The Character of Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing
Many would believe this to be a understated summary of the way
Shakespeare presents her character in Much Ado About Nothing because
Beatrice is not just a humorous character but a strong role model for
both ShakespeareÂ’s time and for a modern audience defying social
expectations and being equal to her male counter parts, she is the
heroin of the play and even though speaking “all mirth” which would
probably be expected from a lead Shakespeare role, however she is much
more that that. Beatrice has the most depth to her character in
comparison to other characters than simply humour. Thus the statement
not doing Beatrice justice as she has the most positive influence over
the other characters. To an Elizabethan audience the story line of
Hero and Claudio would be familiar because of the traditional views
held by their characters, and so the audience would have expected Hero
to be the romantic lead of the play. However, Beatrice’s ‘emotional
gravity,’¹ eventually leads the importance of her role to go beyond
that of HeroÂ’s, whilst still maintaining the humorous aspect essential
to her character.
It would seem definite that Shakespeare is making a criticism of the
patriarchal and misogyny that resided in society at that time which is
expressed through Beatrice who defies her social expectations. She is
a strong feminine role model; Shakespeare uses her to challenge sexist
beliefs and the subordination of women. This holds special interest
for feminine critics, alike many of ShakespeareÂ’s works female
characters such as Beatrice have the major parts and speak as many
l...
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... mood of Benedict and the idea of him ranting
sulkily. The effect of Beatrice on him is comical in this way because
of his dramatic reaction.
The word choice is also interesting possessing some underlying
meaning. For example, it appears significant of the word ‘endure’ to
be used a number of times. Beatrice states, “I could not endure a
husband” (II.i.26), and Benedick exclaims “I cannot endure my Lady
Tongue” (II.i.257-8). It would seem that these two statements
parallel each other in the sense that the couple are drawn to each
other which is implied by ShakespeareÂ’s choice of words.
¹Marguerite Alexander, Shakespeare and his contemporaries p.69
²Ellen Terry, Four Lectures on Shakespeare 1932 p83-84
³The Arden Edition – Much ado about nothing p30
Vickers p174
*Ibid., pp. 175, 176
Beatrice is an extremely crucial character in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’. She is one of the reasons that many plans and schemes fall into place to provide us with the outcome that the play finally reaches. Shakespeare depicts Beatrice as a very strong character who knows what she wants and how she wants to achieve it. Her characteristics of sharp wit and her ability to be acutely opinionated allow her to be a notable contrast from the other women in the play, whether this be in a positive or a negative way.
Set in the sixteenth century, Much Ado About Nothing is revolved around the thought of love and marriage. Primarily, this is prevalent in the two main characters, Beatrice and Benedick. They have once been courted which suggests more maturity than the majority of couples in Shakespeare’s various plays. In the duration of the play, the violent language between Benedick and Beatrice is most evident through their ridicule. Both characters always speak critically regardless of whether they are talking to each other or out loud about one another. This is highlighted when Beatrice exclaims, “What should I do with him—dress him in my apparel / and make him my waiting gentlewoman? He that hath a / beard is more than / a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a/ man; and he that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a/ man, I am not for him...
adds to the comedy of the rest of play. It is obvious to the audience
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.
Shakespeare's works were fictional so even though he portrayed women in a positive way, society wished to oppress women and portray the kind of independence that Beatrice shows as being a negative thing. Shakespeare used his characters as a subtle way of empowering women by casting strong women in a positive light.
William Shakespeare's Presentation of Hero in Much Ado About Nothing "While there is much to delight a modern audience in Much Ado About
Feminist critics of Much Ado About Nothing, like Sylvia Townsend Warner, praise Beatrice for being "free and uninhibited" ("Women as Writers," Warner, 272). Beatrice is a strong female character who marries only after asserting her disapproval for the traditionally voiceless role of women in marriage and courtship relationships of the 16th and 17th c. Beatrice is a fearless verbal warrior, and Benedick is her greatest challenger. Their verbal bantering allow for each of their strengths and opinions to show, and together they glory in the challenge of their next duel.
Differences between Beatrice and Hero in the early scenes of Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado about Nothing’
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 definition of Renaissance women is fundamentally important in William Shakespeare's play Othello. One of the major causes of Othello's tragedy is his belief that Desdemona is not chaste. According to the men of the Renaissance, chastity, silence, and obedience are three attributes that define Renaissance women. Although Othello takes place during the Renaissance, the women in the play, Bianca, Desdemona and Emilia, defy traditional norms by lacking at least one of the major attributes defining women; Bianca's lack of chastity is clearly displayed when she unlawfully sleeps with Cassio; Desdemona's lack of silence is clearly displayed when she constantly urges Othello to give Cassio's position back. However, in the last two acts, Emilia displays the strongest challenge to the definition of Renaissance women as silent, chaste, and obedient, mainly to defend Desdemona.
The play Othello is presented as a male-dominated society where women are only recognized as property; objects to own and to bear children. Women in the Elizabethan society and in Shakespeare society were not seen as equal to men and were expected to be loyal to their husbands, be respectful, and to not go against their husbands judgements or actions. Shakespeare presents Desdemona, Emilia , and Bianca as women in the Elizabethan time where they were judged based on their class, mortality, and intelligence. Shakespeare makes his female characters act the way they would be expected to act in an Elizabethan society. The role of these women in Othello is crucial because they show how women were treated and how unhealthy their relationships between men really were in both Elizabethan and Shakespeare's society.
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.
First impressions are a one time thing, you can never undo what you first appear like to a person because they will always judge you by it. Because Beatrice Prior (Tris) came from an Abnegation background, and she feels the need to have to prove herself to the Dauntless leaders, and to herself more than the other initiates. To show them she is brave, strong and can compete with the other initiates, she chooses to take the place of another transfer while practicing throwing knives, and stand in front of the target. “I will not flinch. If I flinch, I prove to Eric that this is not as easy as I said it was; I prove that I am a coward” (Div. 163). Even though Tris is just as a part of Dauntless as everyone else, the transfers and leaders still
The bildungsroman, Little Women, written by Louisa May Alcott portrays a group of sisters growing up together in Concord, Massachusetts in the mid nineteenth century. Throughout the novel the reader watches as each of the March sisters grow in their own ways. Meg and Amy both transform from people who care so strongly about how others view them into people more concerned with themselves and their personalities, than what others think of them.
The Importance of Being Earnest is a play written by Oscar Wilde during the Victorian era. It is a farcical comedy in which the main characters live and maintain a fictional persona to escape their responsibilities. To which Oscar Wilde uses secondary characters within the play such as Lady Bracknell to humorously make her the tool of the conflict and much of the satire. She is the first and foremost a symbol of Victorian earnests and the unhappiness it brings as a result. Lady Bracknell was specially designed to represent Wilde’s opinion of the upper Victorian class repressiveness and traditional negativity. Hence minor characters such as Lady Bracknell play essential roles as they help both the plot and support the themes with assistance