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Gender and roles of women in literature
Shakespeare’s treatment of gender norms in Romeo and Juliet
Gender and roles of women in literature
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“Gender hardly determines the nature of a character, in the plays of Shakespeare. It is for this very reason, that his plays are read, viewed and enjoyed by both the sexes equally, even after five hundred years of their composition” (Singh). Gender is not something that defines what a character is going to be like in Shakespeare’s plays. This quote illuminates that in Shakespeare’s writings females and males were on equal level playing fields when it came to their traits. Females during the time period were considered inferior to men. Over the course of the semester, we have read some beautiful plays from comedies to tragedies; Shakespeare’s later plays exhibited an extensively wide range of female characters from the weak, obedient to the strong, empowering woman. One of the examples of this would be Ophelia in Hamlet exhibits weak and obedient characteristics whereas Viola in Twelfth Night is a strong female role that breaks the gender roles by disguising herself as a male and proving women are equivalent to men. Even Shakespeare’s weakest female characters seem to break some of the stereotypical role of the period. For example, Ophelia does listen to her father, however, talks back to Hamlet which during the Renaissance breaks the stereotypical role. Shakespeare was an early feminist because of his nontraditional female characters; despite his weak female characters, Shakespeare still provides his female characters with some trait that follows a nontraditional role. I will focus on in this paper are King Lear, Twelfth Night, and Hamlet. I will use Hamlet to show that even the weakest of female characters have gender breaking characteristics. A feminist is someone who is trying to advocate for the equality of women. I believe ... ... middle of paper ... ...ed Atkin, Graham. Twelfth Night : Character Studies. London: Continuum, 2008. eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 13 Apr. 2014. Callaghan, Dympna. Shakespeare without women. Routledge, 2002. Jajja, Muhammad Ayub. "Women In Shakespearean Comedies: A Feministic Perspective." Journal Of Educational Research (1027-9776) 16.1 (2013): 112-119. Education Research Complete. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. Orgel, Stephen, and Sean Keilen. Shakespeare and Gender. New York: Garland Pub., 1999. Online text. Sharma, Pankaj. "Depiction Of Woman As Human: A Reading Of Excesses Of Feminist Readings Of Shakespeare's King Lear." Language In India 13.12 (2013): 433-446. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. Singh, Rahul. "Shakespeare's Plays: Men Celebrated, Women Despised?." Language In India 14.2 (2014): 141-156. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 13 Apr. 2014
Pitt, Angela. "Women in Shakespeare's Tragedies." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint of Shakespeare's Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Callaghan, Dympna. Shakespeare Without Women: Representing Gender and Race on the Renaissance Stage. New York, Routledge. 2000
Kemp, Theresa D. Women in the Age of Shakespeare. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2009. Print.
Neely, Carol Thomas. "Shakespeare's Women: Historical Facts and Dramatic Representations." In Holland, Norman N., Sidney Homan, and Bernard J. Paris, eds. Shakespeare's Personality. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.
The portrayal of gender roles in William Shakespeare’s play Othello, demonstrates the inferior treatment of women and the certain stereotypes of men placed on them by society. Both the male and female characters in the play have these certain gender expectations placed on them. In a society dominated by men, it is understood that the women are to be seen rather than heard. The women are referred to and treated much like property. If indeed they do speak up, they are quickly silenced. One woman’s attempt to be the perfect wife is what ultimately led to her demise. The expectations of men are equally stereotypical. Men are to be leaders and to be in control and dominant especially over the women. The male characters compete for position and use the female characters in the play as leverage to manipulate each other. Shakespeare provides insight in understanding the outcomes of the men and women who are faced with the pressures of trying to live up to society’s expectations, not only in the workplace, but also in the home. The pressure creates jealousy issues amongst the men and they become blind to the voice of reason and are overtaken by jealous rage, leads to the death of many of the characters.
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the role of hierarchy is supported but also challenged. The writing in his play reflects the stereotypes of the roles of both men and women, especially because the play is written by a man. Shakespeare brings into action the undermining roles men play towards women, while giving nothing but judgement to the women characters. The play is written in a culture dominated by men, allowing the lack of women representation to be even more apparent. The dialogue and actions of the play, too, are written through the point of view of a male and not that of a female. Through the feminist theory, Shakespeare brings into question the way men treat women in dramatic English playwriting.The feminist theory, according to theorist Helene
The Woman's Part: Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1980. Kolin, Philip C. Shakespeare and Feminist Criticism. NY: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1991. Shakespeare, William.
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...
Smith, Rebecca. The Woman’s Part: Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Champaign, IL: U of Illinois P, 1983
Gerlach, Jeanne, Rudolph Almasy, and Rebecca Daniel. “Revisiting Shakespeare and Gender.” Revisiting Shakespeare and Gender. The Women in Literature and Life Assembly of The National Council of Teachers of English, 1996. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
During the Elizabethan Era, women were oppressed to men and had no authority and power to make their own decisions. This idealistic view of gender is defied in William Shakespeare’s well-known tragedy, King Lear, for female empowerment is central to the play. Firstly, the bold characteristics of the women contribute greatly in enhancing the plot. Furthermore, women play a major role in developing the theme of power. Moreover, when power is given to the female characters, they reveal their true nature, thus aiding with their character development.
Neely, Carol Thomas. “Shakespeare’s Women: Historical Facts and Dramatic Representations.” Shakespeare’s Personality. Ed. Norman N. Holland, Sidney Homan, and Bernard J. Paris. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. 116-134.
The Shakespearean play of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is easily criticized from a feministic perspective due to its pronounced gender roles and its pervasively patriarchal biases throughout every scene. The feminist criticism focuses on the relationships between genders and the malicious dominance men have over women both physically and psychologically. It examines the patterns of behavior, power, values, and thought between the sexes. The damage that male dominance has on the females in Hamlet is prominent when considering feminist criticism. It forces these women’s given situations to go from bad to worse. The societal viewpoint held hinders or prevents the female characters from attaining a true sense of identity. Without their own cultural
Leininger, Lorie Jerrel. “The Miranda Trap: Sexism and Racism in Shakespeare’s Tempest.” The Woman’s Part: Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Eds Carolyn Ruth Swift Lenz et al. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983. 285-294
... Critical Interpretations, ed. Harold Bloom (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987) 43. For further discussion on renaissance gender performance and identity politics among Shakespeare's cross-dressed heroines, see Michael Shapiro's Gender in Play on the Shakespearean Stage: Boy Heroines and Female Pages (Ann Arbor: The University of MIchigan Press, 1994).