Feminism and the Shakespeare's Works

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Feminism and the Shakespeare's Works

By examining Shakespeare’s treatment of familial ties in his plays The Life and Death of King John and The Winter’s Tale, we can see how his attitudes and opinions towards family relationships evolved. In King John (written between 1594 and 1596), Shakespeare adopts what was then a fairly conventional attitude towards family relationships: his characters never question the highly patriarchal family hierarchy. They also assume that the majority of wives will be unfaithful, simply because they are female—however, they take the charge of adultery rather lightly. By contrast, in The Winter’s Tale (written between 1610 and 1611), he adopts a much more progressive, feminist view of family relationships. Women have a higher standing and more power in The Winter’s Tale than they do in King John. Also, Shakespeare mocks and punishes husbands that assume their wives are unfaithful without sound evidence. In both plays, he criticizes power-based and political relationships, albeit in two very different ways. In all probability, Shakespeare’s increasingly radical thinking changed Elizabethan society.

The family relationships in King John are unquestionably male-dominated. All of the men have some sort of power over their female relatives. Constance’s life is drederful male characters, apparently unable to improve her own situation.

Lady Faulconbridge must also rely upon the men in her life. Her honor rests in the hands of her sons, Robert and Philip. Robert calls her honor into question by claiming that Philip is King Richard I’s natural son in order to secure his own inheritance (1.1.111). Philip supports this claim, renouncing the name of Faulconbridge and adopting that of Plantagenet. ...

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...onships with their sons. The Winter’s Tale—he omits them entirely. All of the characters, including Leontes, genuinely love each other.

By exploring Shakespeare’s attitudes, we come to know him as a revolutionary thinker, not just a playwright and poet. It becomes clear that Shakespeare himself stood a bit outside of society, much like the figure of the Bastard in King John. He critiques both the patriarchalism and political, hypocritical relationships so rampant in Elizabethan England. From the popularity of his plays, we can surmise that Shakespeare gathered quite a following in this revolutionary thinking. The only question remaining is, how much of an impact on Elizabethan society did this innovation have? Although it is impossible to conclusively measure Shakespeare’s impact on early modern thinking, I firmly believe that he permanently altered it.

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