Patriarchy In Othello Analysis

In act 1, scene 5, when the ghost commands Hamlet to seek revenge, Hamlet first curses his mother “That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain!”. Women were expected to instantly obey any male in the family and Gertrude follows orders without hesitation, most likely in fear of being punished she says “I shall obey you” in Act 3. The women in Shakespeare are consistently loyal to the men in their lives, no matter what the circumstances, which is not fair at all to women. By saying women must be loyal to men, even if they treat them poorly makes women completely lesser to men and allows them to walk all over women. Men all over in Hamlet share the same opinion on women and believe their actions are okay.

Dorine is a foil for Mariane, because she has no trouble speaking her mind and is clever enough to “...get [Mariane] out of this appalling mess.” (Moliere 57) Dorine cares about Mariane, and pushes her to stand up for herself. This is difficult for Mariane, because she has most likely never defied the orders of her father or placed her own happiness before her father’s wishes. Because of his obsession with Tartuffe, Orgon will not see reason, so Dorine must use her wits to expose Tartuffe and save Mariane.

This speech reveals to us that not only is Hamlet incredibly dismal over his fathers death and the wedding, but he holds a very low opinion of himself. Not only is he so upset that he contemplates suicide, he also compares himself as opposite Hercules, who is heroic and strong. Hamlet also reflects greatly on the theme of corruption. He reveals the corruption of his uncle who is a unfit for old Hamlet 's crown and has married his brothers wife without properly grieving for his brother. Hamlet also explains his mothers corruption as she appeared to be in love with Hamlet 's father yet was corrupt in her quick remarriage with little grief for her fallen love.

In Hamlet, the women, Ophelia and Gertrude are portrayed as subordinate to the men around them and are dependent on them for their social standing, power, and influence. Hamlet is ranting on his mother 's hasty marriage to his Uncle Claudius. Ophelia laments over Hamlet leaving her in ruins, with nothing left to live for. Let me not think on 't; frailty, thy name is woman!(1.2.141-150). By Gis and by Saint Charity, Alack and fie for shame, Young men will do 't, if they come to 't; By Cock, they are to blame.

Hamlet’s views on women is adulterous which pertains to the misogynistic tendencies in the play; thus, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, sparks up his misogynistic approaches. Hamlet is repulsed with Gertrude since she was quick to re-wed immediately following Old Hamlet’s death and cries: “She married. O, most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” (1.2.156-157). Hamlet is shocked that his mother remarries to Claudius, Old Hamlet’s brother, before letting the tears on her cheek to dry.

Cordelia tells Lear she loves him as much as a daughter should love their father. Lear gets furious and banishes her from his kingdom. Lear gets kicked out of his own castle eventually by his two “loving” daughters.

Oberon belittles Titania with words and actions in an attempt to gain not only the upper hand, but the Indian boy. It presents his capability to set aside emotion in order to get his way. When Titania refuses to hand over the Indian boy, Oberon becomes furious and plots his revenge by putting love potion on her eye (2.1.179-183). Oberon’s motive proves his willingness to perform any action for his benefit, even if it takes away from his wife. His reaction further emphasizes his feelings for his wife and the diversification to Theseus’s.

The play King Lear by William Shakespeare is an ultimate in tragic downfall as it depicts an old King and his vassal's children deceive them and remove them from their political positions, as well as their positions as fathers. Throughout the play, Lear and the Duke of Gloucester become less and less important, due to their children's fight for power. As a result of this diminishing importance, both men experience a crippling of their masculinity. Lear asks his daughters, Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia to express their love for him, ”Which of you shall we say both love us most," (Shakespeare, I, i, 56). After he says this, his daughters Regan and Goneril confess to him all their love, telling him that no one will ever have their love like their father does.

In this case, both love & hate are shown. After hearing that Romeo has slain Tybalt & will be banished, Juliet cries for a long while about Romeo’s banishment, telling her parents it is due to Tybalt’s death. Her parents, feeling they need to do something to stop her endless weeping, set up a second marriage for her (not knowing about the first one) to the county Paris. When Lord Capulet tells her of this, instead of having his expected reaction, she refuses. Her father becomes enraged with her & begins to hate her actions, and tells her she will not be a part of the Capulet family anymore unless she accepts.

On the contrary, Cordelia sees through the meaninglessness of speech and says nothing about her love. Infuriated, the King disowns Cordelia and divides his kingdom between his two remaining daughters who soon plots to kill him. Meanwhile, Gloucester keeps on demeaning his illegitimate son, Edmund, in public. Vengeful,

In Shakespeare 's play, King Lear, it is brutally obvious that Lear is strongly disliked, or even hated by his two older daughters, Goneril and Regan. In the novel A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley, Ginny’s and Rose’s hatred for their father doesn’t appear to be too over the top until the reasons they hate him so much are finally revealed. Both sets of sisters eventually end up retaliating against their fathers after they are given his land. Some may say that the daughters actions against their fathers was cruel, atrocious, and wrong; however, an argument could be made that their actions were justified by how their father had previously treated them. Perhaps Lear and Larry deserved to be treated as they were.

Throughout Sophocles’ tragic play, Antigone, main characters King Kreon and Antigone dramatically argue without compromise over the burial of recently deceased brother of Antigone, Polyneices. Antigone, while attempting to mourn for her family, symbolically buries Polyneices, going against the King’s decree (93-100). Out of anger, and an effort to establish his power, Kreon sentences her to an undeserving death just because she decided to respect her kin (441-496). In this case, I sympathize with Antigone more than Kreon because she peacefully acts on her beliefs knowing the consequences at stake. It takes a lot to stand up for what you believe in, especially knowing that the outcome will not bode well for you.

“Suitors plague my mother-against her will-/… By god, it’s intolerable, what they do-disgrace,/ my house a shambles!” (Homer. 2. 55- 68) is an excerpt from Telemachus’ speech to rid the suitors. He literally tells the suitors that they are leeches and they lack the guts to properly ask for his mother’s hand in marriage by asking her father.

In Scene 1 Act 2 she says “Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet; I pray thee stay with us; go not to Wittenberg" (1.2,18-19) she’s trying to protect Hamlet but not seeing that she’s actually hurting him. What made Hamlet mad was that she had married her uncle two months after his father’s death. Gertrude causes the main problem in Hamlet’s life and she does it by only thinking of herself.

One can note that Lady Capulet never says a positive word about the man that she married, yet speaks more highly of the father of the man her daughter married. A reader might find it interesting how paralleled Juliet and her mother are. Had Lady Capulet chosen love, she could have been dead like Juliet. Had Juliet chosen duty, she could have ended up in her mother’s shoes, married to a man that she doesn’t like or