Much Ado About Nothing Women

In the primal Elizabethan era, the lack of any form of paternity test led to the men’s irrational fear of infidelity and the victimization of even the most ideal products of their society. The inheritance of wealth held high importance during this time period and thus heightened the insecurities of upper-class males who worried constantly about the unfaithfulness of women leading to an impure child receiving unrightful wealth. When Claudio first lays eyes on Hero, amongst his initial comments, he asks “Is she not a modest young lady?” (1.1.158). By immediately questioning her purity while paying no attention to wit or personality, he indirectly suggests that her worthiness of marriage relied solely on her docility and innocence. The sexuality of a woman was to be the pride and possession of her husband therefore when Claudio is tricked into believing her adultery he fears a loss of control or diminish of dominance over her. He states, “For thee I'll lock up all the gates of love And on my eyelids shall conjecture hang, To turn all beauty

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

Beatrice begins in the comedy as an outstanding example of a sharp-witted female. She is candidly funny, and brutally honest. She calls people as she sees them, though it might be offensive to those she chooses to observe. For instance, when she spars with Benedick, she hits him exactly where she knows it will hurt - his large ego. "Why, he is the Prince's jester, a very dull fool," (II, i, 130-131) she says of Benedick, to his face. In this statement, she is mocking his ability at verbal sparring, as well as turning his own intelligence into an amusement for the Prince, and whomever may be an audience for it at the time. Later in the play, however, Beatrice's intelligence is lessened greatly. Her character is made into that of the stereotype of an Elizabethan woman: easily gulled, and quick to fall in love. When she hears the planned conversation between Hero and Ursula, she immediately changes her entire thinking of Benedick. Soon she even believes that she loves him, in return for the sentiments she was made to believe he shared. This transition from sharp wit to the type of gossip that believes every bit of hearsay is difficult to believe in any character, even a Shakespearean one. When Beatrice finally succumbs to this "love" for Benedick, and betrays her own convictions against marriage, the metamorphosis is complete. Only the shell of a once potentially brilliant

One dramatic moment happens during Act IV, Scene i. In this scene, Claudio and Hero are in their wedding ceremony. At the beginning, Claudio says he will not marry a disloyal woman. This leads to the people in the play, including Claudio, Don Pedro, and Don John shaming Hero. Even her own father, Leonato, shames her.

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.

            Hero does not get a chance to mull over the idea of Claudio as a husband.  Even the audience knows little about her going into the now famous “shaming scene.”  Details about Hero’s virtues and personality are purposely left out, partially to satisfy the dominant male perspective in the play, but also to give more clout to the heinous claim that Claudio makes during the wedding.  The reactions of Hero’s father and others indicate that a woman’s virtues are only as good as a man says they are.

Characters in this play have experience love in different ways; starting with Claudio that falls in love with Hero from the first time he sees her, and decided to get married. “In mine eye she is the sweetest lady that ever I looked on,” (1,1,168) it would seem that the love Claudio has for Hero is a result of first attraction on looks, however, Claudio’s character seems to be immature and inexperienced. Later in the play, when Claudio is suspicious of her, he instantly forgets the love he had for her, and that love turned to a full of hatred. On the other hand, Hero’s willingness to forgive Claudio is just as disturbing as Claudio’s rejection of her. She does not fight for her pride after what Claudio did to her but instead marries him willingly. “And when I lived, I was your other wife, And when you loved, you were my other husband,” (62, 5, 4) this line shows how forgiving and innocent Hero is as a character.

Before someone has the ability to analyze a female character in one of William Shakespeare’s works, one must take into account Shakespeare’s views on feminism, as well as how females were viewed in the time period. Is Shakespeare teaching us that women have no greater value than a breeding mule, or that women are truly property, simply to be owned by men? Obviously Shakespeare’s opinion is that women are inferior to men, seeming that his views are clearly portrayed by Helena’s character in A Midsummers night’s dream.

Shakespeare shows a fair amount of feminism throughout the play. He exploits the ways in which the men treat and think of women in order to show the audience that in fact it is wrong. He does this most prominently in the wedding scene. As we have already become attached to the character Hero, we feel sorry for her when she is shamed in front of everyone. In this scene, we can see how that all the men believe Claudio straight away making the audience frustrated

Gender Roles in “Much Ado About Nothing” “Much Ado About Nothing” by Shakespeare takes the reader back to the Elizabethan time period. The play’s comedic tone presents the conflict that is taking place in the city Messina. The reader is shown the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick as well as Hero and Claudio. Through the development of characters relationships, the reader can get a sense of the gender roles included in the play.

The role of woman in the society has always been really controversial, whether it was 400 years ago or now. Shakespeare's two very famous comedy plays, The Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice challenge a very serious social issue, the role and importance of woman in society. We all know the stereotypical image of woman in the society but Shakespeare questions the society on these thoughts through his plays. While Shakespeare expresses his ideas in a very unique way in each of his plays, this issue is common in both plays and is portrayed very similarly. Whether it is the way woman are treated, portrayed or judged, Shakespeare repeats the same idea through difference acts and events between the two comedies. There are some

It is true that the majority of women in the 17th century were housewives (Lambert). However, in Shakespeare’s eyes, this did not translate to inferiority of women. Instead, he believed that society’s flawed thinking was both unjust and dangerous. He saw women for what they were worth: humans capable of performing and becoming something everyone else could. Regardless of their genders, woman could be just as assiduous, shrewd, and vindictive as their male

In history women weren’t really important to men and anyone else because they were basically looked at like they have no rights and they weren’t important to anyone. This in my opinion was the reason for Shakespeare putting this in the play and having a character make it so big because at this time the women had nothing. This was one of the biggest things that the play had sent a message about in the

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.

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.