Love and Marriage in Taming of the Shrew

Lear shows poor judgment when he banishes his favorite daughter and leaves her without a dowry. His two other daughters, Goneril and Regan knew of their father?s weak point, and they worked it to their own advantage. This way, Lear was satisfied at hearing what he wanted and at being flattered by his own daughters. But he also puts upon his daughters the responsibility for his happiness, and thus he will blame them when he?s unhappy. We see this in Scene 3 when Goneril is unhappy with her father.

Since Wickham is not wealthy, he tries to take advantage of this situation. He agrees to marry Lydia as long as his debts are paid off and if he continues to receive money from Darcy. Just like Mr. And Mrs. Bennet 's marriage, their “passion” dies out very quickly. “His affection for her soon sank into indifference...hers lasted a little longer...” True love never dies. Lydia is too young to understand Wickham and his schemes because she is blinded by the infatuation she has for him.

First, it shows the madness of King Lear. In the quarto version his anger is directed at Cordellia's speech. This is rational way of dealing with the situation and shows that King Lear still has love for his daughter. He loves her but not what she has said. In contrast in the folio version King Lear's madness is evident in his inability to separate what Cordellia has said from his love for her.

She was particularly unenthused with her husband after it is revealed that “he borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married” without telling her. (35) She expresses her marriage as regretful, which illustrates her ambition to strive for better, being Tom. Essentially it illustrates that she would rather be treated with little respect to achieve status, rather than to be treated with respect without status. Myrtle not only exudes her ambition through her pompous attitude, but also in the manner in which she carries herself. She is a young woman in her “middle thirties, and faintly stout, but (carries) her surplus flesh sensuously,” and although she is not attributed with beauty she is somewhat charismatic.

Many of Hagar’s relationships have been hindered, or have eventually deteriorated as a result of her exaggerated sense of pride. Because of this her misfortune in relationships is self inflicted, as she decides consciously or unconsciously to sustain her pride rather than her relationships. When Hagar decides to marry Brampton Shipley, a man thought to be unsuitable for someone of her social status, her father literally forbids her to wed. He tells Hagar that his thoughts are solely for her welfare and that to marry without a fathers consent is simply not done. More to spite him rather than to defend her personal conviction, Hagar says “It’ll be done by me.” (Laurence 49).

Note also how differently Laertes is treated by his father, compared to the lack of regard shown to Ophelia by Polonius. Women had little status, and Ophelia's wishes are not considered at any time. Torn apart as she is by divided loyalty it is no wonder that the strain on her eventually leads to her madness and subsequent death. That she loves Hamlet is without question. She is distraught when she observes his behaviour before the nunnery scene, and after his savage rejection of her in that scene she laments his "noble mind..here o'erthrown" She also grieves for herself, "Oh woe is me, t'have seen what I have seen, see what I see."

Continuing on, Lady Macbeth is shown to be confident and coy. Her husband's inability to remain confident proves that he is not as ambitious as he thinks he is and Lady Macbeth is the true power behind the throne. As the story progresses, Macbeth’s personality goes from humble to evil and is later on hated by others for reasons encouraged by his wife. For all of these reasons, Shakespeare shows Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to be entirely opposite from the traditional gender roles. Secondly, Lady Macbeth’s person... ... middle of paper ... ...h from gender roles of common men and women, slowly and subconsciously succumbing to her power over him.

Hamlet - the Character of Ophelia Ophelia is in love with Hamlet, but like so many women, she is at the beck and call of her family first and foremost. Ophelia is not unintelligent, she is simply weak-willed. She doesn't know what she wants, so she lets other people decide for her, namely her father and brother. Hamlet's love letters are at odds with her father's wishes, and, because she is not able to form individual thoughts and opinions, she becomes confused as to what she really wants. Ophelia's weakness of mind and will, which catalyzes her obedience to her father and thus destroys her hope for Hamlet's love, finally results in her insanity and eventual death.

In fact she never called her husband George unless she was trying to manipulate him in some way. Tesman is so blind to Hedda’s manipulative nature that he responded with joy, “Hedda- Oh, is this true?- What you’re saying?… I never noticed that you loved me in this way before”(1458). This disgusted Hedda because she was not truthfully trying to please Tesman and his reaction was one of excitement. With Hedda’s cold manipulati... ... middle of paper ... ...on to her problems. Hedda’s relationship with all three men ultimately created a life she was unhappy with thus leading her closer to her death.

Although she too is insulted by Hamlet because of her femininity (“get thee to a nunnery, why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?” (3.1.313-314)), she is a weak character because of her family structure (a brother and a father) and the men in her life. Hamlet and Polonius have such a significant power on her character and her life that her death is the very result of these two men. Shakespeare makes Ophelia an unfortunate character, whose demise comes from actually obeying her father’s wishes. Furthermore, while Hamlet is sexist towards his mother, Gertrude either intentionally or mistakenly saves her son’s life by drinking from the poisoned pearl cup. She goes against her husband’s warning, “Gertrude, do not drink / I will I beg you pardon me,” (5.2.287-88) and for the first time in the play, gains confidence to act according to her own will.