Victims Of Women In Shakespearian Plays

Overall the Shakespeare brings to light many issues that females dealt with during the 17 century. He talks about women's voices and opinions being suppressed, men being able to hold females as property, the double standard of males and females. With this many readers and viewers of the play, understand the concept that Shakespeare is trying to present to this audience during the time. Although Shakespeare was not a modern day feminist, he still was a feminist in the light of a man during this time period. Bringing characters such as Emilia, who are shown to not take no for an answer, Becca, someone who can stand on her own to feet, and lastly Desdemona, someone who has shown that her loyalty lies with someone who she loves and she has not

The moon/Desdemona is seen as at once chaste and inclined to change. Later, Othello accuses Desdemona of infidelity despite her protesting innocence. Again, he compares her infidelity with the moon: "What committed!/ Heaven stops the nose at it and the moon winks . . . " (4.2.74). The moon, once chaste, is now flirting. Similarly, Othello believes that Desdemona, once chaste, is cuckolding him. These two examples show the multiple allegories of the moon that, similarly, exist in 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

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was set in a time that gender was very important to society, which ultimately leads to the tragic demise of Romeo and Juliet. While the audience is shown that the society's expectations of gender create a strong community, it is undeniable the tragedy is partly due society giving women no influence over their own fates and being seen as objects, who are hidden from the world therefore naive to society. However we cannot ignore the expectations of being brave and proud placed on the male gender that end in the demise of the lovers. The fact that women of the time are powerless and unable to contribute to the decisions made about their lives leads to the tragedy.

the paralyzing feminization of males make the latter more appropriate to a tragedy or a

William Shakespeare’s, Othello, expresses the lack of respect and authority given to women during Shakespeare’s time. Throughout the piece, women are repeatedly put in positions subordinate to men and are stripped of a voice. Women in this piece are portrayed as “belongings” to men, and never resist how they are treated. Iago is able to use women in his plan, like pawns in a chess game, to benefit himself. However, it is a woman in the end who puts the pieces together and solves Iago twisted plot. It is also the women in the end who stay sane and loyal to their men. Shakespeare discreetly communicates to the audience the message that women were underestimated during the time, and shouldn’t be treated as subordinates.

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.

In Shakespeare’s comedy, MoV, the female protagonists are not given the same opportunities men or treated seriously and rather only given these opportunities or have their words taken seriously if they act as men through cross-dressing. From this portrayal, modern audiences can learn that oppression was present in the past and still continues to affect women in today’s world. Portia has to cross-dress in order to take on the role of a lawyer. She along with her maid in waiting, Nerissa That they shall think we are accomplishèd/With that we lack”(3.4.62-63)During the Shakespearean era, women were not viewed as intelligent and lacked skills to have such roles. Going under the guise of a lawyer Portia would be able hold a position that she would not be able to have if she was appeared as a woman. Furthermore, this position also allows for her to have more power and gain respect from individuals in her society. While under this persona, Shylock lauds a disguised Portia for her judgement, saying “A Daniel come to judgement! Yea, a Daniel./O wise young judge,how I do honor thee!”(4.1.231-232)--> 1) Shylock likens Portia to a wise and important biblical figure, Daniel, who made wise judgement. By complimenting Portia, it goes to show that what a woman says is only deemed serious if not seen as a woman saying it. When she returns to Belmont, Portia reads a letter out to Bassanio and Gratiano, which contains the line,“There you shall find that Portia was the doctor,/Nerissa there her

In William Shakespeare’s tragic drama “Othello”, Shakespeare puts emphasis on the role of the female characters and their influence on the male protagonists. Othello’s love and jealousy regarding his wife made this play a tragedy. There are only three women in the play Othello; Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca. The way in which these women behave and present themselves strongly reflects the ideological expectations of women within Shakespeare’s imagined Venetian society as well as the Elizabethan society in which he lived. This patriarchal Venetian society presented in the play depicts women as possessions of men who should remain submissive and meek at all times. They lived in a society in which a woman was either a whore, or a good, angelic

Throughout Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, there is an overlaying presence of the typical roles that men and women were supposed to play. During Elizabethan times there was a major difference between the way men and women were supposed to act. Men typically were supposed to be masculine and powerful, and defend the honor. Women, on the other hand, were supposed to be subservient to their men in their lives and do as ever they wished. In Romeo and Juliet the typical gender roles that men and women were supposed to play had an influence on the fate of their lives.

Imagine a world where women were completely subservient to men. Imagine what it would be like to live in a society where women were home-schooled, and not allowed to attend any type of university. What would today’s society be like if women lawyers, doctors, actors, and military soldiers were nonexistent? It would be a modern day version of the Elizabethan era in England. This was a time period where women had little rights, but the dramatic arts flourished due to Queen Elizabeth’s appreciation for them. It was during this time period that literary genius William Shakespeare wrote his many plays including The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Living in this time period caused him to look at women in a somewhat submissive way and portray them as

Challenging the Roles of Gender in Shakespeare In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare challenges the use of gender roles, which are social and behavioral standards assigned to the sexes, which were established during his time period. Shakespeare challenges these roles through his characters, Romeo and Juliet, by having them rebel against the social construction of gender set in Verona. Gender roles during the Elizabethan age were formed under patriarchal social construct.

In William Shakespeare’s tragic play Othello there are numerous instances of obvious sexism aimed at the three women in the drama -- Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca – and aimed at womankind generally. Let us delve into this subject in this paper.

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.

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.