Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Social status of renaissance woman
Gender roles and literature
Gender roles and literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Social status of renaissance woman
In William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, the use of mistaken identity and role reversal communicates that gender roles and social class are constructed illusions that trick people into having unrealistic expectations about how they are supposed behave.Viola crossdressing as Cesario in the play challenges traditional views of how a woman of her status should act.The differences between the accepted clothing for an individual emphasizes gender roles and social hierarchy in society. During the Renaissance, “ the idea of two genders, one subordinate to the other, provided a key element in its hierarchical view of the social order and to buttress its gendered division of labor” (Howard 423). According to Elizabethan society, the center of Olivia’s dilemma with her marriage was ensuring her wealth, not marrying a man she loved (Joseph 170). Social class increases division among individuals in society. This play “ is not the story of a Juliet's or an Orlando's love .., but of the very realistic struggles and intrigues over the betrothal of a rich Countess, whose selection of a mate determines the future” (170). Readers looking past these boundaries created by class and gender, can find striking similarities in emotions characters have for each other. The personal struggles the characters face in this play demonstrate the obstacles that individuals faced because of their gender or place in the social hierarchy. An individual’s identity is determined by how others perceive them and how they perceive themselves. However, its seems as if society’s opinion of an individual has taken precedence over an individual's own judgement. This phenomena has a great effect on the decisions people make. When Olivia mistakenly marries Sebastian and ... ... middle of paper ... ...erning dunce-caps & diadems]." Essai 8.17 (2011): 43-53. Print. Howard, Jean E. “Crossdressing, the Theatre, and Gender Struggle in Early Modern England.” Shakespeare Quarterly 39.4 (1988): 418-40. Print. Joseph, Bertram. Rev. of The Twelfth Night of Shakespeare’s Audience, by John W. Draper. Review of English Studies 3.10 (1952): 170-71. Print. Logan, Jenkins. “Twelfth Night: The Limits of Festivity.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 22.2 (1982): 223-38. Print. Schalkwyk, David. “Love and Service in Twelfth Night and the Sonnets.” Shakespeare Quarterly 56.1 (2005): 76-100. Print. Slights, William W. E. “Maid and Man in ‘Twelfth Night.’” Journal of English and Germanic Philology 80.3 (1981): 327-48. Print. Williams Jr., Porter. “Mistakes in Twelfth Night and Their Resolution: A Study in Some Relationships of Plot and Theme.” PMLA 76.3 (1961): 193-99. Print.
In the play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, a quintessential pair of teens fall in love, but their fate ends in misfortune. The pair falls in love in a time where women are seen as unimportant and insignificant. In spite of this, Romeo breaks the boundaries of male dominance and shows a more feminine side. Throughout the play, there is an interesting depiction of gender roles that is contrary to the society of the time period.
The play Twelfth Night, or What You Will by William Shakespeare is a 1601 comedy that has proven to be the source of experimentation in gender casting in the early twenty-first century due to its portrayal of gender in love and identity. The play centrally revolves around the love triangle between Orsino, Olivia, and Viola. However, Olivia and Orsino both believe Viola is a boy named Cesario. Ironically, only male actors were on the stage in Shakespeare’s time. This means that Olivia, Viola, and other female characters were played by young boys who still had voices at higher pitches than older males.
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.
Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night Or What You Will. Ed. Kenneth Deighton. London: Macmillan, 1889. Shakespeare Online. 20 Dec. 2010.
Wells, Stanley, and Gary Taylor, eds. "Twelfth Night, or What You Will". William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. Oxford: Clarendon P, 1998.
Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night Or, What You Will. Ed. Gayle Gaskill. Newburyport: Focus, 2012. Print.
This paper will look at the different conceptions highlighted by Bulman in his article through the use of different methods used by the actors in the play. Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare captures the different conceptions of gender identity and different sexualities within the Elizabethan period.
William, Shakespeare Twelfth Night. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume B. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 1079-1139.
Daniel, David. "Shakespeare and the Traditions of Comedy." The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Studies. Ed. Stanley Wells. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1987.
“Above my fortunes, yet my state as well: I am a gentleman” (1.5.00). The Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s this phrase said to Olivia from Viola make readers concerned and what to know more about Shakespeare’s way in developing identity and other themes in his characters. In understanding Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, one must explore the several themes that construct the play. Many take in elements of what a tragedy was like during Shakespeare’s time, while others played on the political commentary. Identity is one of the major themes explored because it’s one of the many confusing elements in the play, such as Viola playing as Cesario in order to find her brother. Exploring the themes of gender identity, love and self, danger of love and death readers will have a better understanding of the play.
Print. Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
113- The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. of the book. Vol.
Historically speaking, the cultural limitations of women in the sixteenth century were very strong. Publicly, women had no life, and characteristics within the home were expected to mirror that of a servant: patience, silence, and obedience, to name a few. However, this essay will rely solely on evidence from the text, Twelfth Night, to examine the ways the female characters, specifically Olivia, both abides by, and defies the gender roles presented.
"Twelfth Night" is a comedy, which seems to end happily. Notwithstanding, through this extract, it is obvious that Shakespeare puts forwards the limits of a comic conception of life.
Logan, Thad Jenkins. "Twelfth Night: The Limits of Festivity." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 Spring 1982: 223-238. Print.