‘Men were deceivers ever.’ To what extent can it be argued that Shakespeare’s presentation of men’s attitudes to women in ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ allows for comedy? In Much Ado about Nothing, it can be equally argued that men’s attitudes towards women are actually used for comedy purposes, and it can be argued that their attitudes aren’t. For this argument, the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick at the start of the play can be seen as comical to the audience, as they both claim to dislike each other and take pleasure in making rude remarks to one another. On the other hand, the relationship between Hero and Claudio could be seen as quite dark to the audience, as there are accusations and trust issues between the two. The quote ‘men were deceivers ever’ comes from Act 2 Scene 3 of the play, from the song that Balthasar sings.
Why does Iago hate Othello? Go deep on this one Iago’s gay and loves Othello From the beginning Shakespeare sets up Emilia and Iagos rocky relationship. “You rise play, and go to bed to work,” Iago is completely degrading and twisted toward women. Emilia responds to Iago by saying “You shall no write my praise.” Iago portrays strong negative feelings toward women which is portrayed through his actions. Iago’s murder of Emilia could also come from the general hatred of women that he displays.
Much Ado about Nothing was written by William Shakespeare as a comedy, but it could have very well been turned into a tragedy comparable to Othello. In Othello, Desdemona becomes a leading part of Iago’s plot to take down Othello for not giving Iago the job that he wanted. At first Iago insinuates and makes innuendos to Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, and Othello doesn’t believe Iago. Othello says “Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore, Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof; or, by the worth of mine eternal soul, thou hadst been better have been born a dog than answer my wak’d wrath”(3.3.360-364). Desdemona accidentally drops a handkerchief that Othello had given her.
Friar Lawrence makes fun of Romeo saying that young men only love what they see. They do not love with their hearts but with their eyes and thoughts. Their love is shallow and superficial. He questions whether Romeo shed a single tear for Rosaline before moving on. Friar Lawrence brings out Romeo’s fickle minded nature by showing how he falls in love with a new woman, Juliet, in a very short time frame.
By saying these words to her he is crassly calling her a harlot, and making to appear that he never really loved her. Ophelia made one decision and that was to love Hamlet, and now he is using her actions to make her feel inferior and sinful. Up to this point in the play, Shakespeare depicted Hamlet as a mad man hell-bent on avenging his fathers suspect death, however: his cruel outburst at Ophelia is not a turning point in the story in which he goes from being a hero to being a cold-hearted oppressor. Hamlet tells Ophelia that she will have to ‘marry a fool’ because ‘wise men’ would know better than to marry her; he yells at her ‘get thee to a nunnery’, and yet the way it fits into the plot makes it seem almost expected. As the plot progresses Ophelia begins to lose her mind, resulting in her eventually suicide, but at no point his Hamlet called out for his harsh words against her in a significant way.
This seems that it is the gender that affects the conflict and as traditions followed then, it was the men that ran society and made the decisions for women. Romeo and Juliet also takes place in a masculine world in which notions of honour, pride and status are all major to everyone and these factors can escalate to violence. The violence in the play’s social environment is a dramatic tool that Shakespeare creates to make the lover’s romance seem even more precious, valuable and fragile: their relationship is scene by society as an insignificant feeling of love in a significant world of hate. The fights between Mecutio and Tybalt and then Romeo and Tybalt are surreal. Passion outweighs reason at every point and Shakespeare wants to highlight the young love in this masculine society as well as show it is the men that cause conflict and a world of hate.
The women are frustrated that their men are not being attentive to their needs, and the men are frustrated that the women are not meeting their sexual needs. This is a comical element to the drama, however it does prove once again that men and women did not have the same value. To best demonstrate this Lysistrata voices her frustration by saying, “And as for lovers, there’s not even a ghost of one left. Since the Milesians revolted from us…” [470]. She then says that she has a plan to end the war, withhold sex from the men, “…if we are to force our men to make peace, we must do without.” [470].
They both love each other however they’re relationship is made difficult when they realise they are enemies “Deny thy father and refuse thy name, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet”. They see no reason as to why they must hate each other, but the rest of the family see it differently “What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet”. This is made even more difficult when Romeo and Juliet get married, Tybalt feels insulted that Romeo entered the Capulets ball and wants to fight him (he feels dishonoured and filled with hate) however Romeo will not fight him because they are cousins now and part of the same
“To be or not to be, that is the question; whether’ tis nobler in the mind to suffer...” (Shakespeare Act 3, Scene 1). This quotation proves Hamlet becomes inferior to others and the environment through his madness, causing him to express himself explicitly towards others. Hamlet’s madness not only causes his loved ones lives but it allows his “end” to come because he accepts every challenge from his opponent. Hamlet’s madness not only affects him but Ophelia, who is mentally torn apart by Hamlet. Ophelia was once flawless, but since her encounter with Hamlet she has fallen into the same madness and wants to kill herself.
William Shakespeare’s famous play, Hamlet, offers detailed and often callous insights into the role of women, and men, in the Renaissance period in which the playwright lived in. Throughout this time, traditional women were often constantly criticised and treated as inferior to male counterparts. As such, Shakespeare has constructed his female characters to fulfil these traditional roles; however by taking a feminist approach these female characters appear marginalised and degraded. Ultimately, through the playwright’s representation of women, they can be see as worthless, sexual objects , both weak and inconsiderate in nature. Through a modern perception on the playwright’s female characters, women can be seen as worthless, sexually corrupt indiviudals.