Essay On Gender Roles In Twelfth Night

It is time to discuss the meaning of gender, its significance, its importance, and how this could play a major part in one’s life. What is gender you might ask? Could it determine the role you play if you may play a role at all? Gender is socially learned and reinforced characteristics that include one’s biological sex and psychological characteristics. It is said that gender has nothing to do with male or female. However, we can say that Shakespeare has a way of being sexist in his playwrights, or having a sexist attitude. Let us say just because you are female you could not get a job, nowadays this is considered discrimination, but during the Elizabethan times this was a way a life. Could we say that Shakespeare wrote his plays this way because he himself was truly sexist, or was it solely based upon the way of life during this time. We really do not know much about

When you are ready to dive into the vast world of Shakespeare, you can begin by using what is known as a critical lens. The lens that may help you understand the background details of one of Shakespeare’s plays would be the Historical lens. Although there are many different lens that you can use to interpret a story, the Historical Lens is a great lens to dive into to find what really influenced the great ideas of William Shakespeare as he wrote Hamlet including the role gender plays, the comparison of Elizabeth Tudor, and the religious incorporation throughout the play.

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.

During the Elizabethan period, the role of women in society was very different from what it is today. According to the system of patriarchal society that dictated that women were inferior to men, they had to obey the male figures in their lives. The woman was seen as the weaker sex either physically or emotionally which meant that it was entirely dependent on her husband if married and members of his family if single. Moreover, in the Elizabethan theater, women were not allowed to play because of this hierarchy. Therefore, they were replaced by men disguised as women. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, published in 1601, women play a very special role. First, it should be noted that there are only two women in the room: Gertrude and Ophelia. By developing the role

Ancient plays throughout different cultures in history contained all male cast, failing to even cast women as they were deemed inferior. Tradition held that the culture in western societies restricted women’s roles. Even as female characters were indeed written in certain plays, the role were portrayed by a male. They regarded women being able to portray these roles as dangerous and that having men play them “neutralized” the danger it possessed. The Greek’s and the Roman’s both held these views making it impossible for women to be on stage.

Equal treatment of the sexes is a cause many have been fighting for, for decades, and in this case, centuries. Slight rebellious acts of women bending gender norms can be seen as far back as Shakespearean plays, in particular, Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing. Olivia from Twelfth Night, and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing showcase characteristics of being opinionated, assertive, and strong-willed; qualities that were rarely seen during that time period. Much Ado About Nothing was written around 1598 and Twelfth Night was written around 1601, which was the Elizabethan era. During the Elizabethan era, women were raised to think that they were inferior to men. The church also believed this notion and would quote Genesis: "...thy

Elizabethan and Jacobean England was an exceptionally hierarchical society, where social order and class remained stringent and impermeable. King Lear and Twelfth Night are examples of how William Shakespeare dramatically engaged with these stratified boundaries by focusing on the characters who attempted to transgress and subvert them. However, as one investigates these social shackles, a ‘social order paradox’ can be found according to Whitney Graham. Graham defines this as,

Shakespeare is often referred to as a man before his time, or even called a feminist. He revered amongst many audience members for his use of the woman in his plays. Others disagree, saying Ole Willy Shakes is a misogynist who hated women. Neither of the extremes is completely accurate, and neither have claims that could be taken very far. Shakespeare lives somewhere between being a feminist and being a misogynist, he uses female character radically; for his time at least. As explained by Bianca-Oana Petrut, “Despite the relative insignificance of women in Elizabethan social order, Shakespeare uses them in many significant ways. He seems to be extremely sensitive to the importance of women in society even though they are often overlooked. The idea that men are often a product of the women in their lives is indirectly suggested in the significant impact women have on the men in plays.” (Petrut) Stating the obvious; Petrut is saying that it is the women in Shakespeare who run the plays, not the men. It may seem like Shakespeare treats his female characters worse than his male characters, but it is his female characters that drive the plot

Feminism has erupted over the past century. The theme of patriarchy has ruled over women for centuries. With the uprising of the critique of patriarchy, more feminists have analyzed Shakespeare’s literary works as in favor of the male gender roles. In Act 1 scene 3, the station of Polonius and Laertes reveals their patriarchal position over Ophelia by constructing advices that molds their expectations of her and degrading her in ways that exemplify the oppression of women during the 1600’s.

“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. At that time in history, the status quo and social norm was simple. Patriarchy was the predominant force as men were regarded as superior to women, both in society as well as the relationship scene. Shakespeare attempted to change this perception through his multiple works of literature. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare uses the theme of gender roles to express the idea that the status quo and social norm in the Elizabethan era can be challenged through courtship, father-daughter relationships, and wedlock. The play commences with the courtship of multiple individuals.

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.

In Twelfth Night, Viola and Olivia are the central characters to the play’s plot. Each are young women that take approaches to dealing with the people around them, which are mainly men. There is much trickery that goes on in Twelfth Night, but the ending is for the most part happy. Viola marries Orsino and Olivia marries Sebastian, but the events leading up to this are more or less chaotic. Ultimately, I argue that while Olivia uses her higher social status in order to maintain control of herself and others, Viola resorts to trickery in order to bring about her desires. Thus, there are ways that Viola and Olivia both reserve information about themselves while also remaining authentic to an extent.

The year 1660 marked an important juncture in the English theatre. Not only was monarchy restored in England but Charles II also allowed women to enter the stage. Thus, women replaced the young adolescent males who cross-dressed in order to portray the women characters in Shakespeare’s plays. Although, the cross-dressing motif might seem strange to some, this practice can be traced back to Ancient Greeks who did not allow women to enter the stage and therefore, men had to wear costumes and masks to represent women. Shakespearean critics, on the other hand, have been divided over the use of ‘cross-dressing’ in his plays. Questions like does Shakespeare use

Shakespeare’s renowned play Twelfth Night centers around love, both in platonic and romantic instances. Characters display elements of self, brotherly, amorous, and friendly love towards one another; however, of the relationships portrayed, the strongest ones are those between men. In contrast, relationships between men and women lack depth and sincerity due to the lapse of communication between the opposing genders. Men are able to express their feelings to one another more freely, which gives their bonds strength that heterosexual relationships fail to display.

In the play Twelfth Night, through the depiction of Orsino’s and Viola’s desires for romantic love, Shakespeare portrays how adjustable and self-delusional human romantic attraction can be, especially when blinded by wants and needs. Viola, who puts on the appearance of a man, makes everybody think she is a male. Her disguise becomes a sexual confusion throughout the play for several characters, creating an odd love triangle where Viola loves Duke Orsino, who loves Oliva, which then on the other hand loves Viola, in disguise as Cesario. On the other hand, Malvolio dreams of marrying his beloved Olivia, and gaining authority over his superiors, like Sir Toby. Shakespeare uses disguise in the play to show several confusions and internal conflicts between the characters, proving how malleable and deluded some human attractions can be.