Essay on Analysis of Virginia Woolf´s Shakespeare´s Sister

Using the example of Judith, Shakespeare’s imaginary sister, Woolf depicts this character as how society discriminated against women. Judith, a woman, was just as talented as her brother, William Shakespeare, though had to write in secret. A man’s talent was highly recognized in

A review of the world’s great artists conjures familiar images: Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel; Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night; Pablo Picasso’s The Tragedy. There are many more, of course: Monet, Moya, Warhol, Rembrandt, Kandinsky. What is immediately noticeable, however, upon any brief study of art, is the significant absence of women as heralded artists—not only in our ancient pasts, but even today, amongst valiant efforts for gender equality.

“Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” was written with a passion both intense and familiar. Reading Nochlin’s words, I found myself thinking, several times, “I’d always wondered the same thing,” or “I feel the same way.” I even formulated some of my own thoughts on the subject, responding to the title question with another, asking, “What makes an artist an artist?” Upsettingly, it would seem it is not by her own choice or talent. It is decided by the world around her, including the men and “social institutions.” However, it would also appear that hope is always in reach for those who will wake up and grab it. Nochlin left us with this stirring advice:

As the perception of women changes constantly, society is the only factor in creating their ideal image. These societal views are the basis of their treatment, with the expectation that it is beneficial for them. However, societal expectations of women in the Elizabethan and Victorian eras severely limit their freedoms and rights. William Shakespeare’s Othello and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein portray most women in their typical roles. Both authors depict the level of injustice in society’s treatment of women through the passivity of women causing their deaths, the silencing of vulnerable women and the portrayal of women as more humane than men.

Two-hundred years is a sizeable gap of time that allows plenty of room for change. American society had been rapidly changing from the early seventeenth century to the late nineteenth century, but despite this, the roles and rights of women have remained locked in place. There were many factors to consider as to why women were not allowed to flourish in their time and exceed these boundaries, and while some accepted it, there were many that opposed and faced these difficulties head on. Two female authors, one from colonial times, and one from nineteenth century America, have written about the obstacles and misogyny they’ve overcome in a male dominated literary career. Despite the two-hundred-year gap between the lives of Margaret Fuller and Anne Bradstreet, they both face issues regarding the static stereotype that women are literarily inferior and subservient handmaids to men.

In addition, I will examine the differences between male and female sexuality and how each tended to be perceived and treated by society. Then, I will look at prominent female artists and their personal experiences and beliefs on feminism and the female in their art focusing on how it tended to be received along how male artists responded to it. Mainly, I will be analyzing the clash of sexualized images in art, focusing on the differences not only between male made art versus female art, but the differences in the women’s art community, as well. What are the reasons and goals for women to use a “sexualized image” of women in their art versus

In the twenty first century there are a few men in this world that admits when you think of artist, you don’t typically think of women. Women rights and racism play a strong role when it comes to African American female artist. For decades’ African American woman have always had a permanent double bull’s eye on their back. Their skin and gender was their worst enemy. In the 1700 century women rights movements started to rise. But if you look up women right movements starting in the 1700 century, the face of women rights is predominantly white women. Between books and the internet, they show that it was mostly white women who helped woman rights. If we still struggle to shine light on African American Women now in the 21st century, you cannot

At the time, a room of one’s own was written, women did not have the same equal opportunity as men. She sees that society is in favor of men. Throughout Woof’s writing, she develops an argument on the difference of how society viewed women and viewed men. She begins by establishing the differences in education. She demonstrations that women did not have equal opportunity as men by telling a story that she made up about William Shakespeare sister. Woolf questioned if Shakespeare had a sister Judith with the same talent as him, would she be able to show her work like he did? Clearly, she would not be given the same opportunity. She stated, “This may be true or it may be false—who can say?—but what is true in it, so it seemed to me, reviewing the story of Shakespeare’s sister as I had made it, is that any woman born with a great gift in the sixteenth century would certainly have gone crazed, shot herself, or ended her days in some lonely cottage outside the village…” (woolf 366). meaning that if women at the time has that kind of talent like hers they would be silenced because to want that kind of work would be impossible and would end in catastrophic for a female. Therefore, Woof argues that society suffered an immeasurable loss, because society did not allow women to create their own expressions. Judith’s voice would have been lost because society wouldn’t allow her to use it. Consequently, no one

In todays world it is not hard to find a woman in any role in society, however this was not always the case. In time periods previous to this, the role of women was quite different than it is in today’s world. What is now equality and power was once seclusion and degradation towards women of society. Over the course of time the role of women has changed dramatically, and the plays Antigone by Sophocles, Trifles by Susan Glaspell and The Doll House by Henrik Ibsen are great works that show how women can challenge the boundaries that were put on them by a society that was not very accepting of feminism.

With so much history of the feminist equality, believe it or not, women have been told that they don’t have the knowledge or skill to become women artists. It started with the time period when art was

Throughout history, women have been seen as incompetent compared to men, whether it is in the aspect of running a family, maintaining a job, or, simply put, completing any task of importance. It is no surprise that works of art depict the same misogynistic attitude. Such works include, but are not limited to, stories, comics, and television shows. Not only does this discrimination hinder on gender, but also race, socio-economic class, ethnicity, religion, and any other factors that deem one different from the “norm”. Most works state men as the competent being, but what they really mean is white men and, even more specifically, white men with money, so discrimination has been brought upon white females and both black males and females.

Throughout history many artistic works have been deemed "great" and many individuals have been labeled "masters" of the discipline. The question of who creates art and how is it to be classified as great or greater than another has commonly been addressed by scholars and historians. The last quarter of the 20th century has reexamined these questions based on the assertions that no women artists have ever created or been appreciated to the level of "greatness" that perpetually befalls their male counterparts. The position that society has institutionalized on women as unable to be anything but subordinate and unexpressive is a major contributor to this claim. Giving a brief history of gender discrimination in the art

Presently some aspiring artists are denied the training and platform necessary to develop their talent while other artists are forced to not only be artists but also activists and public figures. In her article Why Are There No Great Woman Artists, Linda Nocklin poses an eye opening question. She say, “Would Senor Ruiz have paid as much attention or stimulated as much ambition for achievement if Picasso had been a girl?” In the history of art talent has been stunted because the talented artist was either a woman or a racial minority. To move forward as a society artists must be accepted with open arms regardless of their race or gender.

The Renaissance was a time of enlightenment and discovery around the world. There were many advancements in culture, art, and science. An interesting area to look at for this period would be the advancements made based on gender. Historically, women do not always have a significant impact on their culture, and they do not always have the same standing as their male counterparts. Margaret L. King and Joan Kelly-Gadol delve deeper into the issue of gender advancements during the Renaissance when they analyze the issue of whether women and men benefitted equally during this period.

By examining Shakespeare’s treatment of familial ties in his plays The Life and Death of King John and The Winter’s Tale, we can see how his attitudes and opinions towards family relationships evolved. In King John (written between 1594 and 1596), Shakespeare adopts what was then a fairly conventional attitude towards family relationships: his characters never question the highly patriarchal family hierarchy. They also assume that the majority of wives will be unfaithful, simply because they are female—however, they take the charge of adultery rather lightly. By contrast, in The Winter’s Tale (written between 1610 and 1611), he adopts a much more progressive, feminist view of family