Tragic Patriarchy (An analysis of Shakespeare’s treatment of women in his four tragic plays, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, and Othello) During the Shakespearean era, women were a little bit like property. They were owned by their fathers, and then handed over to their husband to be owned by him. They dedicated their lives to serving men and acting according to their will. This notion of the transfer of custody from a father to a husband is still practiced in today’s society in many forms. However, there is a great difference from then and now in the way in which women are able to pursue their own interests and goals. In Shakespeare’s time, women were not even allowed to act in his famous plays. Instead, these roles would be taken on by boys, …show more content…
Hamlet describes vividly his disgust for his mother, Gertrude, in his first soliloquy in the first act of this play. The queen has just remarried to her deceased husband’s brother, Claudius, in a short amount of time. Enraged by this rash decision of the queen’s, Hamlet shouts, “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (Shakespeare). Hamlet drives himself crazy mourning over his mother’s decision to marry Claudius. In a way, Shakespeare is implying that when women are allowed to make their own decisions and do what they want, it never results in anything beneficial. Gertrude chose her new king and in the process contributed immensely to the downfall of her son, Hamlet. On the other hand, Ophelia, Hamlet’s lover, is the perfect model for a young lady in those days. When her father advises her to steer clear of Hamlet, she immediately obeys him. She does what she is told, not questioning why, but accepting that that is the way that things are to be. Though gaining the approval of her father and others who believe in the patriarchal system, Ophelia makes herself extremely vulnerable by doing this. It’s almost as if she is begging someone to manipulate her, which is exactly what happens. “The king, queen, and Polonius continue their plan of uncovering the reason for Hamlet's madness by using Ophelia as a decoy” (Wright). In the end, by obeying her family …show more content…
These two evil sisters disobey their father in everything, and put on a face when he asks who loves him the most because they are simply greedy and want his land for themselves. “I am made of the self-same metal that my sister, and prize me at her worth. In my true heart I find she names my very deed of love; Only she comes too short, that I profess myself an enemy to all other joys which the most precious square of sense possesses, and find I am alone felicitate in your dear Highness' love” (Shakespeare). Here, Regan explains her true love for her father as opposed to the half-hearted love that Goneril has for him. As the two sisters fight over who loves their father more, they demonstrate to the audience that they are selfish and manipulative. They take advantage of their father’s old age and use their words to get gain for themselves. They do the exact opposite of what daughters are supposed to do during those times. “The representation of patriarchal misogyny is most obvious in the treatment of Goneril and Regan...Goneril’s and Regan’s treatment of their father...is seen...as a fundamental violation of human nature” (Bruce). God was most powerful, followed by men, who were followed by women. For these two daughters to take treat their father the way they do in this play is a dramatic shift in everything natural. By creating these two evil sisters, Shakespeare
Shakespeare focuses primarily on the relationship between Lear, and the aged king and his daughters. Lear’s wish is to split his kingdom between his three daughters – after being assured of how much they love him. Shakespeare wanted to show the struggle between goodness and evil, inside of human and how evil changed man to behave bestially. Shakespeare’s King Lear, at the end, fulfil revenge, indeed, Lear divided his realm between two daughters instead three daughters because he followed flattery his two daughters. In order to get a portion of the kingdom, Goneril and Regan must profess their love to
Possessiveness is a very common dysfunction in Shakespeare's play, and Anderson's book. Both moms are trying to control their daughters hoping that this treatment will make their lives easier. Lady Capulet was yearning for power; meanwhile, Mrs. Sordino wanted a trouble-free life with no stress. As shown in the article, “Parental Behavioral control and knowledge in early adolescence,” it shows that controlling parents cause their children to be closed off and are scared to tell them important changes in their lives. In the stories both characters are hiding immense life threatening secrets.
To be woman in the early days of the seventeenth century is to live in an age of deeply entrenched sexism and gender-roles. What is often not considered is the roles that men, despite their roles as oppressors, were forced into. Men were caged by extreme expectations of toxic masculinity. Othello, the great tragedy by William Shakespeare written approximately in 1603 deals deeply with this concept. David Bevington (an acclaimed literary critic) and Carol Thomas Neely (Department of English, University of Illinois) assert that the men in Othello, are perhaps most aptly defined by sexual anxiety.
Feminism has gained a new definition a new understanding of female roles since the Elizabethan Era. Hamlet, a play written by William Shakespeare, is about a young prince, Hamlet, being visited by his father’s apparition urging him to avenge his death by murdering Prince Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. All the while, Hamlet is enraged by his mother’s hasty marriage to Claudius and is showering his supposed love, Ophelia, with gifts and words of affection. Queen Gertrude and Ophelia are blindly obedient to male authority due to the influence of the social standards that require women to be submissive to men. Queen Gertrude and Ophelia’s actions and outcomes as characters are affected by male influence, the social norms of this time, and the females’ consequences of following these norms.
How does the poor treatment of women result in increased tragic events in Romeo and Juliet? In the dramatic tragedy Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, gender inequality reoccurs throughout the play as a consequence of patriarchy. Shakespeare uses this imbalance as a catalyst to increase tragic events in Romeo and Juliet. During Shakespeare's time, women were often objectified and restricted from their freedom to determine their future. Shakespeare uses this gender inequality to further explore important themes such as family honour and the social status of women in society.
A 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
Hamlet once again fails to understand that Ophelia much like himself is only trying to stay loyal to her father, much like what he is doing himself. In addition, Hamlet blames woman for giving birth to such evil and deceiving men like Claudius and himself. When he was talking to Ophelia he told her "Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better
The way Shakespeare approached gender is perhaps his most well known writing quality. In the play King Lear, the story starts out with the socially accepted norm of male dominance. As the play progresses, King Lear slowly loses grip of his kingdom to his daughters, Goneril and Regan, both of which are females. Females of this time period, even those of nobility, are still expected to be ruled by men and aren't supposed to hold any true power over their reigning male counterpart.
In Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’, women are portrayed as either pure angelic beings and jewels, or as whores who are impure. They are objectified and shown as something to be used. The only women in this play are Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca compared to the main 6 male characters, not to mention the minor characters, who are also all male. Their depicted purpose is to belong to a man; Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca’s lives revolve around being wives to Othello, Iago and Cassio. This fits into the idea of a perfect Elizabethan woman, who’s lives are subject to their husband’s rule across all aspects, to be disposed of as men wish.
This quotation illuminates Gertrude’s act of incest which can be classified as an aspect of adultery. Hamlet’s views of marriage are potentially destroyed because of Gertrude’s remarriage and women in general as he states to Ophelia: “Of if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them” (3.1.138-140). Although Gertrude is to blame for Hamlet’s negative outlook on marriage, his misogynistic attitude comes to light as he classifies all women (including Ophelia) as cheaters and liars. Moreover, Hamlet confronts Gertrude for her incestuous and adulterous crimes and speaks: “Nay, but to live / In the rank sweat of an enseamèd bed, / Stewed in corruption, honeying and making love” (3.4.91-94).
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.
Hamlet: a Feminist Perspective Hamlet by William Shakespeare is considered to be the apogee of canonical texts. Hamlet who is seen to be the hero, seeks revenge of his uncle for killing his beloved father and marrying his mother. In the finale, all characters find an unfortunate end and leave the kingdom of Denmark to prince Fortinbras who coincidentally passes through to invade Poland. The play Hamlet has received great stricture from feminist critics due to the actions and behaviors of many of the characters in the play. Feminism is “the advocacy of woman 's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men” (Dictionary.com).
For Shakespeare’s plays to contain enduring ideas, it must illustrate concepts that still remain relevant today, in modern society. Shakespeare utilises his tragic play Othello, to make an important social commentary on the common gender stereotypes. During early modern England, Shakespeare had to comply to the strict social expectations where women were viewed as tools, platonic and mellow, and where men were displayed as masculine, powerful, tempered, violent and manipulative. As distinct as this context is to the 21st century, the play exposes how women were victimised by the men who hold primary power in the community in which they compelled women to conform to the ideal world of a perfect wife or confront an appalling destiny for challenging the system. Moreover, Shakespeare utilises the main antagonist, Iago, to portray how men are desperate to achieve what they want and to indirectly fulfil the stereotype of masculinity and power through manipulation.
Hamlet does not value Ophelia 's feelings he belittles her. In Hamlets defense this is the way he was brought up to treat women, during that time this was a common way to treat a women. Even though in today 's society it is not at all ok to treat women with such disrespect. He also likes for everything to go as planned and this may result in why he can not have a stable relationship with a woman. This also causes him to have many stumbling blocks in his life that causes some emotional pain
Over 400 years ago, Shakespeare was able to recognize the hardships women faced and allocated roles to exhibit them in a negative light. The sixteenth century tragedy, Othello, written by William Shakespeare, dwells a love story adulterated by multiple abhorrent lies. The main characters consist of: Othello, the tragic hero and main protagonist. He is the general of the Venetian army, and a moor. Next, Othello’s secret wife, Desdemona, a naive white Venetian noblewoman.