A Very Human Heroine
Arguably the most interesting protagonist in William Shakespeare’s dramas, Rosalind - along with her alter ego Ganymede - dominate the scenes of As You Like It, a 1599 comedy full of many distinct and likeable characters. The depth of the play’s character list, however, is overshone by this young girl along with her desire to overcome her hardships in her own bold ways. Although she is a prominent character, her status as a heroine cannot completely mask her flaws. Rosalind, the daughter of the former, banished Duke, shows both virtues and faults throughout the play; Shakespeare gave his protagonist attributes that reflect a real, imperfect human. The writer portrays Rosalind as very loving and compassionate, but does not
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Her delicate tone is inviting to all those around her, but one character receives an exceptional amount of attention from her. Rosalind and her dear cousin Celia stay loyal to one another even though they are both the daughters of feuding brothers. Although Rosalind’s father has been exiled, her love for Celia allows her to stay in the kingdom, even sleeping in the home of the man that showed so much hostility to her family. Early in the story, she says “I will forget the condition of my estate to rejoice in yours.” (17) Her oppressive situation does not break her, as she is able to show joy in Celia’s prosperity. She proposes that she “devise sports” (19) to forget about her buried sadness and is able to deal with her circumstances by distracting herself. Her relationship with Celia aids in her masking of sorrow, allowing her to show off a more kind and friendly side to the audience. This is similar to the human race as it is widely known that friends and companions can help people forget about tough times. Pleasant experiences with those one care about helps build up good morale. Indeed, Rosalind has extremely loving attributes, hence she is a fitting representative for the compassion of
In William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare presents characters in difficult situations in Romeo and Juliet through various language techniques and structure. Romeo and Juliet were star-crossed lovers. Both Romeo and Juliet were from feuding families that would not approve of their marriage. In the play they are presented with many difficult circumstances. The play was set in the Elizabethan era; there was a significant change in religion, family and politics. Attitudes and key scenes highlight the theme of love in difficult circumstances and prepare the audience for Romeo and Juliet’s suicides at the end of the play. In this essay I will be exploring the ways Shakespeare presents characters in difficult situations.
In the short story The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick, we are introduced to three characters who are facing death surrounding them in a concentration camp. We are introduced to Rosa, Stella and Magda. Rosa is the mother in the story of Magda, Magda is a young baby whose odds of survival is not very good. We are also introduced to Stella, who is a demon in the mind of Rosa. Stella represents the life that Rosa once had, one where she did not have a child and did not have to put someone’s life before them self. Stella appears to have all the human features, have emotions and has human flaws, but she taunts Rosa while she is in the concentration camp. Stella also brings Rosa something that she could not do herself, the feeling of relief of a horrible
“The course of true love never did run smooth,” comments Lysander of love’s complications in an exchange with Hermia (Shakespeare I.i.136). Although the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream certainly deals with the difficulty of romance, it is not considered a true love story like Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare, as he unfolds the story, intentionally distances the audience from the emotions of the characters so he can caricature the anguish and burdens endured by the lovers. Through his masterful use of figurative language, Shakespeare examines the theme of the capricious and irrational nature of love.
In Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, there are the usual characters that show up in most of Shakespeare’s pieces. For instance the characters Hero and Claudio could easily be compared to Romeo and Juliet. Both Hero and Juliet are innocent, quite, and beautiful young women who fall in love instantly without conversing with the other person. Likewise, Claudio and Romeo decide to marry these women within twenty-four hours. Because of these characters’ lack of unique and interesting qualities, I
Rosa Hubermann was not shy when she was first introduced and you hardly saw a glimpse of her quiet side. When Liesel, was dropped off at Rosa’s house, her first words were harsh towards the girl. She always used the word, Saumensch, which means bastard in english. Besides using harsh words, Rosa had a loving side
The relationship between Mariam and Laila grows overtime into an unbreakable love. Mariam is a vulnerable character that experienced hardships and negativity throughout her life. Her reliance on faith and religion gave her hope. Laila however, has had a positive upbringing from modern parents. Her education is what made her a strong and intelligent girl. Their personalities contrast to bring the best out of each other. However at first, in fear of being overshadowed by Laila, Mariam says “If [Laila] thinks [she] can use [her] looks to get rid of me, [she is] wrong. [Mariam] was here first. [She] won't be thrown out” (225). As Mariam has never been a priority to anyone in her life she was very defensive over her role in the house. As jealousy embarked upon Mariam,
To what extent do the female protagonists in As You Like It and Much Ado About Nothing fit the archetypal structure of literature? … Rosalind and Beatrice, Celia and Hero
Associating each color witht the Natzi Flag, Death refers to them as each time the book thief came into visibility. Liesel, her mother, and her brother were traveling to Munich, when suddenly her brother Werner died. Left with no choice, Liesel was forced to be raised by her foster parents; Rosa and Hans. At first, she wasn't too fond of either of them, but as timed passed she adopted a closer relationship to her Papa Hans. Throughout the story, Liesel faces many life altering events, but her and Rosa share one in common-- Hans was drafted into the war.
In Act 3, in the absence of men, Shakespeare develops Hero’s character. She is decisive in Scene One and commanding, “Good Margaret, run thee to the parlour” she orders. We witness a development in Hero’s character; she is dominant and authoritative; she initiates and organises the plot to gull Beatrice, the second benevolent plot in the play. For the
A young girl of 14, Stella barely holds on to her own life in the concentration camp, she desperately seeks comfort and protection. Like many others, Stella’s deplorable shape reverts her to an infantile state of mind, she constantly wants to be comforted, soothed and cared for. Stella is “jealous of Magda” (paragraph 1) and wants the shawl to herself. Like Magda, she wants “to be wrapped in a shawl” like “a round infant in arms” (paragraph 1). Although she is forbidden to touch the shawl, Stella endlessly longs for it because she is always cold. Rosa believes that the cold has gotten to Stella’s heart. Not caring about the consequences, famished and callous Stella steals Magda’s shawl for warmth. Although she only benefits briefly from the shawl, Stella’s desperate need for comfort results in the death of Magda.
Beatrice is very different than the common expectation of women by people looking back on Shakespeare’s period and of the public of Shakespeare’s time in many ways. As
Shakespeare’s characters have universal appeal because they are extremely relatable, the character flaws can be related to real flaws people have in real life, the love and romance are inspiring and captivating by anyone who is searching for or is in a relationship, the story lines accentuate the characters themselves, resulting in deeper characterizations, the character’s motives are direct and logical, and all of the characters are believable; all of these reasons build up the relatability of Shakespeare’s characters. This relatability is exactly why they are so universal and why they represent “common humanity”.
Hero, the unfortunate damsel in distress, sacrificing her own marriage and pretending to perish in order to ameliorate the reputation of her family, compelled to work upon the words of other’, Hero is actually a hero according to the denotation of the word “hero” in “Much Ado About Nothing.” Born into royalty, Hero endures a traumatic incident, but eventually achieves her destiny. One of Shakespeare’s major themes is deception regarding gender roles. With his use of characteristic archetypes, he evokes that deception is what lies between perception and reality, which in this case drives Claudio to misconstrue the reality. A man’s superiority towards a woman is prominent throughout the play and Shakespeare recognizes that a woman’s place in society is much more than standing inferior to men. By portraying Hero’s death, he shows the immense guilt Claudio suffers form and merely suggests that Hero is more than just an object. She is a hero, who, with her sacrificial death, cleanses her family’s reputation and marries the man of her drema. Overcoming the abominable deception imprinted upon Hero, she proclaims herself a hero by fulfilling her goals and through her role, Shakespeare portrays the role of women via society’s views on gender roles.
This essay is an exploration of the play Much Ado About Nothing, and the gender roles involved in the deceit and trickery that transpire and develop throughout the story. As gender is one of the main themes in the plot, identifying the expected gender roles of the characters, and how the contrast between characters highlights these expected roles. In Shakespeare 's time, known as the Elizabethan Era, men and women’s roles and expectations were starkly different. Elizabethan women, no matter what social class, were inferior to men. A female’s role in the family was to get married so they could increase their family 's wealth and power and to produce heirs. Men, on the other hand, had all of the power within a household. Males were expected
Everyone in the world of literature knows about the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Men in the story find power in sexual domination and violence. Women are treated as a belonging, and such as a property. Any person who was a female was expected to do as the men wished, and had no power over it at all. The women of this play are hampered by conventions, but many of the women still show great strength. The poor treatment acts upon major characters in the play such as, the nurse, Lady Capulet, and Juliet. In the play Lady Capulet shows strength by her tremendous personality of demand. The nurse, also shows an immense amount of strength by her ability to stay seriously involved with her work. Finally, Juliet shows her monumental strength by staying independent to herself.The women of this play are hampered by conventions, but many of the women still show great strength.