Comparing Women In Much Ado About Nothing And Othello
In the 1500-1600s women were not treated the same as men. Shakespeare portrays women a certain way to break the mold of what women were supposed to be. Women are seen standing up for themselves and being bold which was not supposed to happen. Even though Shakespeare was a bit of a revolutionary with the idea of women, the other characters in his plays still view women much like real people in his time. Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and Othello are similar in how women are viewed by other characters. By examining other characters objectifying women, men disrespecting women, and the social stigma around women’s actions it proves that women are treated fairly similar and poorly. First, other characters are seen objectifying women in these plays. Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing portrays Hero as a prize to be won. Bennedick goes as far to ask Claudio, “Would you buy her, that you enquire after her?” clearly talking about hero as an object they can purchase (I.i.162). The whole …show more content…
In Much Ado About Nothing Claudio and Hero are at their wedding when Claudio makes a scene. He calls Hero unfaithful and goes on about how wicked and terrible she is. When talking to Leonato, Claudio says, “Give not this rotten orange to your friend,” he is suggesting that Hero make look innocent on the outside but she is rotting on the inside (IV.ii.1672). Claudio shows absolutely no respect for Hero in this scene. Hero is not even aloud a moment to explain her side of the story. Likewise in Othello Emilia begins to reveal Iago’s plan and Iago responds by saying, “be wise, and get ye home,” but instead of staying quiet and loyal to her husband she speaks up and tells her friends everything. Iago ends up stabbing Emilia right there just for speaking out and not obeying him. However, these two plays are different in the sense that Claudio and Hero made amends while Iago and Emilia did not have a peaceful
Women In Othello And Chaucer's Wife Of Bath
975 Words | 4 PagesThe women in Othello and Chaucer's Wife of Bath differ, but in the end both want their husbands to love them. In Othello there are only three women displayed in the story, but the statements that were said about these three women were the belief that all women in that society were all the same- evil, whores who were temptress to the men. The three women; Desdemona, the wife of Othello, Emilia, the wife of Iago, and Bianca, perceived as a prostitute who is a “customer” (l. 138. 4.1) of Cassio. Iago is one of the main characters who degrades and slanders all women including his wife Emilia.
Essay On Women In Othello And A Streetcar Named Desire
1737 Words | 7 PagesAlthough being written centuries apart, the limited expectations of women presented in ‘Othello’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ differ little from each other. The female characters are confined by society’s expectations of male dominance, female purity and virginity, and the many passive roles of women. Despite the differing legalities surrounding the position of women between the centuries in which the plays were written, both plays explore the impact of how societal conventions confine women and the ways they must comply to be safe in a patriarchal society. The behaviours and treatments of Desdemona, Blanche and Stella illustrate the attitudes enforced on and the behaviours of women throughout both periods in time and it is these attitudes and behaviours that impact the plays to the greatest extent. When characters in either plays defy their norms, or demonstrate a lack of compliance they induce negative consequences, such as the murder of Desdemona and the institutionalisation of Blanche.
Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice Foil
503 Words | 3 PagesHero had chosen to accept Claudio’s proposal and claimed to have fallen in love with
Examples Of Misogyny In Romeo And Juliet
778 Words | 4 PagesTheir 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).
Examples Of Relationships In Much Ado About Nothing
731 Words | 3 PagesBecause Claudio never strays from the social norm and remains young and naive, Don John easily deceives him. In his plan to ruin Claudio's happiness, Don John enlists Borachio to help him deceive Claudio into thinking Hero has been unloyal. He states, “I came hither to tell you; and, circumstances shortened, for she has been too long a talking of, the lady is disloyal”(act 3 scene 2). When Claudio believes Hero has been unfaithful, he plans to “shame her” at the wedding(act 3 scene 2). Because Hero is accused of going against the social norm and marital expectations, she is shamed.
Rebellion Against Femininity In Macbeth
787 Words | 4 PagesIt’s no surprise, that Shakespeare’s Macbeth was clearly constructed as a rebellion against femininity roles of the time. During the Elizabethan era, women were raised to believe they were inferior to men since men obtained desired masculine qualities such as strength, and loyalty, whereas women were viewed as figures of hospitality (1; 6; 28-31). Obviously, not being tempted by the luxury of subservient women, William Shakespeare rebuked this twisted belief, applying that women deserve more respect than their kitchen tables.
Much Ado About Nothing Reputation Analysis
618 Words | 3 PagesClaudio’s worst offense is when Don John and Borachio play their trick on Hero, making it seem like she was engaging in pre-marital sex. Claudio instantly believes that it is Hero, even though it is actually Margaret, going to the point of publicly shaming her at their wedding and causing her “death”. He says
Much Ado About Nothing Feminist Analysis
678 Words | 3 PagesHero, nevertheless, falls in love with Claudio the first time she laid eyes on him and was ready to tie the knot, as that was the expected thing to
Feminist Criticism In Othello
1360 Words | 6 PagesA Modern View of Feminist Criticism William Shakespeare 's "Othello” can be analyzed from a feminist perspective. This criticism focuses on relationships between genders, like the patterns of thoughts, behavior, values, enfranchisement, and power in relations between and within sexes. A feminist examination of the play enables us to judge the distinctive social esteems and status of women and proposes that the male-female power connections that become an integral factor in scenes of Othello impact its comprehension. I believe that the critical lens that provides modern society with the most compelling view of literature is Feminist Criticism because it analyzes distrust and disloyalty among relationships, women being treated as possessions
Foils Of Beatrice And Hero In Much Ado About Nothing
641 Words | 3 PagesHero said, “O God defend me! How am I beset! What kind of catechizing call you this” (Shakespeare 68) to her father, Leonato. Instead of trying to take her anger out at Claudio’s lie, she was asking her dad to defend her. Hero knew it was a misunderstanding that she was cheating on Claudio, so she asked her dad to explain she wasn’t cheating.
Women Being Objectified In Shakespeare's Othello
542 Words | 3 PagesEach 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
Comparing Hero And Beatrice In William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
743 Words | 3 PagesIn the first scene of the play, Beatrice makes a joke about Signior Bendick’s fighting abilities by comparing him to Signior Mountanto which can be translated to as “Fancy Fighter”. Hero, knowing the kind of person Beatrice is and knowing that she admires Signior Benedick more than she makes known, explains
Sexism In A Midsummer Night's Dream
1910 Words | 8 PagesThroughout 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).
Lady Macbeth A Misogynist Analysis
1551 Words | 7 PagesShakespeare 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.
Masculinity In Othello
1010 Words | 5 PagesThroughout the play we observe Emilia’s character change, and how she suffered the consequence of challenging the system. Shakespeare’s Othello, utilises a range of dramatic techniques to showcase how women where portrayed during early modern England, as tools, chaste and naive. The antagonist, Iago takes this to advantage to manipulate his wife to unintentionally take a part in the moral dissembling of Othello. The idea where women were being victimised is presented when Iago utilises his power and authority to
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