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The portrayal of women in shakespeare plays
The portrayal of women in shakespeare plays
The portrayal of women in shakespeare plays
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Elin Diamond defines "Gestus" as "a moment in performance that makes visible the contradictory interactions of text, theater apparatus, and contemporary social struggle." (Diamond 519) Gestus makes it clear that the apparatus is doing something else entirely. "The term "apparatus" draws together several related aspects in theater production: the hierarchy of economic control, the material features of machinery and properties, and, more elusively, the social and psychological interplay between stage and audience." (Diamond521) Society works in certain ways to try and tell us what is normal. In this theoretical essay, Diamond suggests that there is a contradiction within the play that portrays women as having free choice, which in this time, …show more content…
Although so easily forgotten, Diamond reminds us of how plays during this time were generally written by upper-class white men, meaning, what they wanted society to see was what was going to be portrayed on stage. It was inevitably a brainwashing that was taking place. Instead of merely interpreting the play, Diamond takes a feminist stance, exclaiming the outrage she feels towards this façade theatre tends to play. She intends to express how the theatre "sells" women. Many of Diamond's journal publications include essays on seventeenth and twentieth century drama and Brechtian and feminist theory. Her work is always exploring the connection between performance and feminism, using texts from early modernism through postmodern art. I never thought about using my research and studies gained in my schooling to further examine, and deeply identify with the different plays I read. In the play, she realizes how female "desire" is staged, considering women in reality have no actual power, it's a masquerade. It's sort of like Gestus, in that it's untrue, yet is still used to portray a fake
The playwright explores the ideas of feminism and the role of men through the explorati...
Butler, Judith. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory." Theatre Journal 40.4 (1988): 519-31. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. 11 May 2011.
Dash, Irene G. "Wooing, Wedding, and Power: Women in Shakespeare Plays". The Critical Perspective Volume 2. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 825-833.
The play Blackrock, written by Nick Enright that was inspired by the murder of Leigh Leigh, which took place in Stockton in 1989. During this essay the following questions will be analysed, what stereotypes of women are depicted in the text, how do the male characters treat the female characters and how do the male characters talk about the female characters. These questions are all taken from the feminist perspective.
In today’s society, women have almost achieved equality. However, there was a time when women weren’t really viewed as women, but instead as objects. Around the time of many of Shakespeare’s plays, Queen Elizabeth was ruling England, which was a large step towards the de-objectification of women. While many people attempted to keep women under the heels of men, some people started working towards a change. Shakespeare uses his play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to comment on the objectification of women and feminism.
The before 20th century, society has not been kind to women because they were considered the weaker or fairer sex. Even though women were granted equal rights in the 1920s, women had to silently and unwillingly grapple with unjust treatment from American society. Glaspell uses Trifles to examine this quiet struggle “[as] the first major work of feminist theater written by an American playwright,”(Beatty) and adds a revolutionary new voice to the dramatic arts of the time. Due to its “absence [ from the stage during the early and mid-20th century, it has indicated] the way that women have traditionally been eclipsed on the American stage”(Beatty). Glaspell’s choice of the word Trifles, instead of the title of the short story which is A Jury of Her Peers was as insightful in...
In the play, the women stick together and voice their discomforts of the men’s deranged ideas of stereotyping by challenging the men’s views about the home having to always be clean. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters sensed and witnessed expectations from the men which enticed the ladies to secretly go against the men. In the text, the woman side with the crime clues of the woman being accused, and rebel against even their partners.
...your heads”. The theatrical references of the “play within plays” device; implicitly raises questions over truth as ultimately inexplicable. The conventions of the traditional Shakespearean stage are repeatedly parodied, with the Player’s recognition of his role, “We’re actors. We’ve pledged our identities…that someone would be watching”. In a time of obscurity and political censorship, this urges the Stoppardian audience to question their very own realities. “I could jump over the side. That will put a spoke in their wheel”.
This paper will look at the different conceptions highlighted by Bulman in his article through the use of different methods used by the actors in the play. Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare captures the different conceptions of gender identity and different sexualities within the Elizabethan period.
This play is also a story about the coming of age of young women (Blo...
Williams makes the audience think about the world about throughout this issue in the play. The audience is exposed to the grim reality on how woman were treated. It demonstrates how far society has come in respecting woman. The topic of woman being treated fairly is always in the media, and Williams uses this contemporary issue to show a different perspective of this topic allowing the audience to go into deep discussion about an issue happening in our world at this present
Gender roles are extremely important in the way people view women in both modern and historical societies. Throughout history women have been characterized as weak and subservient to males and although one might argue gender roles and stereotypes have gotten better as time has passed, it is still apparent in how women are portrayed in theatre. Most, if not all, of the first playwrights, were male and because of this they had very different views of how women were to be seen in their plays. In the play’s Agamemnon by Aeschylus and Trifles by Susan Glaspell, the characters, Clytemnestra and Mrs. Wright defy the normalized gender roles and stereotypes to reinforce the plays vengeful theme.
The play, A Raisin in the Sun, has a very strong view of feminism in the 1960’s. The way that the females are portrayed and talked to in this play is not only an example of how the relationship between a man and a woman in society is unequal, but reflects a particular patriarchal ideology. Throughout this play, as the characters strive to achieve their dreams, the relationships that we see can be seen as feminist and as sexual stereotypes.
Smith, Rebecca. The Woman’s Part: Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Champaign, IL: U of Illinois P, 1983
In today’s society, women are empowered, independent, and have freedom on their parts to live their life freely. This is definitely a positive aspect of the modern day society, however, this may not be how it always was. Travelling back in time, to the Red Hook community of Brooklyn, circa 1950s, we are able to see the societal expectations of a women at the time through Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge. The two female characters, Catherine and Beatrice, play crucial roles in the play and are essential to the tragic storyline of Eddie and his downfall. However, Arthur Miller has skillfully been able to show the lives and societal expectations of the women at the time, and to portray how women should not be treated. Both Catherine and Beatrice face different particular issues, but in the end are treated similarly as women. First, we shall look at Catherine and Beatrice and their individual parts in the story. After this, the portrayal of women and femininity in Red Hook at that time will be explored in reference to Catherine and Beatrice.