How Does Shakespeare portray Women in Much Ado About Nothing?

In Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare examines the fragility of the male ego and its domination over women in an effort to critique the patriarchy during the Elizabethan Era. In the play, chaos is created and authority in exercised by the male characters with no regard for reason or evidence. This highlights their baseless need to protect themselves at all costs, no matter the effect it may have on the opposite sex.

The female role during Shakespeare’s era is that of daughter, wife, or mother. There was no greater ambition to which women could aspire, especially for the women of the upper class. The only gain a woman could make was to find a good match for a husband. In Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare portrays the perceived faults, flaws, and fidelity the women of his time faced through the characters Hero and Beatrice. In Much Ado About Nothing, Hero and Beatrice, while cousins, are opposite sides of the same coin; and are as different as day and night. Hero is the height of respectable femininity as a quiet and dutiful daughter. While Beatrice’s witty, outspoken and opinionated personality is a mark against her beauty. Both of the women represent two very different versions of a female, yet, in the end, both of them are defined by the act of marriage. Stressing that the highest that these women could reach was for a husband.

Deceit is the act of concealing or misrepresenting the truth. Deceit plays an important role in the plot of Shakespeare’s play Much Ado about Nothing. It also has a large influence on the relationships of the play. Much Ado about Nothing is a play written by William Shakespeare who is widely considered the greatest dramatist of all time. William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. From roughly 1594 onward he was an important member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men Company of theatrical players. Over the course of 20 years, Shakespeare wrote plays that capture the complete range of human emotion and conflict. Like his play Shakespeare’s marriage to his wife was thought to be brought on by a deceit. A lot of mystery surrounds the marriage in 1582 of England’s greatest writer and Miss Hathaway, but scholars are sure on a few of the facts. Firstly, William was 18 years old and Anne was 26. At the time, an age difference of this type was very unusual. It is seeming that Anne Hathaway became pregnant prior to marriage which would have no doubt caused a scandal for both of the families. William Shakespeare 's father John would not have been pleased at the damaging effect that the gossip would have had on his own social standing in Stratford. A hasty marriage would have been arranged in an attempt to deceive the public that they had waited till after marriage to consummate their relationship. Another mystery is

“my cousin is a fool, and so are you”. Indeed, both men and women have

central to the play. I am going to look at only the first act of the

Shakespeare pushes the gender boundaries in Much Ado About Nothing as men were considered very much superior to women. Expectations of how they should behave was based on gender and class in society. Women were seen and not heard and were referred to constantly throughout the play as objects, untrustworthy,submissive and unfaithful.

William Shakespeare’s play Much Ado about Nothing traverses the complex social, and emotional trials and triumphs of romantic relationships; Shakespeare’s perspective on the subject is both very similar to ours today, and different. Although filled with sexual innuendos, and humorous trickery and shenanigans, Much Ado about Nothing also dives into the complexities of social anxieties, defense mechanisms to cope with the social pressures, and the emotions involved.

Some critics and other readers of Shakespeare's plays argue that he treats women with disrespect. However, he actually treats them with a great amount of respect. Shakespeare has been criticized by many modern writers for his portrayal of women.

In Shakespeare’s Othello, the role of women is greatly emphasized. The important characters of the play, Othello, Iago, and Cassio, each have a women that stands behind him. These women each have an obligation to remain loyal and respect their husband's wishes, especially Desdemona and Emilia.

Synchronously the story of Beatrice and Benedick unravels. Stuck in a merry war with each other, Beatrice and Benedick seem like an implausible couple. They insult each other at every turn. The focus of the play is on the young love, which might have been what the Elizabethan audience was fixated on, but now in the 21st century with our modified views on women, the romance of the play is in the love shared between Beatrice and Benedick.

There's several events that take place in act one , I had to pay close attention to what each character

major conflict of this play that ends in tragedy. During Act I, the play progresses more in

Female gender roles have greatly changed from now and the sixteen hundreds when Shakespeare wrote the popular play Much Ado About Nothing. Women were raised to believe they were inferior to men. Women were taught that men should be the one who brings in money and women should stay home to clean and bare children. Also women were given no choice in who they were to marry or when. Over hundreds of years women realized that they were just as good as men and that they should be treated equally. This essay will cover the analysis of the women’s gender roles in the play Much Ado About Nothing, showing the analysis of Beatrice not following any stereotypes, Hero following all of the stereotypes, and Margaret not getting the same stereotypes as other women because she is a servant.

Midterm: Much Ado About Nothing Classic, best-beloved, most popular, most entertaining, frequently preformed, funny- those are the descriptions used when recounting Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing. Written between 1598 and 1599, on the surface Much Ado About Nothing is simply a comedy that portrays various instances of love. However, it is much more than that; Much Ado brings to light the harsh cultural morals of the era in which it was written. Underneath the comedic nature of the play, Shakespeare examines the sociality gendered double standards, and how they affected his female characters. I plan to explore how others view the comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, specifically in relation to how they perceived the female characters,

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.