A product of their time: Sexual Equality in Much Ado about Nothing
Written in a time of patriarchal societies, with a distinct hierarchy of sexes, it was no surprise that even the strongest willed women eventually conformed to the norms of the 16th century. Behind all the comedy, laughter and wordplay, Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing began to explore the much more controversial topic of Sexual Equality in the Elizabethan Era. As we continue reading the comedy, we begin to see how the play sought to challenge and deafest the norms of gender roles through Shakespeare’s strategic selection of the female characters. In Beatrice, unlike her soft spoken and conformed cousin Hero, we find both the strong and independent push for sexual equality
It was very prevalent back then that there was a social and sexual hierarchy and it clearly stated that each gender had its own roles. However, let it not be forgotten, the male was always higher up in the hierarchy. In such times, women were raised to accept that they were inferior to men and that their worth was based on their chastity. Many a times they did not have a say in who they married nor did their word mean more than that of a man. In such times, the works of Shakespeare worked to blur those lines of inequality by writing in heroines and round female characters like the opinionated and witty Beatrice. As the play Much Ado About Nothing begins, we are quickly introduced to the rather round character who is Beatrice, cousin to Hero. Very quickly, we begin to realize that unlike other women of her time, Beatrice is much more outspoken, independent and unwilling to think that there is a man out there “good enough” that he could make her want to marry. “Not till God make men of some other metal
She was quiet, submissive and conformed to stereotypes. She was very much a foil to Beatrice. She is as we see submissive to her father when it comes to the topic of marriage. “Daughter, remember what I told you: if the prince do solicit you in that kind, you know your answer,” (1.1, 67) As this line suggest and proves, women were not given the choice of marriage or their suitor. Whilst Beatrice goes as far as denying Don Pedro when he proposes to her. Shakespeare continues to portray social norms through Hero’s story as Hero is falsely accused of sexual acts prior to marriage. As such she dishonors herself and her family, Wherefore! Why, doth not every earthly thing Cry shame upon her?. To her foul-tainted flesh! ( 4.1, ____). As this line suggest, we see Leonato go off in tangent of how Hero has wronged herself and her family. Yet all this time, Hero had at no point made the effort to defend herself much like Beatrice would have, thus indicating that as women they could barely think for themselves. We can assume that it was very uncommon that women had much of a say in conversation even in their own status. As Shakespeare would have it, Hero was the perfect example of the problem that was sexual inequality and Beatrice was a step towards a
A major concern in both the film and the original text is the ‘status of women’. This is represented through the differing roles of women and their denigration within the Elizabethan society. For instance, Hero is accused of committing infidelity; consequently her image in society is tarnished, In addition to this, Claudio insults Hero publicly without even considering confirming the accusation of her being unchaste. This is illustrated through Claudio slandering Hero through the use of usage of Greek Mythological allusions “You seem to as Dian in her orb, but you are more intemperate than Venus in y...
Oscar Wilde said, “It's beauty that captures your attention; personality which captures your heart,”. William Shakespeare’s drama, Much Ado About Nothing, focuses on two women, Beatrice and Hero, who have different personalities but still find love in the end. At first look, the play resembles a traditional love story, but in truth, it suggests one be true to him or herself and not let society determine how one should act. However, Beatrice and Hero must follow Renaissance society's rules. Traditional Renaissance women could not choose who they would marry, if a woman was accused of something, she had no means of defending herself and, women were required to be reserved. Hero is a traditional Renaissance woman because she was not able to choose
The author portrays Beatrice as being very dominant and strong woman. I believe she protects her cousin and her family from the accusation that has been projected towards Hero as this has insulted not only Hero but also her family. When she is in the tabernacle with Benedict and confessing her love for him....she shows her demanding nature by essentially forcing Benedict to choose between the brotherly love of men and the loyalty of a man to his wife. Beatrice knows that she must destroy Benedict's former male bonding. Her order is therefore a command for Benedict to support her against Claudio, and represents the only way for them to have a mature relationship. Although being quite intelligent, Beatrice does manage to appear gullible when she overhears Hero and another woman discussing Benedict and Beatrice's relationship. So this can be seen that Beatrice does have a softer side as well.
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...
(Essay intro) In the modern day, women have the luxury of belonging to themselves but unfortunately this was not always the case. During his life, William Shakespeare created many positive female characters who defied the traditional gender roles and brought attention to the misogynistic patriarchy of Elizabethan England. One of these true feminist icons is ‘Much Ado about Nothing’s. Beatrice. The women in ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ defy traditional gender roles. Beatrice represents a brave and outspoken woman who defies the oppressive, traditional gender roles for the female sex. Her cousin Hero, however, represents those women who were successfully oppressed by the patriarchy and accepted the traditional gender roles without much complaint.
...e one of the main issues raised is that there is not enough equality and that women do not have enough of a voice. The way that the character Beatrice is represented in this play the way that doesn’t conform, whereas Hero is the idealistic women, wife, daughter of Shakespeare’s time. Whilst Much Ado About Nothing was written 400 years ago the relevance of Shakespeare’s issues of Love and Deception are still universal. The theme of love transcend, Beatrice and Benedick relationship is an archetypal for unconditional and unwavering love. Deception is still a common occurrence in our modern world. Don John is still the most deceptive character in the play even though Don Pedro, his brother deceives; his deception is used for good instead of bad. This play is still popular today as the themes of love and deception are still relevant in daily life and in this society.
Beatrice's courtship with Benedick greatly contrasts with the courtship of Hero and Claudio. Hero gladly and willingly submitted to marriage, and she accepted the role of the relatively powerless woman. In contrast Beatrice chose her submission after openly criticizing the institution of marriage.
Beatrice is deceived by Hero and the others, but the nature of deception is not on a par with the scheming of Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream or Claudius in Hamlet. The supposedly false premise on which Don Pedro's plot against Beatrice is based -- Benedick's passionate love for...
Beatrice is, without a doubt, one of the strongest female characters that Shakespeare ever came up with in his time of writing. Shakespeare shows, through Beatrice, how every woman should act in an era where only the men were even able to have control. In this era, or the renaissance time, no woman had free will; they were always told what they could and could not do, as well as, who they were to marry. In the play “Much Ado About Nothing” Beatrice has many qualities but the ones that stand out the most in the play are: her independence, her feistiness, and of course her openness to defy male subjection.
The theme for honour and fidelity apply for both men and women in Shakespeare’s play ‘much ado about nothing’. Honour and fidelity is represented very differently for men and women as it would have been for the people in Elizabethan times. In this first section of the essay, I will be exploring double standards and Shakespeare’s awareness of the double standards between sexes and his feminist approach, the differences of honour and fidelity for men and women and upper class and lower class comparisons.
This paper will argue that Beatrice and her cousin Hero are used to show the gender inequality of the the Elizabethan era. The first scene gives good insight into Beatrice’s character. Benedict tells Beatrice how he will never marry a woman, and he will be a bachelor forever. To this Beatrice responds: “A dear happiness to women. They would have been troubled by a pernicious suitor” (1.1.126-127).
In William Shakespeare’s tragic play Othello there are numerous instances of obvious sexism aimed at the three women in the drama -- Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca – and aimed at womankind generally. Let us delve into this subject in this paper.
A Feminist Perspective of Hero in Much Ado About Nothing Unlike the title of this piece suggests, Hero did not undergo her transformation in Much Ado About Nothing through magic. Rather, Hero was a victim of the double standards and illogical fears that the men of Shakespeare’s plays commonly held. The following quote sums it up quite well. In the plays female sexuality is not expressed variously through courtship, pregnancy, childbearing, and remarriage, as it is in the period. Instead, it is narrowly defined and contained by the conventions of Petrarchan love and cuckoldry.
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare focuses on the enormous gap between the power of men and where women stand. Women were expected to be obedient and dependent on men, innocent, and were also expected to be good wives. Shakespeare wanted women to see how the roles are changing for the better. In this play, there is difference between the traditional roles of women back then, and the ones that stand out from the rest. He depicts this through two characters. In the opening scene, where characters and their personalities, and roles are established; Hero has only one line, which is seven words. Even said that, these lines are just a comment on Beatrice. Hero is the daughter and the property of her father, Leonato. Her helplessness comes from her being overprotected by her father, and the need to obey him. Beatrice, by contrast, does not have a father, she lives on her witty personality and her intelligence. Beatrice has a dream to spend her life “where the bachelors sit, and there live we, as merry as the day is long” (2.1.40-46) When Leonato tells Hero, “Daughter, remember what I told you: if the prince do solicit you in that kind, you know your answer,” (2.1.60-63) she just stands there, silently obeying her father. Hero’s looks are her only advantage as a women, as they are what attracts Claudio. He falls in love with her at first sight in the first act, based only on her appearance.
“Othello,” the tragic play written by William Shakespeare in 1601, has given a new outlook to women’s rights during the time period when they had no voice to call their own. A tragic play about a jealous and manipulative man named Iago who does everything in his power to pursue and destroy the life of the protagonist, Othello. In the belief that Othello had wrongfully promoted someone else to the position that he claims to be rightfully his. In this play, unsure if this was the intention of Shakespeare, but Shakespeare’s two main female characters each embodies a completely different bias about women and feminism during the Elizabethan time period. Shakespeare encircles “Othello’s” plot and themes around its male characters all the while concurrently but indirectly shedding light on the hidden anti-parallel dynamic among the livelihood of women.