That there are hidden threats upon everyone to perform with the gender that were assigned to each individual. Butler illustrates the idea of theater acting to performative act. The difference between the two is that, actors know when they are acting versus, we, the people do not realize our gender performances. Gender is natural and naturalized and that any gender is an historical situation and a construction, not a natural fact. She is against the way of thinking that gender is a coming of an internal essence or predetermined structure.
At first Winston agrees with Antigone’s actions in the play because they are similar to those of his self. However, not until after the physical aspect of Antigone’s character is brought into effect, does Winston begin to reject his role as playing a woman. Before this Winston’s reasons for not wanting to do the play were simply because he did not feel like spending time on it. The society that these two men live in has defined women as inferior to men. Therefore no one wants to be seen as womanly, the physical representation of a woman changes Winston’s desire to act as Antigone in the play.
Women were expected to be obedient and it’s certain that both playwrights present this in their plays. However modern day views in society acknowledge various interpretations of the literature. Some people may depict Shakespeare as a misogynist for allowing women to be tortured without any defence for themselves. Whereas Arthur Miller could presented a more modern approach for representing working women, such as Charley’s assistant. However this character is submerged beneath men for she is working as an assistant to a wealthy man.
They also believed that they were superior to women and that women should remain obedient and oppressed, and not question their husbands or fathers. The conversations that the females in the play have when they are not in the presence of men seem to prove that they have accepted society’s expectations of them, and that when they are in the company of men, they behave the way men believe to be natural. It is for this reason that when Desdemona married Othello without her father, Brabantio’s consent, he states that her actions were “against all rules of nature” (I, iii, 101). Many feminist critics view Desdemona as submissive and oppressed. Desdemona, herself, gives evidence to this claim when she states that she is “obedient” (III, iii, 89) to Othello no matter what.
The analysis of women characterisation in Othello restores the focus of the tragedy to Desdemona, whose character is essential “for the completion of the tragic pattern” of the play. Desdemona’s exclusion, not only from the title, but from the male bonding that condemns her as a whore, is her tragedy. The success of Iago’s manipulation lies largely in his use of beliefs that are sanctioned by the Venetian society and refuse Desdemona the agency to make her own choices. Iago voices his disbelief in the union when he calls Othello one of the Moors who “are changeable in their wills” and Desdemona as a woman who “must change for youth”. The conviction with which he is able to designate Desdemona’s fidelity to a questionable stand underlines the reductive understanding of a woman’s character.
This shows how Viola is prepared to serve Orsino, but the only way she can is to dress and act as a man, since women weren't usually part of the Duke's courts. However this may not be considered backward because she's desperate to get to someone. The fact that she's prepared to go to these lengths to get to Orsino suggests that she has some strong feelings for him, and that's she's merely doing what she needs to do to get to him. The second aspect that could be considered backward is the binary opposites that Shakespeare sets up within Twelfth Night. Binary opposites are where the characteristics of two characters are the complete opposites of everyone.
In the play Antigone, Sophocles provides us with diverse views on women’s role in society to provide insight on his own ideas. He accomplishes this by using different characters to express distinctive feelings about women. Sophocles gives us a perception of an opinion held by some in this play as Ismene states “we are only women, not meant in nature to fight against men”(61,62). Ismene is displaying her ideas that Sophocles wants to provide the reader. Whilst Ismene grasps these notions, her sister, Antigone, does not.
The repression of women and the suspicions of a patriarchal society lead to rebellion and hysteria. Suppression prevents female character developing. Miller portrays women as weak, it seems that he uses his own view of women and presents it in the crucible. Hale shows authority over Abigail: ‘You can not evade me Abigail’ here he expresses his control and power, Hale puts pressure onto Abigail to tell the truth; is she lies he knows that she will be believe over him because of his male dominance. The use of ‘evade’ tells Abigail that he cannot be overcome and therefore she cannot overcome god like she has taken control of the Girls.
Woolf endeavours to prove that for women, financial and intellectual freedom is a necessity to attaining happiness. Woolf does not follow the conventional structure of an essay. The employment of second person convinces the audience of her belief society’s attitude to women is unjust, while her anecdotes personally include the reader. By allowing this, Woolf gains a level of sympathy from her audience. The creation of ‘Oxbridge’ university does not only represent the beliefs and tradition of society, but the limitations and the disenfranchisement of women.
While Ophelia lives in a society where she is viewed as nothing more than a ‘play-thing’ who must follow her father, brother and King’s every word, Ma lives in a society where she also must follow orders, but in her case the tables turn. Both Steinbeck and Shakespeare compare and contrast the theme of the role of women through female characters. A similarity between the female characters in both texts is that the females themselves have opinions and views that differ from her male counterpoints at times. For example, when Steinbeck’s Pa is implying that the family does not have room for Casy, he asks Ma her opinion, which is: “It ain’t kin we? It’s will we?...As far as ‘kin’, we can’t do nothin’, no go to California or nothin’; but as far as ‘will’, we’ll do what we will […]” (Steinbeck 102).