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patriarchy in shakespeare
shakespeare and gender roles
literature as a reflection of society
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Where does the Order Lie?
The social and political orders of William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure and Merchant of Venice vary, but still exhibit firm criticisms of the role of government within society. The conclusions of both of these plays return to their original order and the characters are resolved in their own ways. Measure for Measure gives the most demanding criticism of the role of political order out of most of Shakespeare’s plays. Through the actions of the Duke and Angelo, Shakespeare reveals the two distinct sides to patriarchal political order, punishment and forgiveness. Merchant of Venice shows the social order by the conflict that occurs between Shylock and Antonio. Through their conflict and eventual resolve, Shakespeare once again reveals his own personal criticisms of the justice system and a skewed image of the middle-class social order. Both of these plays represent different orders within society and also exhibit changes within them as the play progresses. The transformation and the eventual restoration of political and social order in these two Shakespeare plays provide certain similar criticisms about the role that order plays within the confines of society.
The political order in Measure for Measure is a strong, yet unstable patriarchy led by the Duke. The Duke orders Antonio to take his place and carry out Vienna’s “strict statutes and most biting laws” (1.1.19). These “strict statutes” and “laws” were obviously not carried out in the time of the Duke’s patriarchal reign over the city of Vienna. The Duke’s city is falling apart and is filled with sin and lechery. He gives his powers to Angelo, and according to the Duke, “Lent him our terror, dressed him with our love,” (1.1.20), signifying that there is only two ways to restore order, through passive forgiveness, or harsh punishment. These two very important aspects of the play are the essence of a patriarchal society in which Shakespeare criticizes throughout the play. Angelo represents the patriarchal order, and when he needed to he passed his power down to his deputy, which signifies a change in the political order in the play. By the conclusion of the play, the patriarch returns and everything returns back to the way it was at the beginning.
The original order in the beginning of Merchant of Venice lies within the conflict of the two characters, Shylock and Antonio. These two represent the social order that Shakespeare is criticizing throughout the play.
This plays similarly into Shakespeare’s parallel and distortion of tragedy and comedy, but in more profound way. Not only does it question free will and fate—but reality verses mirage. Shakespeare often explores the idea of dream and vision against fact and truth and as yet explores this theme in Measure for Measure. “Wrench awe from fools and tie the wiser souls to thy false seeming! Blood, thou art blood: let's write good angel on the devil's horn,” Angelo curses against himself. The duality of the characters and of the city itself is present throughout the play, and multiple questions of reality and truth permeate the essence of Measure for Measure. Measure for Measure often depicts testing and choosing as an instance of determining fate: each character has one or two single moments in which to make a momentous choice, which then determines much of the development within themselves and the plot or their circumstances. While Measure for Measure is infused with a sense of inevitability, character flaws, downfall, and irreversible fate, all which mark a tragedy, it plays upon and sometimes even reverses these elements, reflecting more comedic elements. Each character seems to be spiraling toward doom and certain destruction—but then there is a moment in which the Duke, acting as a benevolent meddler, gives
William Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Othello” shows how a manipulative villain can create chaos within a society. The play was written around the year 1603 and takes place in Venice Italy before it is repositioned to Cyprus. This Shakespearean tragedy shows the effects of jealousy, love, desire, betrayal and passion in a society with an imbalance of power in a race, gender, and social position.
Committing deceptive deeds not only hurt others, but also the ones who deceive. The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, is a romantic-comedy play about a Christian merchant named Antonio who agrees to a bond that a Jewish moneylender named Shylock, his enemy, creates to help his best friend Bassanio see Portia, an heiress whom he is in love with. Shylock warns Antonio that if he forfeits the bond, by not repaying him three thousand ducats, he must allow him to remove a pound of his flesh. Throughout the play, deceptive behaviour causes the moral values of individuals to decline. First, this is seen through wealth as it pertains to the desire to have what is valuable. Second, moral values decline when people deceive the family members that they encounter. Finally, deceiving others through love leads to a decline of moral values. In the play, The Merchant of Venice, deception, as seen through wealth, family encounters, and love, causes the moral
In King Lear, Shakespeare portrays a society whose emphasis on social class results in a strict social hierarchy fueled by the unceasing desire to improve one’s social status. It is this desire for improved social status that led to the unintentional deterioration of the social hierarchy in King Lear. This desire becomes so great that Edmund, Goneril, Reagan and Cornwall were willing to act contrary to the authority of the social hierarchy for the betterment of their own position within it. As the plot unfolds, the actions of the aforementioned characters get progressively more desperate and destructive as they realize their lack of success in attaining their personal goals. The goals vary, however the selfish motivation does not. With Edmund, Goneril, Reagan and Cornwall as examples, Shakespeare portrays the social hierarchy as a self-defeating system because it fosters desires in its members that motivate them to act against the authority of the hierarchy to benefit themselves. A consideration of each characters actions in chronological order and the reasons behind such actions reveals a common theme among the goals for which morality is abandoned.
Shakespearean works are well known for their depth, symbolism and philosophical view upon different aspects of life. Mirroring is one of Shakespeare’s favorite tools. Mirroring is used to emphasize the contrast and show differences between the sides of the society and ways of living of the characters. The Merchant of Venice is no exception. Just like all other plays of Shakespeare it has many of antagonisms and it portrays the most important and hot conflicts that used to be popular at that time just as much as they are now. Exploring this multi dimensional play is exciting, because the more you think about it, the more hints and tints you discover. The play takes place in two main locations – Venice and Belmont. These two places portray two different lifestyles. One of the most important and essential themes of the Merchant of Venice is wealth. Shakespeare has a special view of this subject; he sees love as a form of wealth (Milton 34). Venice represents earning of money, accumulating it, protecting it, fighting for it; and at the same time Belmont demonstrates having money an all other life’s pleasures, this is why life in Belmont is so happy, slow and peaceful, and the whole location is so dreamlike. Being rich and having nothing to worry about is a dream of most people. To my mind, Belmont and Venice present two different sides of wealth.
Through the use of the differing positions the characters take in the hierarchy of society, Shakespeare shows that people on opposite sides of the spectrum can be swayed by desire, bringing out the chaos in supposed order.
The portrayal of gender roles in William Shakespeare’s play Othello, demonstrates the inferior treatment of women and the certain stereotypes of men placed on them by society. Both the male and female characters in the play have these certain gender expectations placed on them. In a society dominated by men, it is understood that the women are to be seen rather than heard. The women are referred to and treated much like property. If indeed they do speak up, they are quickly silenced. One woman’s attempt to be the perfect wife is what ultimately led to her demise. The expectations of men are equally stereotypical. Men are to be leaders and to be in control and dominant especially over the women. The male characters compete for position and use the female characters in the play as leverage to manipulate each other. Shakespeare provides insight in understanding the outcomes of the men and women who are faced with the pressures of trying to live up to society’s expectations, not only in the workplace, but also in the home. The pressure creates jealousy issues amongst the men and they become blind to the voice of reason and are overtaken by jealous rage, leads to the death of many of the characters.
In the play The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, there is a concept of otherness throughout the play. Many characters had roles in which they were examples of the outsiders, that occurred during the time the play was written. If not all but in most plays by William Shakespeare, there is always a character who is categorized as the outsider. However, The Merchant of Venice took the concept into a deeper level, instead of depicting differences in social class as otherness, the play included race and religion, instead of social class. These beliefs shaped not only the way the play was written, but how the characters treated certain individuals in the play and how the personality of each character
...ivisive agent, actually been voided, or only cast aside? Is Shylock and Antonio’s code of honor truly obsolete? A sense of false sincerity permeates the final scene. The temporal ambiguity between night and day with which the play ends suggests that a complete resolution has not been achieved. In being neither night nor day, it ends in a kind of dramatic unreality. Metatheatrical in its elevation of words and language, The Merchant of Venice is consciously distinct from the realism of the off-stage world. And yet in the course of its five acts, the play fails to define a solid dramatic “otherworld,” in which new values and authorities are introduced and made permanent. Rather, it seems to end ambiguously, and fragmented. It falls short of true resolution, and concludes with a statement of shortcoming, informing us that there are still “two hours to day” (V.i.325).
Within ‘Measure for Measure’ Shakespeare presents the notion that mankind's corruption is not necessarily born by power, but rather already innate in humanity. Shakespeare argues that power is not a producer of corruption by presenting the Duke, who holds the most power, as a moral hero, and conversely revealing the corruption of the powerless class (through characters like, Pompey, Mistress Overdone, and Barnadine). Shakespeare uses Lord Angelo in Measure for Measure to show that corruption is innate within mankind whilst Angelo is a symbolism for pharisaical fanaticism in the play.
Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is a simple story line with three distinct plot lines incorporated into each other intricately. These three plot lines are the bond plot, the casket plot, and the ring plot, each equally vital to the meaning and conclusion of the play. In this essay, I will discuss the roles of the characters in the plot, the symbols, images, and rhetorical figures central to each plot, and finally how the events of the three plots are intertwined. The first sign that the three plot lines are intertwined is that the characters involved in each plot overlap. However, each of these characters plays a different role in each plot line.
William Shakespeare shows how two tradesmen can have completely different lives when others view them differently in the play The Merchant of Venice. In the play, Bassanio, Antonio’s friend, needs money to pursue his love. They seek a loan from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender in Antonio’s name. The contract is for three times the value of the bond in three months or else Shylock cuts off a pound of flesh from Antonio. While all this is happening, there are love plots going on. One of which is for Shylock’s daughter to elope with Lorenzo, a Christian. Later on, Antonio’s source of money, his ship, is reported sunken in the English Channel, dooming him to the loss of one pound of his flesh. There is a trial on the bond, and when it seems sure that Antonio will die, Portia, disguised as a doctor of laws legally gets Antonio out of the situation and Shylock recieves harsh penalties. Antonio and Shylock, two similar businessmen of Venice, are viewed differently and are treated oppositely to heighten the drama of the play and mold a more interesting plot.
Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice contains many themes and elements that are considered timeless or universal. Samuel Taylor Coleridge defines a timeless or universal element as a “representation of men in all ages and all times.” A universal element is relevant to the life of every human being – it is universal. The first major theme that plays an important role in the play is the Christians’ prejudice against the Jews. A second important theme is the attitude toward money. Perhaps the most important theme of the play is the love between people. This love can occur between the same sex, or the opposite sex, platonic or romantic. In Merchant of Venice, the three timeless elements are prejudice, money, and love.
In this essay I will try to discover is Shylock a villain or a victim, in the William Shakespeare play “A Merchant of Venice”
The title of Measure for Measure is taken from the Bible: "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” This quotation from Christ 's Sermon on the Mount, stating generally that each individual will be judged as harshly as he has judged others, implies that mercy and human sympathy should temper justice. This passage comes from Matthew and is reinforced again in Mark. Shakespeare named this story so because of the way Angelo attempted to judge the people of Vienna, more particularly, Claudio. Angelo, though saved from death by the warming hand of Isabella, will soon receive the judgement he so evilly placed upon some of the citizens. Claudio was guilty of something, though was not in deservance of death and Angelo was seen as an evil dictator; Shakespeare identified this in the fact that he used the gospel to derive his story “Measure for Measure.” Shakespeare was not playing around when he named this play what he did, he was showing a clear understanding of the sermon on the mount, and paving the way for the reader to easily identify his motive of reinforcement of this sermon within his own