Shakespeare wrote many entries based on his feelings at that moment. The basis of many of his female characters was brought about by these certain emotions. The women in Shakespeare's writings emphasize many of the characteristics that reflect his own personality.
Shakespeare bases many of his plays and poems on his moods.It is often said when writers write of what emotional state they are in, their words form the essence of their works. Shakespeare's moods, whether dark or romantic, have brought about many excellent plays that still touch the hearts of many to this day. (Kellog 225 -256)
An example of his romantic mood is found in his play Romeo & Juliet. The strong love between the two reflected Shakespeare's love for his wife Anne. The bonds of love drive the "two star-crossed lovers" to disobey their families in hopes that their true love will unites the mortal enemies forever. In turn it pushes everyone to the edge. Juliet's father partially disowns her because she refuses to marry the suitor he has chosen for her. In effort to keep her and Romeo's love alive, Juliet takes a drug that makes her seem as though she were dead. (O' Conner 69)
In the hour of her "fake" funeral, Romeo's friend Balthasar misinterprets Juliet's death. He flees to Mantua, which is where Romeo is exiled for slaying Tybalt. Romeo, not knowing of Juliet and the priest's actions, believes that story he was told to be true. He then returns to Verona a sad and forlorned man. (o' conner 127)
Upon his return, Romeo purchases poison so that he may join his true love at the gates of heaven. He arrives at the church and approaches the supposedly dead Juliet. He allows himself one last hug and kiss before they are to meet again. As Romeo drinks the poison, Juliet awakens to find her love dying before her. When Romeo dies, Juliet feels the only way they can be together is in death. Therefore, Juliet falls on Romeo's sword so they can reunite again. Romeo & Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous romantic tragedies. (O' conner 217)
Another characteristic that Shakespeare posses and gives to his female characters is religious beliefs. During the Renaissance period, women were very active in religion. They were only allowed to speak their minds in church so that is where they spent most of their time (sachs 17). The belief of the Renaissance time was that men ruled over their wives, as parents did children, as kings did coutries, and as God rules over all.
William Shakespeare’s writing reflected and at times emphasized the gender oriented stereotypical roles and responsibilities of the English Renaissance. However, many Shakespearean characters including Benedick and Beatrice of Much Ado About Nothing challenged the standard image and characteristics of men and women.
Romeo and Juliet were soon married and later that afternoon Juliet's cousin Tybalt kills Mercutio during a small fight in the street. Romeo sees this injustice and upon impulse kills Tybalt in revenge. Under the advice of his friends he flees the scene of the murder. Soon the prince finds out and he banishes Romeo from Verona. That same day Juliet finds out that her lover Romeo has been banished for killing her beloved cousin and she threatens to kill herself. She goes to friar Lawrence's cell and he gives her a strong sleeping potion. This strong potion will put her to sleep for a few hours so then she will appear dead; and not have to marry Paris like her father had arranged for her.
Neely, Carol Thomas. “Shakespeare’s Women: Historical Facts and Dramatic Representations.” Shakespeare’s Personality. Ed. Norman N. Holland, Sidney Homan, and Bernard J. Paris. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. 116-134.
Imagine being a woman in sixteenth century Europe. Females were raised to believe that they were subservient and that men knew better on any subject. Basically, women had no rights. They were considered property, first “owned” by their fathers and then control was “transferred” to the husband chosen for them. Marriage was not about love, but in most cases, it was a business deal that was mutually beneficial to both families – an interesting fact is that like young women, most young men had no choice in the selection of their future betrothed. These traditions and the gender roles assumed by men and women at that time had an impact on Shakespeare’s writing and performances and a great example of this is evident in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
...e independent thinkers and advocates for their rights as women. In a time where women were not even able to act on the stage, Shakespeare created two strong characters that challenged the very ideals of Puritanical, Elizabethan society.
Neely, Carol Thomas. "Shakespeare's Women: Historical Facts and Dramatic Representations." In Holland, Norman N., Sidney Homan, and Bernard J. Paris, eds. Shakespeare's Personality. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.
Shakespeare connects the behavior of women from his Elizabethan society to a Patriarchal Venetian society.
However, there was an intense moment of despair when Romeo was caught in a brawl and banished away. This was an emotional time, for the two had just gotten married. Romeo went away that night and Juliet sobbed for days. Everyone tried to comfort her, but only Juliet’s secret lover could heal her throbbing heart. This emotion is displayed yet again when Romeo finds that Juliet is “dead”. He is so torn apart that he decides to join his love with a bottle of baneful toxin. She then wakes up from a deathly slumber to find her lover dead. Out of anguish, Juliet pierces herself with his dagger.
Shakespeare was clearly ahead of his time with his view of women. He likely drew inspiration for his female characters from Elizabeth I, the English monarch at the time. Like Beatrice, Elizabeth I was a strong and very independent woman, she was the sole ruler of England during her reign as she never married. Elizabeth I was a strong ruler, defying the traditional gender roles for women, which Shakespeare would have drawn from for his characters.
...These characters all show traits of wittiness, determination and strength. The traits Queen Elizabeth expressed as she ruled England, a single woman taking on a man’s job. Shakespeare included these characters in his play because he knew the Queen would enjoy seeing characters that portrayed her; it showed a sign a respect towards her. The Queen supported the theatre and Shakespeare in his work. Shakespeare thanks her by giving her females characters leads in his play with characteristics of her reflected in them. Queen Elizabeth ruled throughout Shakespeare’s life so it would influence him in his writings. She showed him through her rulings that she was a feminist. She did whatever it took to get what she wanted and to rule her country, she showed fierceness and compassion. Shakespeare took these characteristics and portrayed them in his female characters.
“Gender hardly determines the nature of a character, in the plays of Shakespeare. It is for this very reason, that his plays are read, viewed and enjoyed by both the sexes equally, even after five hundred years of their composition” (Singh). Gender is not something that defines what a character is going to be like in Shakespeare’s plays. This quote illuminates that in Shakespeare’s writings females and males were on equal level playing fields when it came to their traits. Females during the time period were considered inferior to men.
In the end, we can conclude that Shakespeare used a very conservative world view in his play, “Othello”. Using the characters of Othello, Desdemona, and Iago, Shakespeare reinforced the stereotypes of his time. In conclusion, gender expectations have greatly impacted the outcome of Shakespeare’s play, “Othello”, because the script of the play has reinforced the stereotypes such as girls who resist their fathers die, women who marry different race, class, and cultures die, and women who decide their own destiny die at the end. Through “Othello”, Shakespeare portrays women in a patriarchal system, and the result of the play is the consequences of gender disruptions. Therefore, there is no doubt that the gender expectations placed on both male and female characters have greatly impacted the outcome of Shakespeare’s play “Othello”.
The play Othello is presented as a male-dominated society where women are only recognized as property; objects to own and to bear children. Women in the Elizabethan society and in Shakespeare society were not seen as equal to men and were expected to be loyal to their husbands, be respectful, and to not go against their husbands judgements or actions. Shakespeare presents Desdemona, Emilia , and Bianca as women in the Elizabethan time where they were judged based on their class, mortality, and intelligence. Shakespeare makes his female characters act the way they would be expected to act in an Elizabethan society. The role of these women in Othello is crucial because they show how women were treated and how unhealthy their relationships between men really were in both Elizabethan and Shakespeare's society.
Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew and Ibsen’s A Doll’s House portray women in many ways. Both authors have strong feelings about women and weren’t afraid to express them in their writing. Shakespeare’s views about women differed greatly with those of Ibsen’s. Both Kate, from Taming of the Shrew, and Nora, from A Doll’s House, were mistreated by the men in their lives. Throughout this paper you will hear supporting details about how the two authors had contrasting ideas about the way men should treat women.
The process of alcoholic fermentation begins with the use of enzymes. The enzymes begin to break down the long chains in starch molecules, a polysaccharide that consists of a large quantity of glucose molecules (C6H12O6) joined by glycosidic bonds as seen in figure 1, into single glucose molecules, a monosaccharide with six carbons and five hydroxyl groups. After the starch has become sugar, the enzymes are used once again, this time to convert the sugars into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide, CO2, as seen in figure 2 (World of Scientific Discovery, 2007). The carbon dioxide produced is released into the atmosphere, leaving water and ethanol, the alcohol, behind. Ethanol is a colorless flammable liquid with a molecular formula of C2H6O, giving it a molar mass of 46.07 grams per mole. Ethanol is also characterized by a melting point of -114°C or 159 K.