Despite being written during patriarchal Jacobean society, the protagonist is a female, which is was highly unusual in those days. Of course this protagonist is Lady Macbeth. Throughout the play, through Lady Macbeth's actions we are forced to believe that she is evil. In contrast, the novel John Steinbeck tells a story of dreams, hopes and loneliness. We are introduced to a majorly significant and complex character, named Curley’s wife.
‘Paying attention to the references to woman in Act 1 scene 2, analyse how far The Tempest is in fact dependent upon the agency of women.’ The play The Tempest was written by William Shakespeare in 1610, a time in which it was generally accepted that men held all the power and responsibilities, while it was a woman’s job to be subservient to her man: either her husband or her father. However, within The Tempest a lot of the events are dependent upon the agency of various women in the play. Although there are few female characters, their influence is great throughout The Tempest. One major example of a female character that has a large amount of influence upon the events of the play is Sycorax, although she never actually appears in the play, having died many years previously to the events. Sycorax was the mother of Caliban, Prospero’s deformed half-human slave, and was a powerful witch who had been banished to the island.
Topic: Compare the portrayal of females in Othello and Frankenstein. To what degree are female characters in each work dominated or oppressed by a patriarchal society? How prominent roles have they in each work? A Comparison of the portrayal of females in Othello and Frankenstein The female characters play dominant roles in both Othello and Frankenstein. Though, when actually examined, the females portrayed in both literary works do show signs of bravery and rebellious spirit, which represents the actual mind of authors, they are still oppressed by the patriarchal society to a large extent.
Throughout The Odyssey, written by Homer, the treatment of women plays a key role in the overall outcome of the story and is a central issue presented in this poem. In many scenarios it is evident that men are treated with superiority to women. During the era that this story was written, men played the dominant role. Society was organized, directed, and controlled by men, and it was accepted that women occupied a subservient and inferior position. Questia states, “Despite their vital role in Ancient Greek and Roman society, women were not considered full citizens and in most instances required a guardian – their fathers, and later husbands – to represent them” (“Women in Ancient Greece and Rome”).
Question: How is a specific group portrayed in the Test? Written Task Two: Portrayal of Women in Hamlet Hamlet is a play filled with many themes and motifs. Shakespeare uses several different literary devices to portray those themes. One of the major themes in the play is the roles of women and how they are portrayed as mentally weak, unimportant and second class, as well as being held to a double standard. Shakespeare’s use of allusions and metaphors portray this throughout the play as a whole.
Both Antony and Cleopatra and the 16th – 17th century were both at a time when the role of women in life was not valued as much as men and the principles of ruling Rome, Egypt and England in a well-ordered society were of great concern. In Shakespearean time (16th-17th century) rules and values of discrimination towards women and the way in which they were treated and presented were very much similar to the opinions and the way in which women were treated in 40-30 BC, in the time Antony and Cleopatra were set in. An example of this would be in the play of Antony and Cleopatra where Cleopatra is being described by Enobarbus (Act 2 Scene 2, Page 142): “Age cannot wither her, Nor custom stale her infinite variety. Other women cloy The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry Where most she satisfies. For vilest things Become themselves in her, that the holy priests Bless she is riggish.” Where Enobarbus is describing how all women can feed a man’s appetite and give them whatever they want or need (“The appetites they feed, but she makes me hungry”), displays how all women in the time of the play were stereotyped as an invaluable prize that could satisfy men if they were ever desired.
The Role of Women in “The Odyssey” It seems if it weren’t for women in Homer’s The Odyssey all forms of empathy, love, war, or compassion wouldn’t exist. Although women held an entirely different position in society compared to men, they too held influence and power. “The Odyssey” revolves around Odysseus’ quest to return home to Ithaca and back to his wife Penelope, which has been overrun by suitors. Within the poem there are three basic types of women the goddess, the seductress, and the good hostess/wife. Each role adds a different element and is essential to the telling of the story.
A patriarchy is defined as a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it. Such systems currently exist in several forms and areas around the world; however, the most common place for these patriarchies is in our literature. Men are distorted by patriarchy both in being socially labeled as aggressive but, also shamed as they look into the mirror and see themselves. Shakespeare uses polarizing examples of feminism in Hamlet. He depicts women as completely sexual creatures and also devalues women in the eyes of men.
There are many similarities to be drawn between the relationships of the protagonists and their spouses, but there also many differences. The traditional roles are reversed and ignored in the start of the play; opposed to Ibsen's A Doll's House (which is the reverse). It's hard to draw comparisons between Torvald and Macbeth, as they are very different characters. Though they are both ambitious, their roles and personalities differ greatly; where Torvald controls in his relationship, Macbeth submits. Shakespeare subverts gender roles like this throughout the play, such as when Lady Macbeth decides her husband is unable to commit the atrocities to sit on the throne and taunts him, insinuating things about his manhood and claiming he has "th' milk of human kindness" (Act 1, 5.15) implying that he isn't strong enough to kill King Duncan.
Alexandra “If Shakespeare Had a Sister” Virginia Woolf grew up facing many prejudices against educated women. As a result of her desire to be well educated, she took personal offense at the tradition of putting down women educated beyond the social norms. Shakespeare’s sister or any other woman would not have been able to rise to his status and maintain her sanity in the face of the rejection, denial and disapproval that would result from the attempt. The use of example is a tool Woolf uses well to demonstrate her points and exhibit her knowledge of classical texts and critical writing skills. One of Woolf’s supports for her essay was that she discusses the everyday life of a woman so far as she has been to piece it together from the few reports she has been able to recover of that time; complaining that there is not nearly enough information on the period only supports her claims.