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The portrayal of women in Shakespeare's plays
William Shakespeare's portrayal of women
Characterization of women in Shakespeare
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The influences of gender and power have been prominent in literature for centuries. Most literary works or plays often reflect the time period they were written in. Or reflect the era the story takes place in. However, every so often there is a piece of work that goes against the way gender and power are perceived and deemed appropriate for that time period. Usually this occurs with a female character being written in a nontraditional way. The way of how women were viewed and treated in real life is often seen in all of the literary works. So when a traditional representation is tested the work is often memorable. An example of such a literary work is Titus Andronicus. In Titus Andronicus, Tamora and Lavinia are two examples of the extremes …show more content…
women could have been like. Lavinia and Tamora are similar in a few ways. They face similar situations at several pointed throughout the play. However, overall, their differences are far greater. The roles of women during the 16th century and their power is portrayed to two extremes as seen with Lavinia and Tamora in Titus Andronicus. William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus is set in a fictional version of ancient Rome different from the actual one that is known today.
Despite the setting of the play, Shakespeare was a playwright who thought of his target audience when creating his works. Shakespeare was known for “reflect[ing] and at times support[ing] the English Renaissance stereotypes of women and men and their various roles and responsibilities in society, he is also a writer who questions, challenges, and modifies those representations.” (Gerlach, 2014). Even if the setting is fictional, the time period that Titus Andronicus was created in influenced the work. While the ancient Rome Titus Andronicus takes place in the ideals of men, women, society, and power is representative of the 16th century Renaissance. Lavinia is the representation of the ideal and socially accepted women during Shakespeare’s time. Meanwhile, Tamora is the representation of a woman that was completely nontraditional to the time …show more content…
period. A clear understanding of what life was like for women in the time period of the play being written in – 16th century Renaissance - must be defined in order to see how the role of women was viewed by society. Knowing the societal norms then allows for the evaluation of how power not traditionally given to women is gained and lost for both Lavinia and Tamora in Titus Andronicus. Shakespeare wrote Titus Andronicus in the 1590s or the 16th century. The story is blatantly clear in following the roles that were assigned to men and woman in society. It was considered a societal norm that men were above women and held more power. During the 16th century women were summarized by the following traits of “obedience, silence, sexual chastity, piety, humility, constancy, and patience.” (Gerlach, 2014). If a women did not show these traits they were considered a potential danger to the society they lived in. Literature often reflects life. In that sense any female characters in a play should be submissive, domestic, and follow their husband’s, father’s, or any man’s orders without question. Or the women are relegated to the role of being a nun. A woman’s sole purpose in life was to do as their husband’s or whichever man was in charge of her said, be the dutiful wife, and have children. Women of the Renaissance period were not supposed to challenge their husbands, have their own ideas, nor voice them, or use their sexuality in anyway. Women were praised on their chastity and it was a part of their worth. A women without chastity was considered a social pariah. With these societal norms of the time period known and in place it is clear to see how Tamora and Lavinia were both at times powerful despite their gender and then lost their power, again due to their gender and the societal norms they had to conform to. One extreme view of the role of women during the 16th century can be seen in Lavinia.
Lavinia conforms to the typical societal view of what a woman is supposed to be. She is initially portrayed as the ideal woman during the time period. Lavinia started out as someone of royalty being Titus’ daughter. She was seemingly well protected by her brothers and the reputation of her father. Lavinia is the epitome of what a woman is supposed to be like – innocent, demure, and does as everyone tells her to do. Lavinia shows her compliance to her place in society when Bassianus declares she is engaged to him and belongs to him then he runs off with her. Throughout the entire scene Lavinia is quiet and does not object to anything that is being said. Lavinia being silenced by men is a repeating event throughout the entire play, a symbol of women being put in their place and knowing better than to voice their own thoughts, feelings, or opinions. Just like women in the 16th century. Everyone else in the scene is far more concerned about Bassianus’ rights of possessing Lavinia rather than whether or not Lavinia actually wants to marry him. Such situations are relatable to marriages of the 16th century when fathers and prospective husbands made deals for marriage without the input of the future
wife. Lavinia already only has a small amount of power. Some is due to being Titus’ daughter. Her main source of power in society is actually tied in with her purity, chastity, and virginity. Her virtue is her only real token of value in the eyes of men. Her well known chastity amongst many people also brings honor to the Andronicus family name which makes Lavinia’s virtue even more precious. Despite her chaste behavior she is incredibly sexualized by Demetrius and Chiron. Because Lavinia is known for being so chaste and pure she is alluring to all men. Her value only as a woman is noted by Demetrius stating that “She is a woman, therefore may be woo'd, /She is a woman, therefore /may be won,/She is Lavinia, therefore must be lov'd.” (Shakespeare, 2.1.6) Essentially he is saying that Lavinia’s sole purpose in life is to be sexualized and conquered by men. Again this conforms to the 16th century ideals that women’s sole purpose was to fulfill their husband’s needs, do as they wished, and procreate. Demetrius’ lust filled and narrow minded perspective of Lavinia ultimately leads to his and Chiron’s decisions to rape her. The act of being raped and losing her virginity, chastity, and purity also is the same act of where she suffered from a complete loss of power and any value in the eyes of society. ideals.
Shakespeare is known for his eloquent word choice and illusive images, and Titus Andronicus is no exception to that. Titus Andronicus being focused around blood, rape and murder, has to be conveyed in a very specific way to promote the concise narrative Shakespeare imagined. More specifically as shown in act 2 scene 1, Shakespeare makes sure the reader knows the background behind Tamora and Aarons complex relationship. In this monologue Aaron addresses Tamora and his love for her using images, cultural references, and poetic devices to further support his desires. Through specific descriptions and illusive images, Shakespeare sets forth scene 2 by alluding to the reader Aarons true intentions to take advantage of Tamora and her power to seek vengeance on Rome.
Time and time again, women have consistently been cheated when it comes to being represented fairly in literature. Throughout countless literary works, many female characters are portrayed in stereotypical and submissive roles. Three literary works that break from this trend are Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband, and George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. These works examine themes of beauty and marriage, and feature female characters in prominent roles. But what influenced how male and female characters are portrayed in these pieces of literature? Examining Wharton’s Ethan Frome, Wilde’s An Ideal Husband, and Shaw’s Pygmalion from a feminist perspective reveals how gender characterization, author perspectives, and gender
Over the course of time, the roles of men and women have changed dramatically. As women have increasingly gained more social recognition, they have also earned more significant roles in society. This change is clearly reflected in many works of literature, one of the most representative of which is Plautus's 191 B.C. drama Pseudolus, in which we meet the prostitute Phoenicium. Although the motivation behind nearly every action in the play, she is glimpsed only briefly, never speaks directly, and earns little respect from the male characters surrounding her, a situation that roughly parallels a woman's role in Roman society of that period. Women of the time, in other words, were to be seen and not heard. Their sole purpose was to please or to benefit men. As time passed, though, women earned more responsibility, allowing them to become stronger and hold more influence. The women who inspired Lope de Vega's early seventeenth-century drama Fuente Ovejuna, for instance, rose up against not only the male officials of their tiny village, but the cruel (male) dictator busy oppressing so much of Spain as a whole. The roles women play in literature have evolved correspondingly, and, by comparing The Epic of Gilgamesh, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and The Wife of Bath's Prologue, we can see that fictional women have just as increasingly as their real-word counterparts used gender differences as weapons against men.
The power that Lavinia has is not like Tamora’s, which is traditionally masculine. Lavinia’s power is in her femininity. She is able to attract the attention of many men, including Demetrius and Chiron, Tamora’s sons. At one point, Chiron is begging Demetrius to let him have Lavinia saying that he will “plead my passions for Lavinia’s love” (2.1.36). It does not matter to these two men that Lavinia is married; she is still just as attractive to them. Lavinia has the power to attract these men to her by her femininity, but she is not able to ward off their attack because her power is limited to being feminine, not being strong and convincing, like
Obviously nobility and honour are a theme of this play and Blits clearly states that the main women of this play such as Portia does not fit into the role of an honorable character, even when she is married to the “Most honourable man in Rome.” According to Blits, “Rome is a man’s world. No one in Caesar has a good word for women.” Once again he is being sexist, not one bit of respect for women but this fits right into the play, the people of Rome seem to be somewhat of a sheep that don’t stand out.
Throughout most of literature and history, the notion of ‘the woman’ has been little more than a caricature of the actual female identity. Most works of literature rely on only a handful of tropes for their female characters and often use women to prop up the male characters: female characters are sacrificed for plot development. It may be that the author actually sacrifices a female character by killing her off, like Mary Shelly did in Frankenstein in order to get Victor Frankenstein to confront the monster he had created, or by reducing a character to just a childish girl who only fulfills a trope, as Oscar Wilde did with Cecily and Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest. Using female characters in order to further the male characters’
Due to traditional stereotypes of women, literature around the world is heavily male-dominant, with few female characters outside of cliché tropes. Whenever a female character is introduced, however, the assumption is that she will be a strong lead that challenges the patriarchal values. The authors of The Thousand and One Nights and Medea use their female centered stories to prove their contrasting beliefs on the role of women not only in literature, but also in society. A story with a female main character can be seen as empowering, but this is not always the case, as seen when comparing and contrasting Medea and The Thousand and One Nights.
conceptualizations of gender in literature are situated in a culture and historical context ; the
in this play, women are used as a symbol of male power, or lack of it.
These women are sexualized, audacious, respectful, and flirtatious. Women in the Elizabethan society were considered the weaker sex and in need of always being protected. Women, however, were allowed many freedoms in Shakespeare writings. The thinking from both plays was that women were not above men but more like sex objects and a necessary part of society. Women have evolved into so much more, however, I would like to think this is from the open-mindedness of how Shakespeare saw each woman.
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.
“The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, ‘It's a girl.’” (Chisholm). Where do women fit in the social order of society today? Many women today fit in the same role as they would have been expected to long ago. Though generally speaking, women have a lot more options today. The male hierarchy still governs most aspects of society, but with many more limitations because women are discovering that they can stand on their own, and have no need for constant regulating from their male counterparts. Patriarchal influences are the base of society. In Antigone Sophocles tells a tale about Greek values and women’s status. Antigone has just witnessed her two brothers kill each other; one brother died defending Thebes and the other died betraying it. Creon’s law keeps anyone from burying the traitor and Antigone is set on contravening this. Conversely, Ibsen’s playwright, A Doll’s House, is a story about an intelligent woman, Nora, who is misunderstood by her husband, Torvald. She takes desperate measures to keep her family intact but in the end wines up going out on her own. As the stories progress the both Nora’s and Antigone’s characteristics become very similar in that they are both rebellious, are subservient to male jurisdiction, and are resolute and strong-willed in their decision.
Gender inequality will always affect the way women are portrayed in society, the weaker, unnecessary, and other sex. It is not just a subject of the past, but still holds a name in society, however in the olden eras the way women were treated and are looked at, in a much more harsh condition. In Shakespeare’s Othello and Shelley’s Frankenstein women’s roles in the books are solely based on the way they are treated in their time period. The way women are portrayed in these books, demonstrate that they can never be in the same standing as men, considered the second option, and therefore will never have the same respect as men. In both Othello and Frankenstein women are treated as property, used to better men’s social standards, and lack a voice,
These playwrights portray women as powerful. Aristophanes uses the idea that while some men consider women the inferior sex, women are
From the expansion days of Ancient Rome to the fall of the Roman Empire, women have always succumbed to living subjacent to the status of their omnipotent and dominant male figures. After leaving her childhood home and the rule of her father, a young Roman girl would then be coerced into the dominion of her husband, often taking a plethora of roles, ranging from lover, caretaker, and best friend. It is often lightheartedly stated that, “Behind every great man is an even greater woman,” and William Shakespeare exemplifies this concept beautifully in Julius Caesar, in which he effectively used the spouses of the two main characters to add more depth, drama, and literary elements to the play, bringing it to life. Although the only two female characters in Julius Caesar, Portia and Calpurnia do not play a pivotal role in the overall plot of the story, their presence is vital in illuminating and developing the characters of their husbands, Brutus and Caesar. What they reveal about their husbands leads the reader to infer that Portia is the more admirable and redeeming character.