Beatrice is cynical and witty; she doesn’t conform when it comes to the role of women in Elizabethan time. In terms of how males view females, there is a theme of cuckoldry (men who married unfaithful wives). This is shown in the first scene when Leonato confirms that Hero is his daughter, ‘Her mother hath many times told me so’, a joke at her expense, implying she is unfaithful to him. In a conversation between Claudio and Benedick, they talk about Hero. Claudio asks if he ‘noted’ her, Benedick tells him he did not, but he ‘looked on her’.
Lady Macbeth tries to convince Macbeth that killing Duncan would be of great interest to him as it will give him great prosperity. Lady Macbeth is supposed to represent Shakespeare's employer, King James' opinion on all woman, that they persuade men to sin. At the time Macbeth was written, people did not have a very high view on woman as they were seen as inferior to men and only there for the purpose of reproducing and caring of the offspring whilst the men do the important things such as earn money. Modern audiences would not see Lady Macbeth's attitude towards her husband as a shock as men and woman are more or less equal in today's society, however in Elizabethan England her attitude towards her husband would have been seen as shocking. In Animal Farm, Squealer is used by Napoleon to clear
The whole poems started during the time woman were tending to stay quite. She wrote the poem to express her opinion of a female’s voice in the society. She speaks in a worthless tone. In her view women were not different than men. Bradstreet also shows identity for the Puritan men that criticize her work because men had more talent and skill, which come in handy in the society, but she sees that it’s unfair.
View of Womanhood in King Lear The portraits of womanhood seen in King Lear are slightly negative. Since the time when King Lear is written when men and women are not equal, it is obvious to see these traits in the play. In King Lear, women are sold, demonized and insulted. Although Cordelia expresses her feminine and righteous virtues, the men’s view constraints it and demines by insulting values of women in a whole. Through quotes from the book, the observation of womanhood is negatively seen by men in the play.
In the time of Shakespeare, men and women were not looked at as equal members of society. This can be seen in any history book of our time and it can also be seen in Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But he does not always support the theme of females being subservient to males. There are some examples in this play that demonstrate females standing up or against their male counterparts. A Midsummer Night’s Dream has many relationships between men and women that show women as both submissive and self-assertive, indicating that even in that time, it was not considered impossible to Shakespeare that a woman can and will go against the approval of her male dominant figure.
Assess the fashion industry using the feminist perspective Feminists argue that that in society men oppress women and that women do not have equal rights when compared to men, they argue that the family serves the needs of patriarchy and that we reside in a patriarchal society where males are the dominate sex. Feminists take a critical view on most things in society but a main one being fashion. Feminism itself simplifies down to equality. It is shown to be not about attacking men but improving society and having equal chances between both sexes. It states that many women’s focus is on her wardrobe so they can impress the opposite sex as they feel useless if they fail to impress, they also argue that fashion is a more female dominated area, they show that most of the top fashion designers are male ruled and that Radical Feminists such as Germaine Greer believe that all key societies (including fashion) have been found on patriarchy (ruled by men).
Woolf interprets the contrast between the women in fiction and the real women of the period as evidence that the famous characters are nothing but impossibilities imagined upon by men. She argues that only a female writer could have created characters endowed with women’s hindered possibilities. But perhaps the women portrayed in Elizabethan fiction weren’t just men being conveniently portrayed as women like Woolf claims. Perhaps Shakespeare and other authors created these strong characters as symbols of what women could’ve been, barring the legal and social injustices they faced. Lady Macbeth is undoubtedly Shakespeare’s most vicious and cunning female character.
The women's part: Shakespeare's feminist leanings I'm going to start with some disclaimers about my thesis. My basic argument is that because of the influence of his female audience, patrons, and personal relationships with women, Shakespeare wrote female characters that were independent, intelligent, and strong. I will even go so far as to suggest he was a proto-feminist, since he recognized the worth of the female mind. I know there are some objections to this idea, which I will address here. As brought up by Chris Welcker in a comment to one of my previous posts, Shakespeare wasn't always respectful to women.
and this is shown on the essay when she writes this ”If, by chance , I find another person more suitable as a wife than the wife I already have, I want the liberty to replace my present wife with another one” Really, is sad but is the truth, men do think women’s are objects they can’t take and leave when they want and demand things and expect to received without giving. As I read the essay it was stupid to see that they didn’t realize that all the wife’s duties could also be done by men, like cleaning, working, taking care of the kids, and of course pleasing their wife’s when she
Due to frustration from male oppression, clubs and the feminist movement, and the counterrevolutionaries, women showed how they were willing and capable of going to all magnitudes to reach their goal of gaining equality to man. Up until the Enlightenment, which spanned portions of the 17th and 18th centuries, women throughout Europe had limited rights. Men expected women to be charming, well-dressed, and pleasing to the eye in order to represent the social status of her father or husband. Mary Wollstonecraft says, “The conduct and manners of women, in fact, evidently prove that their minds are not in a healthy state; for, like the flowers which are planted in too rich a soil, strength and usefulness are sacrificed to beauty” (Wollstonecraft, 171). Whether they were aristocrats, bourgeoisie, or peasants, Frenchwomen’s main job was to take care of domestic needs.