William Shakespeare said: “Women may fall when there's no strength in men” (Romeo and Juliet). Throughout history gender role have been a big, whether someone is a feminist or someone believes there is no equality between males and females; everyone has different opinions when it comes to the matter of gender roles. The same thing can be said about William Shakespeare who was a feminist (Shakespeare of Stratford). This ideology can be seen in his play Much Ado about Nothing. In this comedy Shakespeare focuses on two pairs of lovers named Claudio and Hero who are set to be married in a week but before their marriage day, they plan to conspire with Don Pedro, the prince of Aragon to trick their friends Beatrice and Benedick to admit their love for each other. Don John, the brother of Don Pedro, meanwhile plots to prevent marriage of Claudio and Hero by accusing Hero of being unfaithful. Don John initially succeeds in his plan as Hero is accused and ashamed at the marriage ceremony, but at the end Claudio and Hero are united and marry each other. Also, Beatrice and Benedick finally declare their love for each and dance at the end of the play. Shakespeare uses a lot of sources for this comedy and one of them is “Orlando Furioso” written in 1591, which gave Shakespeare the idea of Hero and Claudio’s marriage and Don John’s plot to prevent it. Another source Shakespeare used to write the play is the courtier written in 1588, which gave him the idea of the romance between Beatrice and Benedick. And also “La Prima de la Novelle” written in 1554 by Matteo Bandello gave Shakespeare the idea of putting the setting in Messina, Italy (Shakespeare in quarto). Because Shakespeare was a feminist, some of the women appear as supporting and central... ... middle of paper ... ...n after criticizing the institution of marriage. In conclusion, gender role in Elizabethan era is very complex with respect to women’s role. Men are the masters of the home and society; they preside over every aspect of life. They are however, expected to take care of their family and also be actively involved in politics, war, and they inherit their father’s properties. Women role varied a according to their social status. All women were raised to be subservient to men. Unlike upper class women, lower class women were denied any kind of education. And all women are expected to get married and bear children. The qualities Shakespeare gave Beatrice are very significant because it contrasts traditional Elizabethan theater. Gender role has evolved over time, especially women’s role and it will continue to evolve as long as there are women like Beatrice around.
How Shakespeare Dramatically Presents Power and Authority in the Relationship Between Men and Women in Much Ado About Nothing One of the key explorations of power and authority in “Much Ado About Nothing” is the relationship between Hero and Leonato as father and daughter. The play was written in Elizabethan England, and social attitudes of the period, together with long standing tradition, influence Shakespeare’s portrayal of the “proper” relationship between father and daughter, and duty they owed to each other. In “Much Ado About Nothing” it is very much a patriarchal society, where rank and position rule supreme and women are submissive position to men, whether fathers or husbands. This “male dominance” is most acutely represented by the nature of arranged marriage.
This passage from William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing comes from the beginning of the final act. In this speech, Leonato responds at length to his brother Antonio who has attempted to soothe his emotions with regards to his grief over his daughter Hero. From this passage we get insights into Leonato’s internal and external patriarchal struggle, are set up for the impending conflict which follows this passage, and overall gain more insight into the themes of male dominance and feminine allure which permeate the play.
Marriage and love are two important components that contribute to the plot of William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”. In Scene 1 Act 1, Claudio happily intends on proposing to Hero who later accepts in return. As the story progresses, scheming is involved to marry Beatrice and Benedick and to end the flourishing relationship of Claudio and Hero. Shakespeare portrays young love and old love through the relationships of Claudio and Benedick.
In the play Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare there are two main plots in the story. The first is about Claudio and Hero and their relationship, the second is Beatrice and Benedick and their relationship both of these relationships end up in marriage. Shakespeare compares these relationships side by side and you can clearly see his opinion on marriage. He believes in love, but he doesn’t believe in the arranged marriage that is happening during the Elizabethan era of his writing.
names - ""and I'll no longer be a Capulet" - to be together. Giving up
Imagine being a woman in sixteenth century Europe. Females were raised to believe that they were subservient and that men knew better on any subject. Basically, women had no rights. They were considered property, first “owned” by their fathers and then control was “transferred” to the husband chosen for them. Marriage was not about love, but in most cases, it was a business deal that was mutually beneficial to both families – an interesting fact is that like young women, most young men had no choice in the selection of their future betrothed. These traditions and the gender roles assumed by men and women at that time had an impact on Shakespeare’s writing and performances and a great example of this is evident in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Society in the16th century was highly structured. Women of the upper class were expected to be trophies for their husbands. The men were required to hunt, lead, and go into battle. If one chose not to follow these dictates, the rest of society would question, look down on, or even punish the deviant. The prominent author, William Shakespeare, placed this subject into comedy and tragedy plays with dramatically different outcomes. In Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare makes fun of stereotypical gender roles by establishing Beatrice and Lady Macbeth as the dominant characters over Benedick and Macbeth through imagery, dialogue, and character personalities.
During the Elizabethan era women had a status of subordination towards men. They had a role to marry and oblige to their husband’s wishes. Shakespearean literature, especially illustrates how a woman is psychologically and physically lesser to their male counterpart. The play, Othello, uses that aspect in many different ways. From a Feminist lens others are able to vividly examine how women were subjected to blatant inferiority. Being displayed as tools for men to abuse, women were characterized as possessions and submissive; only during the last portion of the play did the power of women take heed.
Women in Shakespeare’s Elizabethan period lived in chains bound by the society with the leash handed first to their father and after marriage to their husbands. The higher the position in society tighter the restrictions. Women were escorted everywhere they went like Desdemona. “Good women followed the instructions of their husband and father’s.” Men did not have to explain themselves and their actions to their possessions.One of the examples of women 's role is given by Shakespeare In act 3 of Othello,when Iago’s wife Emilia says, “I know nothing but to please his fantasy”(3.3.299).
The Elizabethan society in which Shakespeare lived during his life held a misogynistic ideology in high esteem. ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ was written in 1598-9, during a time when women were second class citizens compared to males and were considered to be inferior to males in every way. As soon as she was born, a female was her father's property until she was married off by her family when she then became her husband's property. A woman was expected to be seen and not heard, she was to be chaste and submissive. Women were uneducated and undervalued, they were not their own person.
Throughout the historical literary periods, many writers underrepresented and undervalued the role of women in society, even more, they did not choose to yield the benefits of the numerous uses of the female character concerning the roles which women could accomplish as plot devices and literary tools. William Shakespeare was one playwright who found several uses for female characters in his works. Despite the fact that in Shakespeare's history play, Richard II, he did not use women in order to implement the facts regarding the historical events. Instead, he focused the use of women roles by making it clear that female characters significantly enriched the literary and theatrical facets of his work. Furthermore in Shakespeare’s history play, King Richard II, many critics have debated the role that women play, especially the queen. One of the arguments is that Shakespeare uses the queen’s role as every women’s role to show domestic life and emotion. Jo McMurtry explains the role of all women in his book, Understanding Shakespeare’s England A Companion for the American Reader, he states, “Women were seen, legally and socially, as wives. Marriage was a permanent state” (5). McMurtry argues that every woman’s role in the Elizabethan society is understood to be a legal permanent state that is socially correct as wives and mothers. Other critics believe that the role of the queen was to soften King Richard II’s personality for the nobles and commoners opinion of him. Shakespeare gives the queen only a few speaking scenes with limited lines in Acts two, four, and five through-out the play. Also, she is mentioned only a few times by several other of the characters of the play and is in multiple scenes wit...
Carol Thomas McNeely had once said “ The sexes so sharply differentiated in the play, badly misunderstand each other. The men persistently misconceive the women; the women fatally overestimate the men. Each sex, trapped in its own values and attitudes misjudges the other. ” To rephrase the quote, it says that due to the misunderstanding of the fundamental needs for each gender, it confines the genders into stereotypical boxes. In the play, Othello, one of the main themes about gender roles in this play is that miscommunication between the different genders. Due to the misunderstanding between the two of the main characters in the play, it had caused a great demise for both sexes.
Throughout history, females have been treated and viewed poorly through society, which continues to occur in society today. The obligation for females to fulfill a certain gender role is not as important in society today, however it still exists and is considered to be the norm in some parts of the world. In the play Othello, by William Shakespeare, men view women as a possession, which leads to men feeling threatened by female sexuality. When women fail to adhere to their gender role, they are quickly cast aside. Through the characters of Brabantio, Othello, and Iago it is displayed how women are treated and the consequences faced when gender roles are not complied.
1558-1603. The Elizabethan era held some rather extreme and strange gender stereotypes, particularly seen in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in the city of Verona, Italy. Men were supposed to be the only brave, strong ones willing to fight anyone to protect their honor. While on the other hand, young women were the soft, fragile ones who had no control over their lives. Gender roles were prominent in everyday life, but in some cases they were not followed. Both Romeo and Juliet are portrayed as going against the stereotypical gender roles, playing a part in their rash decision making.
Gender roles are an integral part of human culture, and have existed as long as the species has. In its simplest form, a gender role can be defined as a set of expected male or female behaviors shaped by the contemporary culture and personal upbringing. William Shakespeare attempts to address this issue, among countless others, in his many works. An author during the English Renaissance period, including the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James, he was aware of gender roles that were very clearly defined. Although he echoes and at times supports the stereotypes of women and men of the time and their various societal roles and responsibilities, he also notably questions and even challenges these exemplifications.