Submissive Women In Shakespearean Literature

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Recommended: Representation of women in Shakespeare's plays

Olivia Seeney
ENGL485
Dr. Elam
2/6/17
Major Project Proposal
Shakespearean Women: Feminism and Submission
Throughout literary history women have been portrayed in a variety of ways, most often as either a submissive housewife figure or as a strong, independent feministic character. Some of the most notable examples of these personalities being displayed in literature have been written by William Shakespeare. For my major project for this course I plan on analyzing feminism and submission through Shakespearean female characters. In order to do so I will select a variety of female leads such as, Beatrice from Much ado about Nothing, Ophelia from Hamlet, and Desdemona from Othello. The purpose of my paper would be to examine the behaviors and …show more content…

My paper will consist of an argument that provides information that backs up the notion that Shakespeare’s literature went against the biblical expectations of a female in favor of a more empowered and less submissive woman. In order to strengthen my argument I plan on incorporating pieces of literature that display the submissive females in Shakespeare like Desdemona and Juliet, as well as more empowered females like Beatrice. My main argument will focus for the most part on how Shakespeare is able to portray what he believes to be the ideal female through his literature and how it contrasts to the way that the Bible calls females to behave as daughters of …show more content…

I also plan on researching the role of a woman from a biblical point of view and how she is called to act as a female and a Christian. I will also establish a definition of submissiveness and feminism from a variety of sources in order to determine a proper way to examine this literature and to build my argument. I have begun to gather more information about the female characters in Shakespeare in order to determine the best choices to include in my essay. I will soon begin to delve deeper into articles that would be applicable to my

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