Susan B. Anthony, a woman American civil rights leader said, “I shall earnestly and persistently continue to urge all women to the practical recognition of the old Revolutionary maxim. Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.” This quote directly relates to the stereotypical thinking about gender in both the Elizabethan Era and 19th century because women wanted to be recognized. In Chekhov’s, “The Lady with the Little Dog,” Dmitri Gurov experiences women to be the “lower race,” but when he meets Anna Sergeyovna he begins to think differently. One of Shakespeare’s works, Twelfth Night, depicts a love triangle that plays an important gender role. In addition, Viola/Cesario disguises herself in order to survive in the Illyria. In the film, Shakespeare in Love, Viola de Lesseps fools society by dressing as man, Thomas Kent, to follow Shakespeare, her love of the theater. The film reminds us repeatedly, a complex world where gender roles are uncertain, and things are seldom what they may seem. Anton Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Little Dog” and William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, along with the film Shakespeare in Love, depict the similarities of the Elizabethan Era and 19th century of women through induced character roles and powerful emotions. Shakepeare in Love comes closest to breaking the gender seal because the Viola uses clear and concise actions throughout the film.
In “The Lady with the Little Dog,” Chekhov’s character, Dmitri Gurov, an initial male chauvinist married man, has lust for many females, but changes to heart-felt love when he encounters Anna Sergeyovna. She counteracts Dmitri view of women as the “lower race” by using shy and constrained appearances to aid her throughout their meetings. Chekhov describes Anna as...
... middle of paper ...
.... “The Lady with the Little Dog,” finishes last because there is not enough character development towards gender relations, but rather more emphasis towards love.
Works Cited
Chekhov, Anton. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Comp. Robert DiYanni.
6th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007. Print.
"Movie Discussion Club Post #4: Shakespeare in Love." Web log post. Blogspot. Blogspot, 29 May 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. .
Perko, Ashley. Gender Role Reversal in Twelfth Night and The Rover. Essay. N.p.: n.p., n.d. MIT Open Course Ware. MIT, Mar.-Apr. 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. .
Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night Or, What You Will. Ed. Gayle Gaskill. Newburyport: Focus, 2012. Print.
The play Twelfth Night, or What You Will by William Shakespeare is a 1601 comedy that has proven to be the source of experimentation in gender casting in the early twenty-first century due to its portrayal of gender in love and identity. The play centrally revolves around the love triangle between Orsino, Olivia, and Viola. However, Olivia and Orsino both believe Viola is a boy named Cesario. Ironically, only male actors were on the stage in Shakespeare’s time. This means that Olivia, Viola, and other female characters were played by young boys who still had voices at higher pitches than older males.
"William Shakespeare, William. "Twelfth Night." Norton's Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York City: W.W. Norton & Co., 2010.
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, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
Wells, Stanley, and Gary Taylor, eds. "Twelfth Night, or What You Will". William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. Oxford: Clarendon P, 1998.
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
Lindheim, Nancy "Rethinking Sexuality and Class in Twelfth Night." University of Toronto Quarterly: A Canadian Journal of the Humanities 76.2 (2007): 679-713. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 6 Nov. 2009.
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.
William Shakespeare once told us, "All the World’s a Stage" —and now his quote can be applied to his own life as it is portrayed in the recent film, Shakespeare In Love. This 1998 motion picture prospered with the creative scripting of Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman and direction of John Madden. The combined effort of these men, on top of many other elements, produced a film that can equally be enjoyed by the Shakespeare lover for its literary brilliance, or for the romantic viewer who wants to experience a passionate love story.
Lindheim, Nancy "Rethinking Sexuality and Class in Twelfth Night." University of Toronto Quarterly: A Canadian Journal of the Humanities 76.2 (2007): 679-713. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 6 Nov. 2009.
Print. Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
Barton, Anne. Introduction to Twelfth Night. The Riverside Shakespeare. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. 403-407.
Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night revolves around a love triangle that continually makes twists and turns like a rollercoaster, throwing emotions here and there. The characters love each another, but the common love is absent throughout the play. Then, another character enters the scene and not only confuses everyone, bringing with him chaos that presents many different themes throughout the play. Along, with the emotional turmoil, each character has their own issues and difficulties that they must take care of, but that also affect other characters at same time. Richard Henze refers to the play as a “vindication of romance, a depreciation of romance…a ‘subtle portrayal of the psychology of love,’ a play about ‘unrequital in love’…a moral comedy about the surfeiting of the appetite…” (Henze 4) On the other hand, L. G. Salingar questions all of the remarks about Twelfth Night, asking if the remarks about the play are actually true. Shakespeare touches on the theme of love, but emphases the pain and suffering it causes a person, showing a dark and dismal side to a usually happy thought.
Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night Or, What You Will. New York, New York: New American Library, 1998. Print.
William Shakespeare has provided some of the most brilliant plays to ever be performed on the stage. He is also the author of numerous sonnets and poems, but he is best known for his plays such as Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Romeo and Juliet. In this essay I would like to discuss the play and movie, "Romeo and Juliet", and also the movie, Shakespeare in Love.