The Presentation of Women in La Belle Dame Sans Merci and Mariana

Her power makes the tragedy Hamlet initiates evitable, but it occurs anyway because her naïveté prevents her from stopping it. For such an important character, Gertrude is noticeably flat. Analysis of the text of Hamlet provides few clues as to her involvement with Claudius prior to King Hamlet's death, her knowledge or lack thereof of his murder, or how she really feels about either of the kings. Though Hamlet does not seek to punish her outright for whatever part she may have played in his father's death, he does continually accuse her of being generally amoral, especially with regard to her incestuous marriage to Claudius. Hamlet's accusations are one of few indicators throughout the play as to her character, and they illustrate only Hamlet's perception thereof.

Gertrude never seems to get in the middle of Hamlet and Claudius' disputes, so many tend to assume that she is involved in King Hamlet's murder. However, there is an abundance of in-text evidence that suggests she is very innocent and oblivious to Claudius' plots throughout the play. Most of this evidence supporting that Gertrude has nothing to do with King Hamlet's sudden death. From the start, Gertrude comes off as a very clueless and almost blind character to the things happening around her. She mourns for the death of the man she loved, but with her country in mind does what she thinks is best.

The female orphans of the story portray the assumption that women are helpless and the lack of letters from Margaret emphasizes the essential worthlessness of a woman’s opinions. Finally, the female presence in the workforce contradicts Romantic ideals, however housewives and male proposals parallel the ideals Shelley uses in Frankenstein. The Romantic ideals that women are secondary to men are expressed throughout Frankenstein as well as in Romantic times and today. Works Cited Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein.

Even though, it appears as if the poets are showing the greatness of men over women they in fact agree that women should be treated as mans equal. Browning shows how the fictional power possessed by a male tyrant can easily cause the death of a women, this is shown in both his dramatic monologues. Although, all the women within the poems die the poets show a sense of hidden power within all the characters excluding Tennyson's depiction of Marianna. Their lack of voice shows the lack of respect shown towards the female characters. Only in 'La belle dame sans merci' is the female treated with a vague amount of admiration, however she is perceived as the most deceitful and untrustworthy of the five women.

Each flower has meaning and if given to the right person, this scene shows that Ophelia is too aware to be truly mad. Laertes even makes the comment, “This nothing’s more than matter” (4.5.169); that her speech seems like nothing, but it is actually quite moving and revealing. Rosemary, for remembrance, may be intended for King Hamlet, as they should not forget about his death. They may also be intended for Laertes, as he is the last to speak before Ophelia. Pansies, for thought, are given to Hamlet because he is a thinker, not an actor.

However, there is, in fact, a textual evidence that Hamlet feigns his insanity: Make you to ravel all this matter out That I essentially am not in madness But mad in craft. 'Twere good you let him know, (3.4.184-186) According to Arden edition's footnotes Hamlet reveals that he is not really afflicted by madness. Hamlet could have been feigning his madness to get himself into a more advantageous position when observing Claudius. On the other hand we have Ophelia, who also goes insane and even commits suicide. In her case the cause of madness was her love for Hamlet and her being unable to take revenge on Hamlet.

Many people believe that ignorance is bliss. There is a mentality that exists, where the truths are better off unknown and another where the truth is ignored completely. This is certainly true in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Sophocles’’ Oedipus. Jocasta and Gertrude both choose to ignore reality, and therefore blind themselves from the truth before them. As a result of her intentional ignorance, Jocasta severely damages her relationship with Oedipus and her reputation, whereas Gertrude’s ignorance merely causes mild, repairable damage to her relationship with her son and her reputation.

Macbeth is less ambitious than his wife and also more softhearted, together these two traits gave him the common sense not to commit the dreaded act. Yet, when the subject of murdering Duncan comes up again, Lady Macbeth weakens his resolve and persuades him to do the deed. The actors characters begin to change once the deed is done. Macbeth, who was strong inside is now internally traumatised, but only display his feeling in front of his wife. It’s not the best thing to do because lady Macbeth is uninterested in what she considers his pettiness.

Ophelia seems not to be offended by this language in the least bit, and her actions cannot accurately portray how the women of that time perceived it. In some senses Hamlet may be a misogynist character and Shakespeare gives readers a reason for it in which it might be excused. It might seem as if his mother’s sexuality has poisoned his own, and he declares in his soliloquy, “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (1.2.146). He views her sexual independence as a weakness and is appalled by her choice to remarry so soon after her husband’s death. Gertrude has tremendous ... ... middle of paper ... ...ering herself” (224).

He uses his authority over the sisters to say that Bianca is not to marry until Katherina has, but was simple and firm in the way that he said it, not to cause feud between the two girls. It seems that ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ is an appropriate title for the play, but maybe more so ‘The Taming of the Shrews’. As the play develops Bianca appears to be as disobedient as Katherina, just in different ways. This leads to Bianca finally being a less suitable wife because she has no one such as Petruchio to ‘tame’ her. Baptista feels Bianca is the perfect example of a woman therefore not giving her the chance to be ‘tamed’.