The dramatic and thematic functions of two of the following primary female characters from different plays: Cordelia and Volumnia.
The primary characters Volumnia in Coriolanus, and Cordelia in King Lear provide much of the dramatic and thematic functions in Shakespeare’s respected tragedies. Volumnia plays a role in driving the main plot’s action forward, she does so by influencing Coriolanus in warfare and coaxing Rome’s war hero to aim at political power. Volumnia as a character ultimately represents Roman values and it is interesting that Shakespeare utilized a female character to reflect such masculine principles. Cordelia in King Lear serves as a source of the dramatic and thematic functions of the play by initiating much of plot’s action, though her physical presence in the play is not a focal point, her actions and disposition as a character trigger a considerable amount of the plays rising tensions. In this paper, I will argue that, although Shakespeare’s audiences would not perceive female characters as fundamentally significant to the play’s main action, through careful
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Before him he carries noise, and behind him he leaves tears. Death, that dark spirit, in's nervy arm doth lie, Which being advanced, declines; and then men die." (2.1. 144-147).The rhyming couplet Volumnia employs serves as the perfect description to the essence that which Coriolanus embodies. Here, Volumnia expresses the strength Coriolanus epitomizes as Rome's warrior. Her description connotes masculinity and such is an essential aspect she has employed as a parent in raising Coriolanus for who he has become. The masculine ideals that represent the pillars that sustain Coriolanus’ character were the ones she incorporated considerably in raising
Firstly we will commence by discovering how women are presented in Shakespeare’s play .Through-out the play women are presented as immature , impuissant characters : Lady Capulet & Juliet ,all women are regarded as possessions of men ,for them to do as they please . They are ornaments, they cannot speak their minds nor can they make their own decisions. Women are in the men’s shadows.
Pitt, Angela. “Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
It more becomes a man/ Than gilt his trophy. the breasts of Hecuba/ When she did suckle Hector, looked not lovelier/ Than Hector 's forehead when it spit forth blood/ At Grecian sword contemning” (1.3, 36-40). Volumnia believes that Coriolanus being bloodied is more lovelier than a mother breastfeeding her child. This is an incestuous thought that Volumnia is fantasizing about. Just as she did before with thinking about Coriolanus as her husband, she is now saying that she would get more pleasure from seeing Coriolanus bloodied than him performing the action of sucking on her breasts. As she does say again later on: “Thy valiantness was mine: thou suck 'st it from me” (3.2.129). This implication of Coriolanus sucking on her breasts is not only of a maternal concept, it is of a sexual act. A mother who ponders the thought of having sex with a husband who is her son further implies that her feelings for Coriolanus are more than just what a mother would have for her son. Coriolanus being bloodied and injured in battle portrays him as this handsome and brave warrior; a picture that excites Volumnia sexually enough to compare it to her son “suckling” her. This incestuous perspective of the play is a reflection of Volumnia’s true desire towards Coriolanus as he is her dream warrior. She raised him in a way that fulfilled her fantasy of a
It will be discussed whether Coriolanus’ difficult personality is due to his upbringing, and/or due to his own nature, men of his manner are not uncommon in the socio-political landscape, even in today’s day and age, and we may well be moved to wonder what formative childhood experiences shaped the personality of these difficult, although at times necessary leaders. Above all, Shakespeare's words seem to provide us with a simple, direct answer. But I intend to argue that the text also contains some signs that the history she provides is incomplete.
Pitt, Angela. "Women in Shakespeare's Tragedies." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare's Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Pitt, Angela. “Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Pitt, Angela. “Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Pitt, Angela. "Women in Shakespeare's Tragedies." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare's Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Neely, Carol. "Women and Men in Othello" Critical Essays on Shakespeare’s Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994.
Othello is one of Shakespeare’s four pillars of great tragedies. Othello is unique in comparison to the others in that it focuses on the private lives of its primary characters. When researching the subject of Othello being an Aristotelian tragedy, there is debate among some critics and readers. Some claim that Shakespeare did not hold true to Aristotle’s model of tragedy, according to his definition in “Poetics,” which categorized Othello as a classic tragedy as opposed to traditional tragedy. Readers in the twenty-first century would regard Othello a psychological thriller; it definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat creating the emotions of terror, heart break, and sympathy. This paper will focus on what Shakespeare actually intended regarding “Othello” and its Aristotelian influences.
This essay will discuss how Shakespeare depicts women in his works including Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice. As Shakespeare produced his work during the Renaissance period, this essay will also talk about how Shakespeare’s plays were written during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and how Shakespeare’s work may have paralleled the same view that society had of women and their role. Writing techniques used by Shakespeare such as the use of language in dialogue and cross-dressing will be considered in this essay, to show how women were perceived in his work and the controversy it caused to the society.
Neely, Carol. "Women and Men in Othello" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 68-90)
Othello has been described as one of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays because the play focuses on its themes of good and evil, military, politics, love and marriage, religion, racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality; but the controversy and debate surrounding Othello is “Why is Othello a qualification for a tragedy?”
From the expansion days of Ancient Rome to the fall of the Roman Empire, women have always succumbed to living subjacent to the status of their omnipotent and dominant male figures. After leaving her childhood home and the rule of her father, a young Roman girl would then be coerced into the dominion of her husband, often taking a plethora of roles, ranging from lover, caretaker, and best friend. It is often lightheartedly stated that, “Behind every great man is an even greater woman,” and William Shakespeare exemplifies this concept beautifully in Julius Caesar, in which he effectively used the spouses of the two main characters to add more depth, drama, and literary elements to the play, bringing it to life. Although the only two female characters in Julius Caesar, Portia and Calpurnia do not play a pivotal role in the overall plot of the story, their presence is vital in illuminating and developing the characters of their husbands, Brutus and Caesar. What they reveal about their husbands leads the reader to infer that Portia is the more admirable and redeeming character.
Twelfth Night or What You Will is one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies. It has been performed hundreds of times and adapted into a number of modern films. The main plot of the play follows Viola, a girl who is rescued from a shipwreck and enters into the service of the Duke Orsino disguised as a man. Rising quickly in his estimation, Viola begins delivering messages of love on his behalf to Olivia, a noble woman who has no interest in Orsino’s advances. Over the course of the play Olivia falls in love with the disguised Viola, Viola falls in love with Orsino, and Viola’s twin brother Sebastian, who supposedly died in the shipwreck, returns. Following Sebastian’s return the twins are mistaken for each other, leading to both misunderstanding and marriage in the final scenes of the play. Alongside the main plot of Twelfth Night is an almost equally prominent subplot involving Malvolio, a servant of Olivia, who falls in love with her and who falls prey to a prank planned by the other members of the household who despise his abhorrence of fun. In the article “The Design of Twelfth Night” by L.G. Salingar, Salingar examines the plot and structure of the play and addresses the significance of the subplot. The purpose of this essay is to examine both evidence from the play and articles from other authors, with a focus on Salingar, who have written on the subject in order to determine the purpose of the subplot. In his article, Salingar comes to the conclusion that the purpose of the subplot is to provide a comic mirror of the main plot while amplifying the main themes of delusion, misrule and festivity. Salingar presents a solid argument, however he has neglected another lesser but significant element of the sub-plot which illustrate...