Inequation Of Women In The Elizabethan Society By William Shakespeare

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.

Shakespeare proves that honor is imperative multiple times throughout the play with symbolism. For example, clothing alludes to social status; however, clothing also relates to the characters’ love lives and connections to one another. Such as at the end, after everything had fallen apart, Beatrice had stuck by her cousin, and her loyalty shows through their identical gowns and veils. The reader is yet more entirely in love with this complete adornment with Hero (Jameson). When Beatrice claims that Benedick “wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block” to reason her belief that he has a new best friend

Throughout Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” women are used as method for men to get what they want. The men in Hamlet, either directly or indirectly continuously use women to acquire something from other men. The only two women in the entire play are Gertrude and Ophelia, who are consistently used by the current king, Claudius, Polonius, and Hamlet. Ophelia is exploited by Polonius and the King (mainly together), and is also used by Hamlet. Gertrude is used by the King, as well as Polonius. In “Hamlet,” the women throughout the play are used as pawns for men to get what they want, mainly from the other men.

Claudio and Hero are the idealised Elizabethan couple in the book because of the patriarchal society that the story is based on. This is because Hero is shown as a weak and powerless young woman while Claudio is described as a powerful and honourable man. In the wedding Claudio decides to shame her and says ‘There, Leonato, take her back again Give not this rotten orange to your friend’. Even when Hero is being insulted and accused of being a prostitute she does not defend herself and says ‘Is my lord well, that he doth speak so wide?’ Instead of defending herself she asks if Claudio is alright which displays a sign of weakness in her.

Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in the 16th century, at a time when the role of the woman was to be subservient to men and act as a wife to their husband and a mother to their children. Women were expected to conform to the expectations of society, and were seen as possessions by their fathers and husbands. Fathers arranged their daughters’ marriages, usually for financial or social gain for the family. In Romeo and Juliet, the unfair treatment of women is conveyed through characters such as Juliet, a young girl who is growing up within the expectations of society, and Lady Capulet, who represents a traditional side of love, and values social position rather than men themselves.

Hero is quite, kind, respectful and modest while Beatrice is witty, independent and fierce. Beatrice is a powerful woman and is not afraid to question the validity of a man’s honour. Beatrice has strong beliefs about what a real man is and should be. Beatrice: What should I do with him—dress him in my apparel and make him my waiting gentlewoman? He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man; and he that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him. (2.1.128–132). In these lines Beatrice explains why she must remain unmarried, according to her there is no man who would be the perfect match for her. According to Beatrice a man who has no facial hair is not manly enough and a man who has facial hair is not young enough. Beatrice is untraditional and has her own opinions. Beatrice is not an accepting character like

Beatrice and Benedick, however, in much contrast to Hero and Claudio are the ideal couple who are both equal in the relationship. Beatrice is an opinionated and stubborn woman who will have no one if she doesn't have the one she wants, which she makes clear throughout the play by refusing to marry lightly and by the conversation in Act One between her and Pedro. She chooses

The Taming Of The Shrew by William Shakespeare is an introduction in the everpresent battle of women to be loving and caring wives, while at the same time holding on to our independence. Its plot is derived from the popular 'war of the sexes' theme in which males and females are pitted against one another for dominance in marriage. The play begins with an induction in which a drunkard, Christopher Sly, is fooled into believing he is a king and has a play performed for him. The play he watches is what constitutes the main body of The Taming OfThe Shrew.

From the very first scene in the play, Beatrice is shown as a character who is very prideful, and very protective of it. Benedick's line "What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?"(1.1.114) gives a clue to how much pride Beatrice has. Benedick's reference to Beatrice as "Lady Disdain" shows how Beatrice thinks she is

Through rich imagery and a comic context Shakespeare uses characters to explore his ideas about love and marriage, using relationships to show the trials of love. In his play Shakespeare makes Beatrice and Benedick the critics of love and through them the modern audience is shown how Elizabethan society maltreats the female role and how the male code of honour and pride can lead to devastation.

Throughout Much Ado About Nothing, the audience's presumptions of the men are frequently compromised by their effeminate guise. Whilst it would be correct for the reader to assume that the women are portrayed as the weaker sex, they would be mistaken to believe that the men are as superior as one might expect in a play written in the late Sixteenth Century. Much Ado About Nothing is considered by some as a highly controversial play in relation to the representation of male-dominance; but does the comedy really mock men's hierarchy in society or does Shakespeare merely convey a true depiction of male authority? In the late Sixteenth Century, society was very much male-dominated; women were expected to be passive and compliant to their gender

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

In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare tethers many boundaries, especially those of the female parts of his plays. The truth about the matter is the boy apprentices, whom have yet to hit puberty and whom Shakespeare considered talented, performed female roles. Which was common during the time because it wasn't until later when women actors came to light. Therefore, in many of his plays, Shakespeare “emphasized the homoerotic implication of these conventions” (McDonald 113). Particularly, in this play, by the conventions portrayed by Beatrice and her muted counterpart, Hero. Ergo, in act 2, Scene 1 become a critical observation between the two women.

In the Shakespearean era the emancipation of women was not yet granted, this included both genders not being equal. A man was believed to deserve more respect and authority above women, showing why they were the only ones who were provided with an education and given certain job roles. Along with the idea of an equality imbalance, status was a very important thing in the era, showing why some men were given important jobs such as a lawyer and others not so great jobs such as a cleaner. Wealth and status were two major factors which contributed to the idea of honour. For example, here the lawyer would receive more honour than the cleaner since he was deemed more important. In this case however the idea of honour is to be scarred from the betrayal of a woman.

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