The Winter 's Tale : A Patriarchal Theme And Stereotyped Gender Roles

In ‘Othello’ Shakespeare portrays the main three female characters as being quite inferior to the other male characters such as Othello himself, Iago and Casto. Because during that time of which Shakespeare was writing these plays in the Elizabethan era. Society was in which religion was as at the very most top and after was men being the second part of the social ladder and later come women and rule justified women's subordination as the natural order because women were thought to be physiologically and psychologically inferior to men women were expected to be silent, chaste, and obedient to their husbands, fathers, brothers. Even education during the Elizabethan era was only for smart men, and not for women, the women were only allowed to work as cleaners and being mothers. Which makes them inferior to the male sex, we see this in

This quote shows how a father at that time would wish to have no part of his daughter for committing such acts because he knows of the dishonorable reputation he will receive as a result.

Gender stereotypes are not a modern notion and as such expectations and limitations have always existed for both men and women. Fortunately women, who have formerly beared great burdens of discrimination, now have very liberated roles in society as a result of slowly shifting attitudes and values. Shakespeare was integral in challenging the subservient role expected of women in the 16th century. Throughout the play, ‘The Merchant of Venice’, women are expressed as powerful characters who behave, speak and live in a way that breaks away from the conformist role of females during the 16th century. Therefore, the submissive stereotype expected of women in Shakespearean time is confronted and defied through

Similar to Mary Yellan in Jamaica Inn, Mrs. de Winter in Rebecca views herself as subordinate to her husband, Maxim de Winter, which in turn causes her to have trouble finding her own self-identity and gaining confidence as a female in a patriarchal society. Daphne du Maurier clearly depicts this patriarchal society by leaving Mrs. de Winter without a first name, expressing that she is just an extension of her husband and not her own individual person. Mrs. de Winter does not think she is good enough for Maxim de Winter because he is an older, upper class, previously married man. She is self-conscious and views herself as “… a child brought to her first school, or a little untrained maid, who has never left home before, seeking a situation”

Othello, by William Shakespeare is well known for its richness in literary content and elements pertinent to societal ideas. Moreover, women are portrayed in Othello in ways that confirm, but also contradict their treatment in Shakespeare’s time. Both female action and language represent these ideas such as expectations for a wife and expectations for how a woman is to act. That said, there are many other lines spoken by these characters that defy the expectations placed on women at time. Overall, the feminist critical lens allows a reader to understand Othello and the manner in which it is slightly sexist and controversial. This lens allows the reader to observe both discrepancies of how women are treated, and common characteristics found

   Throughout the length of Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello there is a steady undercurrent of sexism. It is originating from not one, but rather various male characters in the play, who manifest prejudicial, discriminatory attitudes toward women.

There is one person in the play able to overcome this divorce of intimacy between the sexes: Cassio. However, his two relationships in the play--his entreatment of Desdemona for help to regain Othello's favor and his lusty, physical intimacy with Bianca--contrast two wildly different views of women. On the one hand is his

Women in the sixteenth century were commonly dominated by a patriarchal society. Meaning their loyalty and respect lay amongst the men in their lives with little choice for opposition. In Othello by William Shakespeare, he portrays the role of women in a way typical to their representation in Elizabethan and Venetian society. While the women may be presented as mentally stronger than their male counterparts, the language given to these female characters suggest that they have internalized society 's expectation of them. Apart from moments of private conversation and Emilia 's reaction to Desdemona 's death, the women behave in a submission that is expected of them, believing it to be the natural way, as the men continue to downgrade and treat them as secondary citizens. Shakespeare represents this status of women through the traditional views of the male characters, moments of submission from the females, and how the women internalize this society.

In the play, Othello, there are many different representations of characters and archetypes. The women of the play are seen as symbolic representations of how the men in Shakespeare’s generation saw women. The women of the play are all individual characters with different personalities. They are seen as objects but stray from the average mold. Shakespeare converts these women into the play with roles that represent the strong stereotypes of women and how they are not what the rumors portray them as.

Men rule the world, but women rule the men. This has become glaringly obvious when deciding how to analyse critically, patriarchy in Shakespeare’s play The Winter’s Tale. There is little doubt that this play represents English patriarchal society in the Jacobean Era, and how the men in power, or authority, treated the ‘fairer sex’: their wives, daughters, and women in general. In this essay, elements examined will surround King Leontes and his relationships, such as with his old friend King Polixenes of Bohemia, his young son Mamillius, and finally with the women in his life, Queen Hermione, and Lady Paulina. Leontes is not only head of his household; he is also King of Sicilia, thus head of all households in the country, an incredibly pressurised

Shakespeare and Webster represent the female characters in ‘Hamlet’ and ‘The duchess of Malfi’ by using general themes such as the patriarchy and the social control, the female identity and its independence, this institution of marriage, the expressions of sexuality and finally women shown to be either conformist or transgressive. Men were firmly in control in the Elizabethan and Jacobean era, and the expectations for women were to stay home, cook, clean and raise a family. Women’s status and roles were subject to the Tyranny of patriarchy, they were given strict disciplinary rules to follow whether by law or unspoken norms to prevent from rebellion. Women’s rights were restricted, legally, socially and economically, unlike today were women are more powerful and independent. Today women and men are seen to be equal and women can do pretty much everything a man can do (voting, working, becoming president) although there are many people still today who disagree with women having these rights.

There are only three female characters in William Shakespeare's play Othello, Desdemona, Othello’s wife, Emilia, Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s lady-in-waiting, and Bianca, a courtesan. When first introduced to this limited number of representatives of the female gender, it is quickly assumed that they will not be very present or have an important role in story. In addition, the male characters of the play see women as submissive and promiscuous possessions that should be controlled by either their fathers or spouses. However Shakespeare’s female characters are shown to question male authority and to have the ability to speak for themselves, which could be seen as feminist statement during the Elizabethan time that Shakespeare lived in.

Women have a specific role throughout the Elizabethan society and are known as inferior. In Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Nights Dream, women are told how to act by men, that reveals superiority towards men. This is portrayed by the characters-Hermia, Helena, and Titiana throughout the play. These characters were represented as powerless and blind because they fail to receive what they what and are told what to do countless amounts by the men in the play. Women's’ inferiority in the play makes it impossible for them to achieve true happiness attributable to the superiority the men in the play believe they have.

In particular, the most dynamic character in the play is King Leontes of Sicilia. In the beginning, Leontes believes in the self-assumed belief that his wife, Queen Hermione, is having affairs with his childhood friend, King Polixenes of Bohemia. This belief was conspired by Leontes when he requested Hermione to convince Polixenes to prolong his visit in Sicilia after he himself had failed. When she did succeed, Leontes became “diseased” with jealousy and came to the assumption that Hermione and Polixenes have a “special” relationship together. With the authorial power he possesses as king, he sentenced his pregnant wife to prison for adultery. Though Hermione persists that he is wrong and there is a misunderstanding, Leontes, however, denies everything she says. In this, Leontes is seen as a stubborn tyrant who abuses his divine power as king to treat his wife as a lower being. He denies her right to speak and punishes her severely. Leontes says:

King Leontes verbalizes what he perceives is Hermione raising her head, as if to receive a kiss, in a manner resembling that of a husband and wife. Although King Leontes does not know that his wife has sustained loyalty to him, the audience is well aware of the king’s traducement of the situation, thus his premature judgement. Here we can see Shakespeare’s attention to the themes of observation and situational misperception. These themes are two-fold as they mimic society by