered to you, but instead love is about self-sacrifice and that she is to proud (Twelfth Night I.v.250). Viola helps Orsino understand that what women really want is not pretty words and jewels but a man that they can feel safe with and see a future with.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William G. Blakemore Evans , and J.J. M. Tobin. The Riverside Shakespeare. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. Print.
Clark, W.G., and W. Aldis Wirhgt, eds. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Vol 2. USA: Nd. 2 vols.
Levin, Harry. General Introduction. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.
William Shakespeare attained literary immortality through his exposition of the many qualities of human nature in his works. One such work, The Merchant of Venice, revolves around the very human trait of deception. Fakes and frauds have been persistent throughout history, even to this day. Evidence of deception is all around us, whether it is in the products we purchase or the sales clerks' false smile as one debates the purchase of the illusory merchandise. We are engulfed by phonies, pretenders, and cheaters. Although most often associated with a heart of malice, imposture varies in its motives as much as it's practitioners, demonstrated in The Merchant of Venice by the obdurate characters of Shylock and Portia.
Though its primary function is usually plot driven--as a source of humor and a means to effect changes in characters through disguise and deception—cross dressing is also a sociological motif involving gendered play. My earlier essay on the use of the motif in Shakespeare's plays pointed out that cross dressing has been discussed as a symptom of "a radical discontinuity in the meaning of the family" (Belsey 178), as cul-tural anxiety over the destabilization of the social hierarchy (Baker, Howard, Garber), as the means for a woman to be assertive without arousing hostility (Claiborne Park), and as homoerotic arousal (Jardine). This variety of interpretations suggests the multivoiced character of the motif, but before approaching the subject of this essay, three clarifica- tions are necessary at the outset.
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
Dutton, R., & Howard, J.E. (2003). A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works.(p. 9) Maiden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
Clark, W. G. and Wright, W. Aldis , ed. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Vol. 1. New York: Nelson-Doubleday
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
A Shakespearian comedy is made up of primarily five components. Cross-dressing and disguising constitute the first of these factors, which is immediately evident in the Induction, where two characters entirely transform into different identities. One example is Christopher Sly, a tinker who is convinced he is a Lord. This becomes apparent in his query “Am I a Lord…?” (Ind.2.68) to which his servants respond by saying “O, how we joy to see your wit restored!” (Ind.2.78). In the same scene we also have a page dressed up as a lady because he was commanded to do so by his Lord. The Lord says “And see him dressed in all suits like a lady.” (Ind.1.106). Shakespeare incorporates this particular male playing a female into his play to further add humor to it. It also foreshadows that the rest of the play will have characters dressed up as people they are not supposed to be. The first character in The Taming of the Shrew who adopt a pseudo identity is Lucentio, who pretends to be Cambio, a schoolmaster, so he may pursue Bianca’s love. His servant, Tranio, who dresses up proudly as him, assists him in his venture. This is made explicit when Tranio says, “I am content to be Lucentio” (1.1.216). The pu...
Many characters undergo a change in William Shakespeare’s play, “As You Like It”. Duke Senior goes from being a member of a court to being a member of a forest and Orlando changes from a bitter, younger brother, to a love-struck young man. The most obvious transformation undergone, is undoubtedly that of Rosalind. Her change from a woman to a man, not only alters her mood, candor, and gender, but also allows her to be the master of ceremonies.
In a romantic forest setting, rich with the songs of birds, the fragrance of fresh spring flowers, and the leafy hum of trees whistling in the wind, one young man courts another. A lady clings to her childhood friend with a desperate and erotic passion, and a girl is instantly captivated by a youth whose physical features are uncannily feminine. Oddly enough, the object of desire in each of these instances is the same person. In As You Like It, William Shakespeare explores the homoerotic possibilities of his many characters. At the resolution he establishes a tenuous re-affirmation of their heterosexuality. In this essay I will show how individual characters flirt with their homoerotic inclinations, and finally reject these impulses in favor of the traditional and socially accepted heterosexual lifestyle. I will explore male to male eroticism through the all-male court in the forest and through Orlando's attraction to Ganymede. I will inspect female to female attraction through Celia's attachment to Rosalind and through Phebe's instant attraction to the effeminate boy, Ganymede.
The liminality in performing Twelfth Night lies in sexual ambiguity on the stage. It enables a boy actor to play viola's role and disguised as a boy who is wooing another boy who plays a female role . The audience sees no more than a p...
Appearance and reality have never been portrayed with such immense differences as they are seen in Hamlet. Deceit runs about freely the entire play and affects every character, creating torment and confusion for all. Three complex characters use treachery to their advantage as they create façade in order to carry out plans, yet their shrouded minds impede them from carrying them through. All Shakespearian tragedies are filled with delusive, spurious characters, but none are as deceitful as those in Hamlet. Claudius, Polonius, and Hamlet have distorted realities and unfortunately, each has a clouded conscious that leads them to make life-changing decisions.
Shakespeare’s use of disguise has left the audience in suspense. The audience is left waiting to