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Shakespeare female characters analysis
Shakespeare female characters analysis
Shakespeare female characters analysis
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Margaret’s perspective on marriage causes her to deceptively trick others, while Beatrice is unwilling to accept the love because she does not fit into the normality of the time period. Margaret views marriage as an honorable and expected act for a woman, which contradicts Beatrice’s desire to stay single, and her refusal to acknowledge Benedick. In Act 3, Scene 3, Margaret’s passionate view of marriage and love cause her to dress up as Hero and work in Borachio and Conrade’s plan (pg. 107). Since Margaret had been wooed by Borachio, she was willing to do whatever he wanted. Margaret’s need for marriage and love caused her to act against Hero and Claudio, without knowing the consequences. In contrast with Margaret’s actions, Beatrice does not
Margaret is painted as a strong character from the very beginning. As Jessica Ray Lymberopoulos writes in her essay,
Within the nineteenth century, women lacked many rights; specifically, the rights that protect them as individuals and the rights that allowed them to live by their own means. Evidently, the promise of marriage was used to manipulate women, marriage also took away the self sustenance of women, and when separated from their husbands, women resorted to some form of prostitution to survive. Within Margaret Atwood 's "Alias Grace," the shortfalls of marriage faced by the fictional women accurately represent the actual social issues of Ontario during the 1800 's.
Beatrice, niece of Leonato and cousin of Hero, is one of the most sarcastic and bitter characters in all of “Much Ado About Nothing”. She is a confident woman who always speaks her mind. Beatrice does not fit the role of a traditional woman of that period in time. Her bitterness is displayed by her interactions with Benedick and as the play goes on it is learned that he has hurt her. Every encounter with him is now met with anger and disdain to hide her true feelings for him. Yet, when she over hears Hero and Ursula talking about how distressed Benedick is over her hatred for him, she is willing to love him openly: “And Benedick, l...
In the novel Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis touches upon various issues that characterize American society. Marriage was one of these various issues that Lewis focused on. In the story, George Babbitt was married and his best friend, Paul Riesling, was married. They both seemed uneasy about their marriages and were not pleased with their situations. George always seemed to care less for Myra, "she was as sexless as an anemic nun... no one, save [except] Tinka, was all interested in her or entirely aware that she was alive" (Lewis 7). Paul also truly disliked his wife Zilla, "why I want to kill her", " (i)f I only could [divorce her]! If she'd just give me the chance!" (Lewis 58-59). This lack of feeling for their wives is what Lewis focused on in the rest of the story.
Reread the exchange between Charlotte and Elizabeth about marriage. How does this section of the novel provide a foundation for the novel’s central message regarding marriage? In Jane Austen’s novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ one of the main themes. throughout the marriage is a matter of time. In the exchange between Elizabeth Bennett.
Viola and Beatrice both take on men's roles, Viola that of a manservant and Beatrice that of the perpetual bachelor and the clown: "I was born to speak all mirth and no matter," she says to Don Pedro [II.i.343-4]. They appear to be actors and manipulators, much more so than their female predecessors, who are mostly reactive and manipulated, such as Hermia, Helena, Titania, and Gertrude. None of these women seemed in charge of her own destiny, but tricked by the schemes of men and later scorned or humiliated as a result of male machinations. Viola and Beatrice, although they both seem fiercely independent and comfortable in a man's world, reveal themselves to have only the trappings of manhood, and not its full capacity for action. They are undone by unrequited love, made desperately unhappy by their inability to woo the man of their choosing. In the end, it is only coincidence and the plotting of other characters that bring the true nature of their affections into the open and thus force the plays to their respective matrimonial conclusions.
little, if nothing at all based on a good love match. This can be seen
Initially, it seems that Claudio triumphs over Hero in the first wedding scene because he shames her based on false information and gets away with it at the time. Talking to Benedick and Don Pedro about his affection for Hero, Claudio says, "Is she not a modest young lady" (1.1 128) and "In mine eye she is the sweetest lady that/ ever I looked on (1.1 148-149). Claudio holds Hero to a standard despite knowing nothing about her. In 'The Sign and Semblance of Her Honor': Reading Gender Difference in Much Ado about Nothing, Carol Cook says that, "The masculine, in the world of the play, is the place of speaking and reading subjects, of manipulators and interpreters of signs" (Cook 190). Hero is interpreted by Claudio before and during her marriage, as well as, manipulated by Don Jon and Borachio when they scheme against her to make her seem like she cheated on Claudio. Before Don Jon even presents "evidence" to Claudio that Hero cheated, Claudio says, "Tomorrow in the congregation, where I should wed, there will I shame her" (3.3 117-118). Despite lack of a defense from Hero, Claudio plans to immediately shame her at the wedding if Don John confirms what he says before him. Claudio's hast to humiliate Hero is indicative of the distrust of women inherent in the men in Messina. Don Pedro adds fuel to the fire by telling Claudio, "I will
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare focuses on the enormous gap between the power of men and where women stand. Women were expected to be obedient and dependent on men, innocent, and were also expected to be good wives. Shakespeare wanted women to see how the roles are changing for the better. In this play, there is difference between the traditional roles of women back then, and the ones that stand out from the rest. He depicts this through two characters. In the opening scene, where characters and their personalities, and roles are established; Hero has only one line, which is seven words. Even said that, these lines are just a comment on Beatrice. Hero is the daughter and the property of her father, Leonato. Her helplessness comes from her being overprotected by her father, and the need to obey him. Beatrice, by contrast, does not have a father, she lives on her witty personality and her intelligence. Beatrice has a dream to spend her life “where the bachelors sit, and there live we, as merry as the day is long” (2.1.40-46) When Leonato tells Hero, “Daughter, remember what I told you: if the prince do solicit you in that kind, you know your answer,” (2.1.60-63) she just stands there, silently obeying her father. Hero’s looks are her only advantage as a women, as they are what attracts Claudio. He falls in love with her at first sight in the first act, based only on her appearance.
Entry 1: Act I. Don Pedro and his men return from the war and visit the house of Leonato and his brother, Antonio. This sudden meeting reunites Beatrice with her archrival, Benedick, and it is here that Claudio and Hero fall in love. React: Is it a In Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, there are the usual characters that show up in most of Shakespeare’s pieces.
adds to the comedy of the rest of play. It is obvious to the audience
Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing is, on the surface, a typical romantic comedy with a love-plot that ends in reconciliation and marriage. This surface level conformity to the conventions of the genre, however, conceals a deeper difference that sets Much Ado apart. Unlike Shakespeare’s other romantic comedies, Much Ado about Nothing does not mask class divisions by incorporating them into an idealized community. Instead of concealing or obscuring the problem of social status, the play brings it up explicitly through a minor but important character, Margaret, Hero’s “waiting gentlewoman.” Shakespeare suggests that Margaret is an embodiment of the realistic nature of social class. Despite her ambition, she is unable to move up in hierarchy due to her identity as a maid. Her status, foiling Hero’s rich, protected upbringing, reveals that characters in the play, as well as global citizens, are ultimately oppressed by social relations and social norms despite any ambition to get out.
At the start of the play Hero is presented as a typical woman of the time, modest and demure – she says little. In fact, Shakespeare’s first words describing Hero, ‘Is she not a modest young lady’ announce her essential qualities of modesty and decorum. In this period, these were vital qualities to have in a wife and Hero possessed them, unlike Beatrice. By contrast, Shakespeare portrays Beatrice as an untypical woman, being outspoken, independent, witty and unconventional – she is always participating in the conversation even with the men (especially Benedick), which Hero never does.
Beatrice is, without a doubt, one of the strongest female characters that Shakespeare ever came up with in his time of writing. Shakespeare shows, through Beatrice, how every woman should act in an era where only the men were even able to have control. In this era, or the renaissance time, no woman had free will; they were always told what they could and could not do, as well as, who they were to marry. In the play “Much Ado About Nothing” Beatrice has many qualities but the ones that stand out the most in the play are: her independence, her feistiness, and of course her openness to defy male subjection.
As a whole, Margaret appears to be a young woman struggling to make the most of a difficult time in her life. Ritha Manning writes in the article Moral Choices by the Alan Review that “fiction can help the young reader determine and understand his or her own ideas about morality and can help the young reader work through moral confusion” (pg. 3). The audience plainly witnesses the trust Margaret has for Nancy diminish when it becomes evident that Nancy lied about her period, and it is obvious both girls feel hesitant about proceeding with their friendship. Positive and negative character characteristics add depth and intrigue to the storyline. On the last page of the novel, it is noted that Margaret finally gets her period, ending the long wait. Nearly every adolescent novel has a resolution of some sort for the problems character's experience. Surprisingly, Blume does not offer the decision Margret makes regarding her religion. There are several reasons this information could have been excluded. One may include Blume’s realization that the struggles adolescents experience are not always resolved. Every situation does not produce a peaceful, happy ending. In class discussion, it was noted that when adolescents make it through something difficult it “gives them faith that other issues will be resolved” (Thurs.