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Shakespeare's views on love
Shakespeare's views on love
Shakespeare's views on love
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Era of Status A famous Proverb once said, “Those that marry for money sell their liberty”. Marrying for wealth is a price someone would pay for losing the freedom of love. Through many generations money is still the basis of a few marriages instead of the courtship of love. Earning a high social standing during the Elizabethan era is one of most prevalent cause for marrying for money. In William Shakespeare’s play, Taming of the Shrew, he reveals how marriage revolves primarily around the social standing rather than a romantic desire. Through the three different marriages in the play, the husband 's’ motives for marrying become apparent. During the Elizabethan era, men have to prove anything to receive status and power, while women tend …show more content…
Hortensio goes through the process with many other suitors to try and get Bianca’s hand in marriage. Despite, Bianca developing feelings for Lucentio, she pays no attention to Hortensio that he eventually gives up. He proclaims his defeat by moving on to someone else saying, “I will be married to a wealthy widow / Ere three days pass, which hath as long loved me” (4.2. 37, 38). The widow and Hortensio are both in desperate need of someone to accompany them, which brings them together because they both can not find someone else. They share the common goal of finding someone of high social standing to marry, to then fit in the puzzle of society. From a social perspective each relationship affects the other by means of influencing or harming. The widow shares her experience by stating, “Your husband being troubled with a shrew / Measures my husband’s sorrow by his woe” ( 5.2.29, 30). Petruchio is constantly projecting his suffering of taming Katherine onto Hortensio, affecting the Widow’s and Hortensio’s marriage. The constant need that the men have for power over their wives leads them to impact other marriages and disregard the true meaning of marriage;
The idea of marriage and romance was demonstrated in The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare where that it was the father's right to marry his daughters off to the male who bided the "sufficient dower" and asserted the greatest masculinity.
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.
With that case of using marriage as a tool, it is seen in “Henry V” clearly. The personality of King Henry evolves with the idea of marriage, was rather remarkable. Even though in the beginning of Act ...
It seems that the key to a happy and successful marriage is money. This comedy written by Shakespeare uses disguises and that also is a key part to the play. Although it is intended to be a comedy, there is sometimes a black cloud hanging over it. For instance the way in which Katherina is treated doesn’t always seem to be funny; instead it is quite cruel and degrading. “She eat no meat today, nor none shall eat; last night she slept not, nor tonight she shall not.” (Page 62, act 4 scene 1 line 182-183)
Women As Propriety In Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice and The Taming Of the Shrew
"Women have a much better time than men in this world; there are far more things forbidden to them." -Oscar Wilde. This quote embodies the fight over gender roles and the views of women in society. Taming of the Shrew deals with Kate and Bianca, two sisters who are at the time to he married off. However, suitors who seek Bianca as a wife have to wait for her sister to be married first. Kate is seen as a shrew because she is strong willed and unlike most women of the time. In his 1603 play The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare enforces traditional gender roles and demonstrates how little say women had in society. He accomplishes this through the strong personality of Kate, Baptista 's attitude towards his daughters as transactions, and
Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, demonstrate many different attitudes and perceptions towards marriage. Some of these ideas are very traditional, such as that illustrated in the Franklin’s Tale. On the other hand, other tales present a liberal view, such as the marriages portrayed in the Miller’s and The Wife of Bath’s tales. While several of these tales are rather comical, they do indeed depict the attitudes towards marriage at that time in history. D.W. Robertson, Jr. calls marriage "the solution to the problem of love, the force which directs the will which is in turn the source of moral action" (Robertson, 88). "Marriage in Chaucer’s time meant a union between spirit and flesh and was thus part of the marriage between Christ and the Church" (Bennett, 113). The Canterbury Tales show many abuses of this sacred bond, as will be discussed below.
In William Shakespeare 's play, The Taming of the Shrew, was written in 1590’s to 1610. This time period was very hard for a women. The culture was very misogynistic, the culture demanded that a women
“Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished,” said Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. An American wealth-research corporation, Prince and Associates, once did a research on a sample group of more than thirty women that if they would marry for money. Surprisingly, about approximately seventy-five percent of the group said “yes”. In fact, many women admit that they would rather marry a billionaire that they barely know than a penniless guy they truly love. We often read in novels and see it in those late night soap dramas, in the most romantic setting with exquisite background music, the main character solemnly promises his passionate love to the female actor with ninety-nine roses in his hand; the female character of course feels touched by his actions and blissfully accepts his proposal. Depressingly, those fairy-tales are too beautiful to become true. Take Mr. and Mrs. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice for an example, it is quite obvious that these two irresponsible adults did no marry for pure love. Mr. Bennet was more attracted to Mrs. Bennet’s physical appearance in his youth, and he rushed into courtship without further consideration. As time passes, Mrs. Bennet no longer has her good-looking face. Twenty years later, Mr. Bennet lost interest in her and regret ever marrying her. As you can see, in the twenty-first century, a time full with fierce competition, material gain is the first thing most women concern about when they marry, followed by physical attraction and security to a stable home.
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.
The Taming of the Shrew is set in a time period that did not accept women as we do today. In today's society, women who are strong and independent and quick witted are praised. In Elizabethan times women were supposed to know their role in life, being good to their husbands, making children and taking care of them. There were no women in politics, there were no women in business, it was only acceptable for women to participate in domestic areas of life. Women could not live a respectable life in this time period without a male figure to take care of them, rendering them helpless without men. If there was anything that must be done involving economics or education, it was up to the men. Men were the ones who worked and brought home the money to support the family. The roles of men and women were very distinct, and it resulted in giving the men the majority of the power.
The most important relationship displayed in the story is between Othello and Desdimona. Shakespeare uses many examples to illustrate how the bond between them shines in the beginning and then fades as the play progresses. At the opening of the play they are being married without Desdimona's father's consent. In this time period a father owned his daughter in a way, and held the right to choose her husband. When her father ( Brabantio) learns of the news he is furious. He claims that Othello "hast enchanted her! / she had/ run from her guardage, to the sooty bosom of such a thing as thou/(1.3.64-73). This shows that Brabrantio thought his daughter to be unacceptable of choosing a husband ...
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare is a play that is ahead of its time in its views toward gender roles within society. Katherine is a woman who is intelligent, and is not afraid to assert her views on any given situation. She is paired with another obstinate character in Pertuchio. The Marriage formed between the two is a match made in heaven for two reasons. First Because Katherine is strong enough to assert her views, and more importantly, she realizes when she should assert them. The second reason the bond survives is that Petruchio is strong enough to accept the fact that Katherine has a mind and, more importantly he loves her for that reason. Petruchio cleverly weaves the relationship into the framework of society without compromising the integrity of the relationship. Petruchio does this by comparing Katherine’s at attitude to repulsive clothing. Carefully and calculatingly, Petruchio forges a relationship that is envied by all who witness it.
The Taming of the Shrew is one of the earliest comedies written by William Shakespeare. The Taming of the Shrew focuses a great deal on courtship and marriage. Especially the life after marriage, which was generally not focused on in other comedies. Notably, the play focuses on the social roles that each character plays, and how each character faces the major struggles of their social roles. Which plays into one of the most prevalent themes of The Taming of the Shrew. The theme of how social roles play into a person’s individual happiness. This is displayed through the characters in the play that desperately try to break out of the social roles that are forced upon them. This exemplified through the character, Katherine, an upper-class young maiden-in-waiting, who wishes to have nothing to do with her role.
There is more to Shakespeare’s Othello than just the characters in the play. There is a message of power, and who has it, as well as the ones that want it. Two of the central characters in the play are both married. Their "love" for each other is questionable. The message that Shakespeare is sending is not really about "love", but about the power that one holds in the marriage.