Shakespeare's As You Like It - Rosalind and Celia

“We Called Ourselves Sisters.” The Feminist Memoir Project. ed. DuPlessis, Rachel, & Snitow, Ann. New York: Three Rivers Press. Moore, Richard.

In the same way, it might be argued that severe sexuality is the compulsion of Romeo and Juliet. Considering the brevity of their relationship, which implies the absence of shared memories and the absence of mutual and intimate knowledge, one may deduce that all they really can share is bodies. And it may be precisely their bodies that drive the entire relationship and tragedy. In Woman’s Part, Paula S. Berggren r... ... middle of paper ... ...ergren, Paula S. “The Woman’s Part: Female Sexuality as Power in Shakespeare’s Plays.” The Woman’s Part: Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Ed.

As You Like It:  The Importance of the Secondary Characters As You Like It, by William Shakespeare, is a radiant blend of fantasy, romance, wit and humor. In this delightful romp, Rosalind stands out as the most robust, multidimensional and lovable character, so much so that she tends to overshadow the other characters in an audience's memory, making them seem, by comparison, just "stock dramatic types". Yet, As You Like It is not a stock romance that just happens to have Shakespeare's greatest female role. The other members of the cast provide a well-balanced supporting role, and are not just stereotypes. Characters whom Shakespeare uses to illustrate his main theme of the variations of love are all more than one-use cardboards, as they must be fully drawn to relate to life.

Hamlet -- Comparison of Gertrude and Ophelia Gertrude and Ophelia occupy the leading roles for females in the Shakespearean drama Hamlet. As women they share many things in common: attitudes from others, shallow or simple minds and outlooks, etc. This essay will delve into what they have in common. The protagonist’s negative attitude toward both women is an obvious starting point. John Dover Wilson explains in What Happens in Hamlet how the prince holds both of the women in disgust: The difficulty is not that, having once loved Ophelia, Hamlet ceases to do so.

Not only are these women innocent, they are by far the most benevolent and forgiving female characters in the play, little deserving their violent ends. During this discussion, we also added Ophelia to the list of innocent women who die at Shakespeare's hand and questioned whether the playwright was rewarding, punishing, or martyring these women. Although the question was raised, we were not able to come up with a satisfactory answer. In examining the "evil" female characters we have encountered in Shakespeare's tragedies -- Regan, Goneril, and Lady Macbeth, the primary corrupting factor that links these women is their desire for or exercise of power. When comparing these women with Desdemona and Cordelia, who relinquish their power to men, the concept of "good" and "bad" women in Shakespeare's tragedies becomes overly simplified.

Transgressing prescribed gender roles in As You Like It Shakespeare's As You Like It is both a gentle, pastoral comedy and a complicated, dark debate on the relationship between love, power and gender construction. At the centre of the play is Rosalind, arguably one of Shakespeare's most engaging, witty, intelligent, and lovable female characters. Rosalind is the epitome of Elizabethan femininity: beautiful, chaste, and charitable; and yet she is able to transcend traditional gender boundaries to become a powerful masculine figure, allowing Shakespeare to call into question the serious nature of gender and identity, while also adding to the comic relief of the play through the use of dramatic irony. The serious potential of transgressing gender roles is explored through Rosalind's ability to subvert the limitations that society imposes on her as a woman (Howard 221) and gain power through masculine identity. Her transgressing of gender boundaries permits her to escape the restrictive system of male patriarchy that is Duke Frederick's reign, take control of her destiny, and initiate courtship.

Unbridled Ambition in Macbeth Where is there a page in William Shakespeare's tragic play Macbeth which does not present the selfish virtue of personal ambition. This paper addresses the problem of ambition in the drama. In "Memoranda: Remarks on the Character of Lady Macbeth," Sarah Siddons mentions the ambition of Lady Macbeth and its effect: [Re "I have given suck" (1.7.54ff.)] Even here, horrific as she is, she shews herself made by ambition, but not by nature, a perfectly savage creature. The very use of such a tender allusion in the midst of her dreadful language, persuades one unequivocally that she has really felt the maternal yearnings of a mother towards her babe, and that she considered this action the most enormous that ever required the strength of human nerves for its perpetration.

David Kastan. Malden Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 1999. 85-99. Dash, Irene. Wooing, Wedding, and Power: Women in Shakespeare’s Plays.

Here, Shakespeare's presentation of Cleopatra highlights her unique female qualities in a way that represents women throughout the play and Cleopatra as an individual. I believe this works well because the other main chara... ... middle of paper ... ... is repetition of certain features relating to collapsing and melting. (90.3.13) 'Authority melts from me', spoken by Antony, suggests that things arre gradually slipping away and eveything is falling apart. Overall, the way in which Cleopatra is presented by Shakespeare, through metaphors, form and language amongst other devices is very clear and portrays the feelings that he intended to show. I think Shakespeare has presented Cleopatra very carefully and has taken into account the stereotypical female life in the time that it was set.

Thus book-ended by two great tragedies, with which they share some common ideology, the problem plays offer an unparalleled opportunity to explore the concept of female sexualit... ... middle of paper ... ...speare Online. 1999-2001. <http://www.shakespeare-online.com/keydates/playchron.asp>. Neely, Carol Thomas. "Shakespeare's Women: Historical Facts and Dramatic Representations."