Cross-Dressing in Merchant of Venice Essay

In the book “Gender Trouble” (1990), feminist theorist Judith Butler explains “gender is not only a social construct, but also a kind of performance such as a show we put on, a costume or disguise we wear” (Butler). In other words, gender is a performance, an act, and costumes, not the main aspect of essential identity. By understanding this theory of gender as an act, performance, we can see how gender has greatly impacted the outcome of the play in William Shakespeare’s Othello. From a careful analysis of the story, tragedy in Othello is result of violating expected gender roles, gender performance by Desdemona and Othello, and the result of Iago’s inability to tolerate these violations.

Even though women of the Elizabethan era enjoyed no social, economic or political parity with the men, Shakespeare portrays the women of that time in a completely different light. The female characters of some of William Shakespeare’s plays execute a great deal of subtle forms of influence and authority, they do

The theme for honour and fidelity apply for both men and women in Shakespeare’s play ‘much ado about nothing’. Honour and fidelity is represented very differently for men and women as it would have been for the people in Elizabethan times. In this first section of the essay, I will be exploring double standards and Shakespeare’s awareness of the double standards between sexes and his feminist approach, the differences of honour and fidelity for men and women and upper class and lower class comparisons.

Depicting one of the first independent and courageous female character, Shakespeare was able to elevate a deeper respect for women, and the pivotal roles they played in English society. Opposed to eliciting a sense of scorn and hatred Shakespeare uses Shylock to confront a new meaning of Jewish lifestyle, forming a new sense of pity and compassion from the viewers. Shakespeare’s employs his character Bassanio to judge and question the values and respectability of the English nobility, exemplifying the importance of character over material resources. In his play, The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare’s commentary of society, forces new development and ways of thought from the general

   Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello features sexism as regular fare – initially from Brabantio and Iago, and finally from Othello. Let us in this essay explore the occurrences and severity of sexism in the drama.

The characterisation of Jessica further challenges the role and expectations for women in the 16th century. Jessica is initially bound to her Jewish father, but later elopes with her lover, Lorenzo, defying the most prominent male in her life to live by her own free will; definitely not a common practice of her time. Jessica’s courage and strength which are exemplified through her actions and are also expressed in the quote; ‘I am a daughter to his blood; I am not to his manners’ (Act 2, Scene3, 18-19). When Jessica says this as she betrays her father to secretly marry Lorenzo, it is clear that she possesses a strong sense of defiance and strength against this dominant male, showing that she is free to be her own person and is not going to let her life be run by her father. This brave and controversial act by a young girl is in stark contrast to the expectations of 16th century society, revealing a hint of disrespect in the character of Jessica that is admired as a sign of her power. Overall, the actions of Jessica exemplify Shakespeare’s construction of women as powerful characters who

Shakespeare 's complex play Othello holds numerous pressing issues within its intricate layers that seem to leap out to modern society. One such issue seen by many is the representation of women. Women within the play can be characterized as submissive possessions and temptresses. This ideology, though commonplace in this time period, appears controversial to the modern eye as we deconstruct the characters of this play. This dominate patriarchal society present within the setting merely conditions this belief further as it is prevalent within the characters dialogue.

Second, the transvestism of the English renaissance theatre creates a "space of possibility" for "structuring and confounding culture" as well as enacting a "category crisis" which reflects a potential destabilization of the dominant hierarchy (Garber 16, 17). Greenblatt points out that the enactment of such difference is an instrument to increase audience anxiety before reifying the normative and conventional in the play's res-olution, a pattern played out in The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night; yet this cannot account for the defiant and yet compassionate resolution of Dek-ker's The Roaring Girl, where the mannishly clad Moll blesses the marriage of Sebastian and Mary Fitz-Allard and their reconciliation with their fathers, at the same time refusing the conventional solution for herself.

While many will agree that Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is critically acclaimed to be one of the most entertaining and well-liked pieces that he has written, there tends to be a discrepancy over how the characters in the play are portrayed when it comes to the importance of gender roles. After reading James C Bulman’s article over the Globe’s more recent performance of Twelfth Night and Shakespeare’s original written version, I realized that there are many ways that this famous piece has been portrayed and each has its own pros and cons.

   Throughout the length of Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello there is a steady undercurrent of sexism. It is originating from not one, but rather various male characters in the play, who manifest prejudicial, discriminatory attitudes toward women.

Shakespeare and the members of the Elizabethan era would be appalled at the freedoms women experience today.  The docility of Elizabethan women is almost a forgotten way of life. What we see throughout Shakespeare’s plays is an insight into the female character as perceived by Elizabethan culture.  Shakespeare’s female characters reflect the Elizabethan era’s image of women; they were to be virtuous and obedient and those that were not were portrayed as undesirable and even evil.

Shakespeare challenges the assumption that men hold more power than women do. He subtly hints that the power men posses is superficial when Jessica dresses like a boy, and later when Nerissa and Portia disguise themselves as men in The Merchant of Venice. Masculinity is merely a costume that can be donned or doffed at will; therefore its associated power can be removed and redistributed as well.

In Twelfth Night Shakespeare uses gender roles and cross dressing to create disguise. This creates a sense of gender ambiguity and this is what makes the audience laugh - but although it creates a sense of fun and liveliness it also examines

The feminist critical perspective examines the roles that women play in literary works and their true significance to the text. Their roles are usually decided on by the society or time period in which the story is set. In "The Merchant of Venice," females were suppressed by the societal ideals of Shakespeare's Elizabethan era, which is portrayed through the characters of Portia and Jessica, who could not establish their own powerful identities because they were women. Portia and Jessica are the main female characters in the play. If they had been given a chance to show their skills, they undoubtedly would've been extremely strong women. However, they had to mask their abilities in order to appeal to their male counterparts. Their

With Shakespeare being born in the sixteenth century, there were still three centuries to go before women started the feminist’s movement. However, with his storyline in both The Merchant of the Venice and Twelfth night, the females leads disguised themselves as males to accomplish what needs to be done. Both plays, shows the heroine choices which challenges the characters they interact with. These endearing characters shows similar and different traits. The focus of these plays was based on Portia’s and Viola’s ambition which showed Shakespeare’s respect for women.