Defining/Confining The Duchess

Both ‘London’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ explore the ideas of power through social structures, hierarchy and synecdoche.

The Shakespearean play, Much Ado About Nothing, has a unique and an interesting way of presenting the idea of gender, especially for female characters. The play demonstrates two contradictory characters, Hero and Beatrice; one being the “ideal” women during this era and the other being the complete opposite from the “ideal” women. The play challenges as well as reinforces the gender roles during this era with the comparison between the two female characters as well as the attitude of men towards women.

 In the plays female sexuality is not expressed variously through courtship, pregnancy, childbearing, and remarriage, as it is in the period.  Instead it is narrowly defined and contained by the conventions of Petrarchan love and cuckoldry.  The first idealizes women as a catalyst to male virtue, insisting on their absolute purity.  The second fears and mistrusts them for their

Elizabeth’s strength, independence, and her intense willpower to assure that her marriage is coordinated only by love demonstrate the feminist portrayal of Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s desire for

the personality of his duchess, he is shown to be a heartless, arrogant man. His complete

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

Throughout the years, different forms of literature  have generally shown women as weaker than men. They have played archetypes such as the mother archetype or the lover which have traits less desirable than the roles that men would take. These archetypes tend to limit their personalities and they become characters that are solely there for inconveniencing the hero. Stereotypes for women have affected these archetypes, but throughout history many people have made efforts to change these archetypes and make them more desirable. Even though archetypes for women have been shown as weak, it has changed throughout the years.

According to Oxford English Dictionary, patriarchy is defined as the “predominance of men in positions of power and influence in society, with cultural values and norms favoring men.” This social structure in particular was prevalent during Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s time and played a large role in her involvement with feminism and women’s rights. Along with the patriarchal influences, Gilman provides an autobiographical basis upon which she built the framework for “The Yellow Wallpaper” as she was forced to undergo the dreaded “Rest Cure” depicted in the short story. Through the eyes of the narrator, Gilman provides illumination regarding the role of women imposed by the patriarchal society of the 19th Century and the implications of such

The marriage was good but only 15 years later she became a widow. Given that the society was a male dominated one, getting a job as a woman was almost out of the question which means you pretty much needed a man in order to survive. The message that gets me the most with this essay is when Milan says that Women need to stop blaming men for everything because it is up to them to make their voices hear and to make the change they want. “The fact is there is always going to be a dominant story. The question is whose should it be?” Milan is stating that no matter hat time period it s or what culture you explore, there will always be either a male or female side that is dominant. That is why this essay will be read throughout time. In those two lines Milan made this essay universal. Anyone will be able to read it and say “This is true. Even though it was so long ago this can be applied to today’s world.” No matter where or when gender roles will dictate, but it is up to the people to decide whether or not they do or don’t matter, and if they do matter then it is up to those people to do what they need to do for

The text clearly focuses on the physical attributes of the girl and ignores discussing her inner and personal self. It shows how women are only valued for their appearance, youth and innocence, which is why when the Marquis asks her to marry him, he does not do it out of love, but the need for ownership over another wife. This is evident when she says, “I said that I would marry him, [but] not one muscle in his face stirred” (Carter 9). Though the text does not state the reason for why he does not react to her answer in marriage, his behaviour suggests that he had no doubt about her accepting his offer in marriage. He takes on the beliefs of a stereotypical male figure believing that they are the dominant figures in society and have the power to take what they want. In this case, he wants the heroine. This is further looked at when the heroine takes into consideration how the “Marquis had been married before, more than once “ and wonders if “he [is] not still mourning for his last wife?” (Carter 9). Her questions and curiosity provide insight into the Marquis’ character as being someone who does not view marriage in terms of love for the other person, but rather as a process that legally unites him to a woman, promoting patriarchy and gender norms. Nowhere in the story does it ever mention why the Marquis decides to marry the heroine. Through their age difference, him being much older than she and his sexual acts towards her, it is obvious that he does

By ‘othering’ the male species and making them sub-human, Margaret can successfully exercise control in her realm. She also employs this tactic in The Hunting of the Hare in which Wat, a male, is a hare being hunted and assuming a secondary and fragile position. However her anxiety of authorship recurs. After assigning animal counterparts for the male species in The Blazing World, she quickly reiterates that she indeed receives power from the emperor. The empress and the Duchess, both as Margaret in a fragmented state, are informed and educated by priests and statesmen, both male, of the affairs of the government and the church. These figures, which could arguably also represent elements of Margaret’s own psyche particularly the internalized male gaze, attempt to justify their exclusion of women from places of worship and matters of the state as they are “importunate persuasions” or threatening figures of change (1782). Furthermore, when she herself describes the power one could exercise in their own world, she does so by using masculine pronouns; “he may create a world of what fashion and government he will…as he pleases…as he thinks best…also he may alter that world…” (1784). Thus, Margaret once again crumbles under the pressure of anxiety of authorship due to fear of social backlash.

The very fact that Jessica is forced to pose as a male in order to gain freedom –thus shirking the cultural norm –highlights the subjugation of women in Shakespeare’s time. Further enforcing Jessica’s lower social standing is her acceptance to be Lorenzo’s torch-bearer. Shakespeare provides a negative connotation because “torch-bearer” insinuates the image of a servant or otherwise owned individual, which the audience equates with what Jessica will become after her marriage ceremony.

His fervent and imperious ways were in instilled in her since birth. Knowing the princess’s nature, the king did not just “happen” to find out about their affair it was planned. The fact was obvious, her choice in men was not one of which her father would approve. The discovery was a perfect way to ride her of the youth. She had no future.

In 'Twelfth Night’, gender and sexuality in many ways add to the play’s themes of madness. 'Twelfth Night ' is a reflection of renaissance thought and culture, the renaissance was a transitional period from the medieval to the radical Elizabethan era. The culture of the time was a contradictory one, as from one aspect it was influenced by the patriarchal medieval time, where women were under the rule of men and seen as needing the protection of men, however, from another perspective, the culture was a changing one as women were starting to receive education and many humanists believed that women should be given more rights. The play reflects these attitudes and often challenges the social hierarchy and establishes ideas on gender roles, sexuality and cross-dressing. These factors indeed undermine the expectations of male and female behaviour, and in turn further the play 's theme of madness which has a comedic effect on the audience due to the shock humour it provides.

Entertainment and education through the oppression of women finds a common place in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath Prologue and John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi. In both stories the audience is introduced to the idea of female independence and strength through a confident and skilled female character who envelops the knowledge required to subvert the standards of patriarchal and misogynistic society. While both women in the The Wife of Bath Prologue and The Duchess of Malfi are varied characters who (think they) exude authority and seem to be able to live outside the limitations of a patriarchal society, at a closer look it is obvious this is not the case. Chaucer and Webster have both developed a story that parallel the stereotypes of the misogynist political and social structure of the time. Furthermore, they have blended comedy and entertainment to create stories that are didactic in nature they reaffirm the stereotype of unruly widows and ultimately show that no good will come to women who attempt to live outside the structural confines of the patriarchal and misogynist structures of society.