Female Roles : Titus Andronicus Vs. Julius Caesar

The basis of Shakespeare’s plays appears to focus mainly around the dominant male character and his conflicts, which tend to deal with a woman. There are only three women in the play Othello; Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca. The way in which these women behave and present themselves strongly reflects the ideological expectations of women within Shakespeare’s imagined Venetian society as well as the Elizabethan society in which he lived. This patriarchal Venetian society presented in the play depicts women as possessions of men who should remain submissive and meek at all times. The women are expected to unselfishly and unreservedly devote their lives to serve their fathers until they are of age to do so, their husbands. All three women love

Shakespeare uses female characters in his plays to illustrate a point or affect the plot, just like in Richard III. The world that Shakespeare shows us in Richard III is a man's world. Women are presented as being on the sidelines to grieve, complain, or bury the dead. Richard views women as instruments, as shown when he announces his plots to the audience. For example, the marriage with Anne and Elizabeth are only moves in his quest of intrigue and power. There are three main females characters that affect the plot with their interactions with the main character. They are Anne, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Margaret.

Titus Andronicus is a play renowned for its bloodshed and human suffering. Shakespeare’s strategic use of diction, literary devices such as alliteration and rhyme heightens the dark ambiance. The dark and lifeless images which pervade Tamora’s monologue explores the breakdown of human goodness and familial relations and loyalty. Titus Andronicus demonstrates the dangerous force of vengeance. Furthermore, Shakespeare’s underscores the complexity of gender roles that can impede female liberties through enduring patriarchal societal values who elevates a prudent woman over the ‘wildly’ lustful woman susceptible to her sexual appetite.

In the play “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare, women play an important role. The women are important factors in foreshadowing and in the development of many of the characters. To look at the role of women in the play we must look deeper in to the roles of the only two women in the play; Calpurnia, wife of Caesar, and Portia, wife of Brutus. Both of these women are key in foreshadowing the murder of Caesar. After Caesar’s murder we do not hear much of either of them.

Firstly, throughout ‘Othello’ Shakespeare presents men as the dominant characters of the play, whereas the women are portrayed as characters to always

Others have asserted that the roles of women in his plays were prominent for the time and culture that he lived in,his intent in creating characters to inspire much controversy. Two works, Taming of the Shrew, and Twelfth Night, stand out particularly well in regards to Shakespeare's use of female characters. If you could examine these two plays, you would see that Shakespeare, though conforming to contemporary attitudes of women, circumvented them by creating resolute female characters with a strong sense of self.

The movie, "Titus" based on the first and most brutal play written by Shakespeare used a well amount of text to world and text to text connections that gave me a better understanding of the characters and how they are portrayed. For example, the power of women. Centuries ago, during the time of Alexander the Great, the man known for his mesmerizing ability to conquer the world and spread his influences which one of it was the power of women-nothing. From that period on, the power of women had became very minimal and even down to nothing. During the Greek period, women were practically a tool, possessions of their husband or their father.

Tamora was begging Titus to not kill her son Alarbus, “ Stay Roman brethren, gracious conqueror, victorious Titus, rue tears I shed, a mother's tears in passion for her son (1.1 104-105). Titus kills Alarbus to hurt Tamora only because she and her sons were Goths and he thought this was some kind of revenge on the Goths after her son was killed Tamora is ready to get revenge on Titus and the Romans. After Saturninus becomes emperor, he tries to force Lavina to be his wife even though she is with Bassianus, “Lavinia will I make my empress”(1.1 242). Lavina is being forced to be his wife even Titus doesn't try to stop it, Lavinia shows him that he doesn't want to be with him so he moves on to the only other woman in the play Tamora.”Behold I choose thee Tamora for my bride”(1.1 325), Tamora agrees to be his wife only because she wants power and she can have if she is the Empress. The men have power over the woman they can not fight back or refuse to do anything, they are taken advantage of, they are hurt and have things taken from them like their own children or like Lavina her husband Bassianus.

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

In the play, Othello, there are many different representations of characters and archetypes. The women of the play are seen as symbolic representations of how the men in Shakespeare’s generation saw women. The women of the play are all individual characters with different personalities. They are seen as objects but stray from the average mold. Shakespeare converts these women into the play with roles that represent the strong stereotypes of women and how they are not what the rumors portray them as.

In a cast of over 30 characters, there are only two women. This is a statement describing the world renown play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. These two female characters are Calpurnia, the wife of Julius Ceasar, and Portia, the wife of Marcus Brutus. Other than these two women, the cast is composed entirely of male characters. In a work of literature so populated by men, one may ask why Shakespeare takes the time to include any women at all. However, after further reflection, it is clear to see the reason as to why they are included. Upon including Calpurnia and Portia in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare deepens our understanding of their husbands, highlights the social values of the time, and

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

     For thousands of years, humanity has been ruled mainly by a Patriarchal society. In this society women have often been seen as objects or inferior humans through the eyes of their male counterparts. The Elizabethan era was no exception to these beliefs, and works of literature often supported these misogynistic views. In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, however, the author appears to portray the characters of Portia and Calphurnia in a positive light, ignoring the common stereotypes often associated with female characters. Although Portia and Calphurnia have minor parts in the play, their strength is discernible. Both female characters are portrayed as

Feminism is and has always been a prominent focus in society. Specifically during the Renaissance, when Shakespeare’s Othello was written, were women thought of as subordinate to men. Shakespeare portrays women as merely FOIL characters to their male counterparts throughout the play. They help shed light on the men’s dark sides as well as their true faults. Their roles include wives, prostitutes, and even messengers. The women in the play are disrespected and treated as lesser beings. Although there are imperative female characters in Shakespeare’s Othello, many of them are treated as tools or objects and are disrespected by the men, specifically Iago, Othello and Cassio.

Titus Andronicus is renowned for its bloodshed, the references to “dead time” and the “night,” foreshadow the great loss which saturates this play (2.3. 99). Shakespeare’s use of diction, alliteration, and rhyme expose Tamora’s tragic flaw which is venegeance, a catalyst that threatens her morality. Shakespeare examines the complexity of gender roles that obstruct female liberty. The endurance of a patriarchal society that promotes prudence over sexual expression. Thus, the metaphor of the ‘wild’ woman demonstrates how this society can oppress one’s sexuality and how human nature breaks down when vengeance is rampant.