Among many female characters in Shakespeare's comedies, the protagonist in As You Like It evokes various interpretati0ons by feminist critics. Critics have given various contradictory interpretations about the female protagonist's act of cross-dressing. This act, as claimed by some feminist critics, may constitute a subversive act against the hegemonic order since it challenges common conception regarding female's role in Elizabethan period. Another critical approach, however, does not consider such act to be subversive but rather another dramatic technique reaffirming social and sexual hierarchy prevalent within patriarchal order. Based on the findings of this research, the act of cross dressing to a certain degree is subversive one, assisting …show more content…
In these dramatic situations, Rosalind's role, from a secondary character changes into central one. One of the advantages Rosalind gains from the act of changing identity is the sense of liberty she enjoys in the Forest of Arden. The new male identity provides her with an opportunity to establish a very close connection with Orland. By assuming Rosalind being a male character, Orlando easily fall into the harmless trap set by Rosalind, mistaking her being a brilliant magician specialized in curing love-stricken people. Mistaken by her false character, Orlando begins confessing his troubling love situation to Rosalind. Moreover, by assuming male identity, Rosalind is able to influence other characters to change their personalities. She could easily change the attitudes of Phoebe towards Silvius. Taken within the contexts of Elizabethan and Jacobean plays, Rosalind's act of cross dressing is subversive in certain way because " by exposing the fictiveness of gender difference, throws into question the hierarchization of men over women." Moreover, the easiness through which Rosalind changes her identity from female into male throws into question the fixability of gender roles as it implies constructiveness of these social roles. The act by itself is " empowering because it highlightened the performativity of gender roles" . …show more content…
The dramatic turn of events in the final act does not seem to support the protagonist's quest for total liberty from patriarchal constraints. The new established structure requires all subjects, especially recently empowered females, to give up most of their aspiration for liberty and pay allegiance to newly established
William Shakespeare is well known for being a poet, playwright, and actor. Shakespeare's work appears to be very sexist in gender roles. He uses gender roles in his 'Romeo & Juliet' play. Juliet being the main and most important female role in this play; is supposed to be noble and respectful, but instead she goes against her father’s wishes and acts more educated than she really is. Romeo being the main male role in this play is supposed to be focused and noble, but instead he is passionate in love and isn't very wise with decisions but in comparison to Paris, who is very masculine, focused and noble shows a real renaissance male. This paper will demonstrate how Shakespeare uses gender role reversement ; by having feminism and masculinity, arrangement of marriages, and compare and contrast of different characters to prove the model of genders in Elizabethan England.
Though its primary function is usually plot driven--as a source of humor and a means to effect changes in characters through disguise and deception—cross dressing is also a sociological motif involving gendered play. My earlier essay on the use of the motif in Shakespeare's plays pointed out that cross dressing has been discussed as a symptom of "a radical discontinuity in the meaning of the family" (Belsey 178), as cul-tural anxiety over the destabilization of the social hierarchy (Baker, Howard, Garber), as the means for a woman to be assertive without arousing hostility (Claiborne Park), and as homoerotic arousal (Jardine). This variety of interpretations suggests the multivoiced character of the motif, but before approaching the subject of this essay, three clarifica- tions are necessary at the outset.
Gender roles are one of the most controversial topics in the history of humanity. Some people approve of them, while others disagree with them. Gender roles are defined as “the behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms”. There are times throughout history where gender roles were very unfair. However, some individuals still defied them in both open and discreet ways. One of these individuals was the famous literary figure, William Shakespeare. Although Shakespeare may have defied gender roles in some of his other literary works, the scope of this essay will be limited to his stellar play, Macbeth. In Macbeth, Shakespeare mostly uses three characters to defy gender roles: The Three
Shakespeare’s tragic play Othello is an unfortunate example of gender bias, of sexism which takes advantage of women. The three women characters in the drama are all, in their own ways, victims of men’s skewed attitudes regarding women. Let us delve into this topic in this essay.
The general public may also have preferred strength in female characters as a reflection of pride for their beloved monarch who was one of the few highly competent English rulers in spite of her gender and the sexism of the time in which she lived. Regardless of his reasoning for scripting women the way he did, Shakespeare was most certainly an advocate for feminism when he wrote A Midsummer Night's Dream. From the feminist perspective, liberal thinking and open-mindedness like William Shakespeare are welcome to invade our modern literature and lives for the next four hundred years. Works Cited Greene, Lenz, Neely, eds., pp. 113-117
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.
Shakespeare's As You Like It is a good play for anyone to read or see. Some readers would enjoy one aspect of it, some would enjoy another. But all would, in general, enjoy the play. Albert Gilman says that Shakespeare intended to imply that all that people need to live together in harmony is "good sense, love, humor, and a generous disposition." (Gilman lxvii) This play is deeper than the surface, and that is part of its appeal to every kind of person.
Judith Butler’s concept of gender performativity suggests that there is a distinction between “sex, as a biological facticity, and gender, as the cultural interpretation or signification of that facticity” (Butler, 522). Performing certain actions that society associates with a specific gender marks you as that gender. In this way, gender is socially constructed. Alfar defines the societal expectation of women as the “constant and unquestioning feminine compliance with the desires of the masculine” (114). Considering Macbeth from a modern perspective and taking this distinction into account, it is necessary to determine if the play is concerned with sex or with gender. Before the action of the play even begins, the audience is warned that “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (1.1.11). The first scene of the play casts the world of Macbeth as a land where everything is opposite or disordered. This line at the very start of the play cautions audiences to not take the play at face value because things are not always as they appear to be. Because of this, “all the binaries become complicated, divisions blurred. Thus the binary nature of gender identities, male/female, is eliminated” (Reaves 14). In the world of Macbeth, the typical gender constructions are manipulated and atypical. If the play does not deal with sex, the qualities of Lady Macbeth cannot be applied to all women but rather, representative of society’s construction of gender, “the patriarch, and the limited, restrictive roles of women” (Reaves 11). Within this reading of Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare’s examination and questioning of gender construction allows modern day readers to recognize the enduring relevance of
In William Shakespeare’s tragic play Othello there are numerous instances of obvious sexism aimed at the three women in the drama -- Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca – and aimed at womankind generally. Let us delve into this subject in this paper.
The feminism of Shakespeare’s time is still largely unrecognized. Drama from the 1590’s to the mid-1600’s is feminist in sympathy. The author
William Shakespeare’s The Tempest provides dialogue that portrays the social expectations and stereotypes imposed upon women in Elizabethan times. Even though the play has only one primary female character, Miranda, the play also includes another women; Sycorax, although she does not play as large a roll. During many scenes, the play illustrates the characteristics that represent the ideal woman within Elizabethan society. These characteristics support the fact that men considered women as a mere object that they had the luxury of owning and were nowhere near equal to them. Feminists can interpret the play as a depiction of the sexist treatment of women and would disagree with many of the characteristics and expectations that make Miranda the ideal woman. From this perspective, The Tempest can be used to objectify the common expectations and treatment of women within the 16th and 17th Centuries and compare and contrast to those of today.
The Impact of Gender on Shakespeare’s Othello. In the book “Gender Trouble” (1990), feminist theorist Judith Butler explains “gender is not only a social construct, but also a kind of performance such as a show we put on, a costume or disguise we wear” (Butler). In other words, gender is a performance, an act, and costumes, not the main aspect of essential identity. By understanding this theory of gender as an act, performance, we can see how gender has greatly impacted the outcome of the play in William Shakespeare’s Othello.
At first glance, this transformation is a mere change of clothes and the addition of weapons, but it goes much deeper. To Rosalind, the taking on of a man’s appearance requires certain things. She believes that while dressed as a man, she cannot bring shame to the image of men. A good example of this is in Act 2, Scene 4, where she says, "I could find in my heart to disgrace my man’s apparel and to cry like a woman; but I must comfort the weaker vessel, as doublet and hose ought to show itself courageous to petticoat. (ll. 4-7). This is not the only time she mentions a doublet and hose. It seems almost that the doublet and hose are the actual source of strength for a man, as in the next example when Rosalind is begging Celia for an answer, saying, "Good my complexion! Dost thou think, / though I am caparisoned like a man, I have a Doublet and hose in my disposition?
"The androgynous woman literally incorporates the independence that the male was designed to exemplify prior to the introduction of woman, but the male who depends on a woman becomes effeminate and is perceived as missing something in the outline of maleness," (Rose, 25). While in the forest of Ardenne, Rosalind is dressing in and taking on the male persona.
Gender issues and social commentary are especially relevant in published criticism of Shakespeare's As You Like It since the beginning of the 1990's, as evidenced by the number of articles published in scholarly journals during the past twelve years. Janet Gupton's review in Theatre Journal, published in 2001as well as Louise Schleiner's article in the Shakespeare Quarterly in the fall of 1999, both deal with the treatment of gender-subjectivity.