As a onetime outpost of Rome, England was greatly influenced by Roman genealogy-ancestors that were god-like (Mars), superhuman (Hercules), fearless warriors (Pompey) who flourished in a patriarchal society (ancient 4). I would like to discuss how Shakespeare uses these characteristics in his Roman tragedy Antony and Cleopatra, as a means to express sixteenth century England's cultural upheavals, one of which was the transformation of masculinity defined in terms of power to masculinity rooted in humanism.
Traditionally, the monarch of a country is the "head of the nobility"(Giddens 2) and skilled in weaponry so as to fight side by side with his soldiers. Queen Elizabeth shattered this tradition with her femininity and physical inability to fight a war. As Eugene Giddens points out, Elizabeth was viewed as "conflict-shy". Because she did not "enter war lightly", a great anxiety arose within the military and the English nobility. After all, their major source of honors and promotion in the monarch's court--great military feats--was constricted by the lack of war (Giddens 2).
Shakespeare's emphasis on Rome's martial society in Antony and Cleopatra addresses the importance that a martial society held for men in England during Elizabeth's reign. Military prowess defined masculinity by power and honor. Giddens highlights a Francis Bacon quote from "Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates" in which Bacon writes "No body can be healthful without exercise, neither natural body nor politic: and certainly to a kingdom or estate, a just and honourable war is the true exercise . . . for in a slothful peace, both courages will effeminate and manners corrupt" (Giddens 13). Note the same sentiment for the relationship between war, ...
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...age and Literature 15 (1990): 79-107.
Carducci, Jane S. “Brutus, Cassius, and Caesar in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar; Language and the Roman Male.” Language and Literature 13 (1988): 1-19.
Giddens, Eugene. “Honourable Men: Militancy and Masculinity in Julius Caesar.” Renaissance Forum 5.2 (2001): 34 pars. 6 Oct. 2006. http://www.hull.ac.uk/renforum/v5no2/giddens.htm
Shakespeare, William. “ Antony and Cleopatra” The Necessary Shakespeare Second Edition. Ed. David Bevington. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005. 752-800.
Vaught, Jennifer. “Masculinity and Affect in Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale: Men of Feeling from the Renaissance through the Enlightenment.” 1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era 10 (2004): 305-325.
Wofford, Susanne L. ed. Shakespeare’s Late Tragedies A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 1996.
The play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare showcases many characters and events that go through many significant changes. One particular character that went through unique changes was Julius Caesar. The 16th century work is a lengthy tragedy about the antagonists Brutus and Cassius fighting with the protagonists Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus over the murder of Julius Caesar. Although the play’s main pushing conflict was the murder of Julius Caesar, he is considered a secondary character, but a protagonist. Throughout the theatrical work Julius Caesar’s actions, alliances, character developments, and internal and external conflicts display his diverse changes.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.” Elements of Literature: Kylene Beers. Austin: Holt, 2009. 842-963. Print.
Blitz, Jan H. “Manliness and Friendship in Julius Caesar” Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations: Julius Caesar. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2010.
Upon reading Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and Henry V, I have noticed that the issue of gender ideology and identity has been an intriguing study in both Shakespearean comedies and histories. These traditional Western views have, in a sense deemed which roles are appropriate and socially acceptable, in regards to both males and females. This practice of ‘social typecasting’ has given men and women certain socially acceptable characteristics, which has influenced how they should think and act. In this essay I take an in-depth look regarding how Shakespeare dealt with gender identity, and if certain characters in The Taming of the Shrew and Henry V accepted their socially predetermined gender identity or if they rejected it.
Warren, Roger. Shakespeare Survey 30. N.p.: n.p., 1977. Pp. 177-78. Rpt. in Shakespeare in the Theatre: An Anthology of Criticism. Stanley Wells, ed. England: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Spurgeon, Caroline. “Shakespeare’s Imagery and What it Tells Us.” Shakespearean Tragedy. Ed. D. F. Bratchell. New York: Routledge, 1990.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.” Elements of Literature: Kylene Beers. Austin: Holt, 2009. 842-963. Print.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.” Elements of Literature: Kylene Beers. Austin: Holt, 2009. 842-963. Print.
Alvin B. Kernan. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009. Print.
Garner, Shirley Nelson, and Madelon Sprengnether, eds. Shakespearean Tragedy and Gender. Bloomington, Indianapolis: Indian U, 1996.
Bloom, Harold. William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Chelsea House Publisher; Connecticut, New York, & Pennsylvania. 1988, Pg. #33 - 36
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.” Elements of Literature: Kylene Beers. Austin: Holt, 2009. 842-963. Print.
Allen, Janet. "Julius Caesar." Holt McDougal Literature. Orlando, FL: Holt McDougal/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. N. pag. Print.
7. Kahn, Coppe`lia. Man's Estate: Masculinity Identity in Shakespeare. Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1981.
Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Elements of Literature. Ed. Edwina McMahon et al. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1997.