ipl-logo

Gender Roles In William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

538 Words3 Pages

I think a person’s gender shouldn't matter too much in the role they play in their day to day life. Gender roles have been around forever. They have gotten a lot better, but women and men are still labeled to certain things and jobs. The traditional way of life would be for the man to do all of the hard work and have a job. On the other hand, the woman should stay at home so she can watch the kids and have time for cleaning and cooking. The man was always supposed to be in charge and the woman just go along with it. These gender roles used to be pretty strict and there was no other way to life, but we have come along way. Today, we even have a woman running for president. Overall, I think a person’s gender shouldn’t affect they go about their day to day life, but unfortunately, even though it has gotten better, people are still labeled and have expectations because of it. For example, in the play, Orsino was expected to be very manly and to be the duke of Illyria. He needed to be in charge and take control since he was the man and in charge. Since he was so in love with Lady Olivia, he needed to make the first move and he should be the one to do all of the work. Orsino showed that he needed to be manly and needs to be in control because of his gender. In act two scene four, he was talking about how the man should be …show more content…

I think he resembled the typical male character very well being very full of himself. He was a prankster and always trying to cause trouble. His gender roles showed him being above everyone and being very carefree. He made a complete fool of himself because he was so in love with Lady Olivia. In act two scene five when Maria forged a letter confessing love to Malvolio from Olivia he was willing to go above and beyond for the woman he loved by dressing strangely with yellow tights and acting insane. It showed how far he would go for the woman he liked being very bold and taking charge like the gender roles of a

Show More
Related

  • Who Is Responsible For Othello's Downfall

    882 Words  | 4 Pages

    The characteristics of Othello includes passion, obligation, courage, jealousy and intelligence. These are great characteristics to have, but proves to eventually lead to Othello’s demise. Othello was a foreigner from Africa who was sort of accepted into the Venetian society, only because of his excellent track record of winning wars, but he was an outsider and never fully accepted. Othello enjoyed the status and luxuries of being a General and leading the defense of Venice. He also understood that he

    Read More

  • Essay On Gender Roles In Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus

    251 Words  | 2 Pages

    Similar to Hamlet, Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus is very male-dominated with only two prominent women: Tamora and Lavinia. These two leading ladies are complete opposites in this play, however Shakespeare structures them both to meet society’s destructive patriarchal roles. Tamora, the object of male desire and Lavinia a strong woman victimized by a male-controlled society. Lavinia and Tamora’s conflicting traits are demonstrated in Act II, Scene III when Tamora’s sons prepare to sexually assault Lavinia and Tamora refuses to acknowledge Lavinia’s pleas for her feminine compassion. Lavinia curses at Tamora, “No grace, no womanhood?

    Read More

  • Why Does Iago Hate Othello

    798 Words  | 4 Pages

    Why does he hate Othello so much? He first believes that Othello passed him over for a higher position as lieutenant and gave the promotion to Cassio. Second, he thinks that Othello may have slept with his wife. He cannot prove the latter but has such a deep hatred for Othello that he does anything to cause destruction to Othello as well as the rest of the characters.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Shakespeare's Taming Of The Shr

    465 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ever wonder about gender roles in Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew? In Taming of the Shrew, the gender roles affect the characters in a rather negative way, and when they surface in the play, it’s rather shocking. This essay will discuss how gender roles affect the characters in what I believe is a negative way, and how they surface in the play. In this play, the men appear to have a particular idea on how all women should behave.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Misogyny In Romeo And Juliet

    778 Words  | 4 Pages

    Their tough archetypes were always present in many plays and reinforced the idea of male superiority. This fact held true, especially for a certain tragic classic by William Shakespeare. There was a misogynistic mentality towards women in Romeo and Juliet, evident through the way women were shown as objects, portrayed as weak, and made to seem unable to dictate their own lives. Men in Romeo and Juliet could be seen acting like owners towards women. Women were seen as nothing more than possessions, as illustrated when Romeo first described Juliet as, “My lady…/my love” (II.ii.10).

    Read More

  • Othello Rhetoric Analysis

    1095 Words  | 5 Pages

    As soon as he leaves Venice, Othello can no longer rely on the Venetian senators to provide order and reason. Instead he assumes all roles, becoming judge, jury, prosecutor, and executioner. Though Othello tries to remain a Venetian, his character prevents him from doing so. To put it in Machiavellian terms, true Venetians, like the senators and Iago, are foxes while Othello is a lion. Acting as a lion, Othello is impulsive and obsessive and acts with force rather than careful reason.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Hamlet Essay

    1478 Words  | 6 Pages

    Throughout Hamlet, the thoughts, intentions, and actions of all of the characters can be explained through predisposed gender roles in the play. Hamlet is a tragedy in which the main character, Hamlet, attempts to seek vengeance for his father’s murder, while the relationships with him and around him begin to strain. In the play, gender plays a huge role in assuming the capability and worth of people. Women are most commonly depicted as being weak, powerless, and confused, while men are commonly shown as being strong, analytical, and intuitive. Hamlet features Ophelia and Gertrude as the only two female roles, and even then they show little independence from the males.

    Read More

  • Women Being Objectified In Shakespeare's Othello

    542 Words  | 3 Pages

    Each female character is treated by men as a possession. However, there are also moments when they are presented as confident and challenge a male authority. This would have been exiting for Shakespeare’s female Elizabethan audience as women

    Read More

  • Homosexuality In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

    1112 Words  | 5 Pages

    William Shakespeare’s works, written primarily from the late eighteen hundreds to the very early sixteen hundreds, have long been the subject of academic debates and analysis. Potent with double entendres, metaphors, and social commentary, it is easy to apply queer theory to Shakespeare’s plays, notably Twelfth Night, written in 1601. Though Twelfth Night’s ending pushes its characters into traditional heterosexual romances and binary gender roles to satisfy the genre and placate conservative Elizabethan audiences, the characters in the comedy defy tradition by exploring homosexual love and expression of gender. The most apparent homosexual themes are present in the relationship between Antonio and Sebastian.

    Read More

  • Sexism In A Midsummer Night's Dream

    1910 Words  | 8 Pages

    Throughout history, men have always dominated. They never let a woman rise to power or have the same rights. This sexism has been ingrained in society for thousands of years, so much so that it has defined some of the most famous works of literature, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This play was written during the Elizabethan Era, an era in which a woman had all the power imaginable (Queen Elizabeth), and yet, women were still severely discriminated against. Women had no say whatsoever in their society; they were not allowed to vote and they had very few legal rights (Papp, Joseph, Kirkland).

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Romeo And Juliet

    1408 Words  | 6 Pages

    In today’s world, gender expectations and roles of men and women are a highly debated topic. However, the reconsidering of these expectations is not a new phenomenon. Set in Verona, Italy, the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare explores the reversal and fluidity of characteristics usually assigned to a specific gender. In this play, two young people fall in love and end up tragically taking their lives as a result of their forbidden love. Shakespeare suggests that men are not necessarily masculine, women are not necessarily feminine, and that when people are forced by society to act the way their gender is “supposed” to, problems will arise.

    Read More

  • Iago's Perception Of Women In Othello

    395 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shakespeare’s play Othello, the male characters perceive woman as property of their own who have to be submissive and they treat them as adulterous. The male characters in Othello perceive women characters as promiscuous and adulterous. Iago being the character who strongly shows his perception that woman are promiscuous by concluding that his wife has deceive him with Othello and Cassio. Moreover, Iago creates and immoral image of Desdemona persuading Othello of this lie, ultimately, Othello convinces himself that Desdemona is a promiscuous.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In A Midsummer Night's Dream

    1898 Words  | 8 Pages

    “And though she be but little, she is fierce” -William Shakespeare. In today’s day and age, one of the greatest topics of debate is gender roles. It is evident everywhere, from cyberspace to the streets of home, from online petitions to marches across the country such as the Women’s March. Shakespeare lived in the Elizabethan Era of England, where Queen Elizabeth I, the virgin queen ruled.

    Read More

  • Patriarchal Society In King Lear

    1987 Words  | 8 Pages

    In the 16th century, not only in England but also almost in all the countries, all the families were “under” the patriarchal society. A patriarchy, from the ancient Greek patriarches, was a society where power was held by and passed down through the elder males. When modern historians and sociologists describe a "patriarchal society," they mean that men hold the positions of power: head of the family unit, leaders of social groups, boss in the workplace and heads of government. Unfortunately, this fact still exists, even today in the 21st century in many countries, especially in the Muslim countries where women have restricted rights. Patriarchal society, manhood, and the sense of masculinity, in my opinion, raise two main issues: the issue

    Read More

  • Male-Female Relationships In Othello

    1025 Words  | 5 Pages

    She is bounded to him emotionally and inwardly, thus she invariably believes the best of him. Her utmost loyalty to him is a result of her naive, obedient and passive nature. Her love for him is unconditional, and her senses are dimmed due to her absolute devotion to Othello. Consequently, she approaches and analyzes his anger, and their arguments emotionally rather than logically. She was loyal to Othello even after he committed murder to her, which is utterly against the moral values .

    Read More

More about Gender Roles In William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

Open Document